Best ways to write chords around bass and melody?

M

melodyseeker

Guest
Just say I have a four bar melody and a bassline sixteen beats per bar(x=1beat).

The track is in A minor(all white keys)

CAPITALS= melody

lower case= bass

1. 5. 9. 13.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
-x-D-x-E-x-x-D-x-E-x-E-x-D
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
-x-D-x-E-x-x-D-x-B-x-B-x-A
a a a a a a a a b b b b b b b b

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
-x-C-x-D-x-x-C-x-D-x-D-x-C
g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
-x-G-x-A-x-x-G-x-C-x-C-x-B

What's the best way to come up with chord progressions(I have no keyboard) for an arrangement like this.

I'm looking for different ways to approach this problem so any input will be appreciated. Except for the obvious learn to play get a book etc answers.

Any useful stuff like which notes are best for the bass part of the chord and which notes are best for the top notes etc or any useful stuff please add :)
 
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melodyseeker said:
Any useful stuff like which notes are best for the bass part of the chord and which notes are best for the top notes etc or any useful stuff please add :)
Click to expand...

Without knowing what genre you're working in, or what the basic arrangement is, it'll be hard to advise you on this, but here is some simple advice you may find utterly useless:

0) Try to get a feel in your head where you want the rhythm to lead to. Tension in this measure, more tension here, partial resolution over here, and resolve completely over here.

1) Follow the bass. If you already have a bass line, assume the bass is playing the root of the chord. So your first measure will be Am, etc.

2) If those chords don't sound right, assume the bass has shifted to the fifth, and try that. For example, in your second measure, instead of Bdim, Em may fit better.

3) If you get desperate, assume the bassist has lost their mind, and just pick chords at random until you get the effect you're looking for.

4) Feel free to ignore any advice offered if doing so sounds better.

I'd recommend setting up a loop of what you have prepared, and "jam" on top of it with something like an organ patch, until you figure out what belongs...
 
The safest advise I could give is to go with an Amin9 vamp.

The bass handles the roots of the chords in many situations. Gee's option #1 is a good suggestion if you want to go that route. Amin, Amin, Amin, Bdim, Amin, Amin, Gdom, Gdom. Just looking at it, this progression will not resolve.

Or you could go i, V(Amin, E7). G is the 3rd of E7, and B is the 5th. They're both chordal tones, so you can get away with it.

The problem with my 2nd & 3rd suggestions is that your melody never touches the roots of the other chords. Not sure how that will sound.

The problem I am having giving you suggestions is that most people write the progression first and build from there. I've also seen people start with the melody, then write the progression around that. And I've built around a bassline before. But you have the melody and bassline already there. If you're not married to either, I'd drop one and build on the other. Or take the time to jam on in like Gee said. I'm having a tough time analyzing this.
 
thanks for the replies, probobly not a great example, my theory isn't great, but the idea was to get any bassline and melody and then suggestions for writing a progression around it. I just figured I might understand the answers better if I made up my own example
 
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