Hints for Helping your Chords and Melodies Work Together

by Gary Ewer, from”The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:

It’s a peculiar thing about music, but many listeners, even completely “unmusical” ones, can tell that there’s something wrong with your song, even if they can’t pinpoint what the actual problem is. More often than not, it’s how the melody and chords relate to each other.

One of the biggest problems comes from what is known as parallel motion between the melody and the root notes of the chords you’ve chosen. To give an obvious example, let’s say that your chord progression is this:

C Dm7 Cmaj7/E F Cmaj7/E Dm7 G

…and your melody features these notes above it: C-D-E-F-E-D-C.

You’ll notice that there’s parallel motion between the bass notes and the melody: both use that same ascending scale. Now, the fact that they are both ascending is not exactly the problem. The problem is more that the interval between the bass notes and the melody notes is an octave, and an octave is what is termed a perfect interval. So when it comes to writing chords for your melody, remember this guideline: Try to avoid parallel motion between your chord roots and melody, especially if the interval between them is a perfect interval. The perfect intervals are: 4ths, 5ths and octaves. Using those in parallel motion creates a hollow sound that accentuates that hollow sound.

Of course, the only exception to that guideline is that you may be going for that hollowness. You’ll find that the hollowness works well in high-energy songs. So as always, let your ears be your guide.

Given the progression above, you’ll find that parallel 3rds are just fine – they accentuate the sweet quality of the 3rd. Try the progression above while playing E-F-G-A-G-F-D. It has a smoother sound that works well.

So if you want to really make your chords and melodies work well together, try incorporating some contrary motion between the chord roots and melody. Contrary motion means that as the bass line moves in one direction, the melody will move, generally, in the opposite direction. With the above progression, a melody to try might be: G-F-E-C-G-A-B.

To prevent too much predictability in your music, great melodies will move in a variety of ways against the chord roots, and it’s a good idea to mix them up. There are four ways that melodies and chord roots can move: i- In parallel motion; ii- In contrary motion; In oblique motion (One voice staying on the same note while the other moves to a different note); and in similar motion (both notes move in the same direction, but by a different interval).

FREE OFFER: Gary’s newest e-book, “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting- Chord Progression Formulas” is being offered for free when you purchase any other of his songwriting e-books. Read more..