[Katie Wilson]

Hi I'm going to experiment I've never written music before - all I know that you have to stay in key - I'm going to take a key and make up some chords for some of my lyrics using a free app on the web - then I will take it from there - I'm quite excited - it might be rubbish but it's all a learning curve
If anyone can give any advice that would be great

[Mike67]

Keep it simple. There are lots of well used chord sequences for different genres; just google common chord progressions. Enjoy and good luck.

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Katie. Yeah just go for it. There are lots of us on here that will help you out especially as you have made such a positive contribution to the forum.  Keep us posted 

[Katie Wilson]

Thanks guys

[Katie Wilson]

Right this is a complete beginner who knows nothing about music - I've used a free chord app and tried to match it up with my lyrics , I've got no idea how it sounds.

I've done it in C major I believe - I didn't spend to long on it in case I'm wasting my time
Here's what I've done for the first verse

I met him at the airport

V1
I met him  at the airport.   on my way    to Spain
       C                    DM7                 EM.           G

I    wanted   to  get    away  from the rain
C     Am          B.        G.              Am

he.was  going    to Mexico
    C.      DM            AM


I didn't think    I'd see him    again
         C               DM                  AM


If it's any good it's just a fluke

[Skub]

Yo Katie,is that a D major7 or a D minor7?

It's possible to make either work,but the DMaj7 is a little more out there,whereas the Dmin7 isn't far from F Maj and is par for the course in the key of C.

[Katie Wilson]

Hi I used an app so,I'm not really sure - my favourite band Is oasis so I'm hoping to get a guitar and practice some of their songs xx

[Skub]

Here's a sound clip of the chord progression using firstly Dmin7,then in the second example DMaj7.

The first clip will sound more like what you are after. I don't think Noel got too crafty with the chords. 

Have a listen anyway,it's difficult for most folk to imagine how something will sound without at least having the datum of a chord progression.

It's at 120bpm and 4/4 time,so that part is pretty ubiquitous.

https://soundcloud.com/skub1955/project-katie/s-3936I

[Katie Wilson]

I'm sorry but I don't even know what 4/4 means or Bpm is it beats per minute

[Skub]

Don't worry about it,just listen and you'll hear the difference between the two samples,second chord in.

One you'll probably like,the other you may not.

[CaliaMoko]

Hey Katie,

I listened to Davy's file, and I like the chord progression. It's interesting. I noted all the M and m marks were interpreted as minor chords in the first run through and one of the M marks was interpreted as a major chord and the rest were minor in the second go round.

For clarity going forward, the standard is to mark minor chords with a small m and major chords with a capital M. Sticking to that protocol will help you as you learn the chords. That is how they are marked in songbooks, for instance.

Do you think you could listen to the file Davy posted and come up with a melody for it? Just listen to it and sing notes that sound like they fit and see what happens. Go for it! And record it on something and post it, say, on SoundCloud, so we can hear it.

Vicki

[Katie Wilson]

I can try but I'm in the dark but I'll.have a go,

[Sing4me88]

Have a go fo'sure. The process of just 'doing' it will actually give you a valuable insight into toplining and songwriting more generally. Writing melodies over a chord progression can allow you to see the notes you should/can use (theory) and also allow you to see where high notes or note jumps fit into the scansion of the lyrics. It's also pretty useful for getting to grips with call and response melodies and hooks too. You might find a program called Imitone useful for this; it's a fairly cheap program that will allow you to sing into a mic (even a cheap one) and it will translate that into notes for you. I guess you could then transpose these on top of a chord sequence (this is what I kinda do) and then tweak note length, rhythm etc accordingly.

One tip I'd give is don't get too carried away wit using umpteen note jumps and all the different notes. Some of the mots popular melodies (in commercial pop at least) are one note melodies that centre around usually the root note of the chord (Taylor Swift is a good example of this). This will allow you to play about with rhythm s well to gt the most hooky and catchy melody you can.

Bear in mind this comes from someone just a little bit further down the songwriting path tan you (if any at all!), but I hope it comes in even a little bit useful or at the very least interesting.

[cowparsleyman]

Hi Katie

I joined this forum I think within a day of you, and it's brilliant to see what you've done.

Great toe dipping...many people learning to play an instrument just play other peoples stuff, to improve their technique, so a huge 'hat's off' to you for trying something, this will certainly show you what's involved, and maybe fire you up to do more.

Don't worry too much about how it sounds, it's yours, no one elses be proud of that.

That's why you're here, to pick up tips.

Keep going, do more, learn a chord or two, as one of the other postees mentioned, there is a lot you can do with just 1 chord, play around with tunes see what fits, think of the tune like a line graph, up and down, move it about a bit, make it interesting.

hope this helps.

cpm

[Katie Wilson]

 Thanks guys I'm just going to,experiment and see how I get on