Songwriting skills - Chords

• Chords are one of the basic building blocks of music. They are groups of notes made up of 1, 3 and 5 based on a root note from the scale.

• Chords create the “Harmony” in the music, and direct the melody. They create the direction in the music

Song Writing Skills - Chords

• There are 3 primary chords, I, IV and V in any key. These are chords based on the first, fourth and fifth notes of any scale (key)

• Eg: A B C# D E F# G# A

A

C#

E

D

F#

A

E

G#

B

Song Writing Skills - Chords

• Chords can also be based on the other notes of the scale, but are not used as frequently.

• A B C# D E F# G# A

B D F C# E G# F# A C# G# B DThese are called Secondary chords, and are used to

provide colour to the harmony. They are generally not used at the ends of phrases

Song Writing Skills - Chords

• There are 2 major types of Chords, Major and Minor.

• The Primary Chords are Major, and are described as bright or happy sounding.

• Most of the Secondary Chords are Minor and are described as dark or sad sounding.

Song Writing Skills - Chords

• Cadences. A cadence is a selection of chords which end sections, like a full stop after a sentence. There are a wide variety of cadences, however the two most important are called “Perfect” and “Plagal”

• Perfect is a V - I cadence (Major)

• Plagal is a IV - I cadence. (Major)

Song Writing Skills - Chords

• Practical Activity– Load up Band in a Box

on the Mac computers, and insert primary chords in the key of D Major in random order.

– At the end of each 8 bars, place a cadence, Plagal or Perfect

– (G - D) ( A - D)

• Now substitute some chords (not at the ends of a phrase) for secondary chords in D Major (these will be minor chords, so will need to have an “m” placed after them to tell the computer what to do.

• Press Play, and try varying the style. You have just written a chord progression in D Major.

Song Writing Skills: Melody• In the same way as Chords are based on a

Key (scale) so too are ‘melodies’. Whether you choose to use a scale or not, your ear will naturally move to a set of pitches that you are familiar with, from a technical point of view, (for writing chords etc) it makes sense to “Know” what group of notes

your ear has chosen.

Song Writing Skills - Melody• Helpful Hints for writing a melody.

– Use “Repetition” (same thing over and over) – Use a small group of notes (most pop and rock

songs don’t have a full scale, only a few notes, not usually more than 5)

– Your pitch (for your melody) should follow the “meaning of the words”

• Eg, if you are singing about lost love, melodies going down, reflecting a “sad emotional state” or new love, melodies going up etc.

• A song about dancing should have notes that “dance” around between higher and lower etc.

Song Writing Skills: Harmony• Putting Chords with your melody is based on a very

simple principle.

–“ Only use chords that have your “Melody Note” in them” .

• If your melody note (the note sung) is an “A” then you must find a chord that has an “A” in it. Examples would be:

• D (D F# A) , A (A C# E) , F (F A C) etc.

Melody Activity: • You are to create a melody for the following words:

“Some where there’s music,

How faint the tune,

Some where there’s heaven,

How high the moon.”- Use only 4 -5 pitches from the D Major Scale.

- Tap a rhythm for the words against a beat.

- Record it using Cubasis on one note, and adjust in harmony assistant (or up to 5 notes on the keyboard)

- Quantize it to “16ths” to tidy up the rhythm.

- Export as a midi and open in harmony assistant, “Print it”

- On your printed score, work out which chord to use for the first and middle note of each bar. (D, G, A, em, f#m, bm, c#m )

Song Writing Skills: Melody Construction.

Where to start with a “new” melody. You can plan a melody just like a “Building” – 1. Choose a small group of notes that are side

by side, and alternate between them (scalic)– 2. Start with a “Leap” and follow with step by

step movement (balanced Angular / Scalic) – 3. Use note from the chord / 1,3,5 (Triadic)– 4. Use any of these in a combination together.

Examples of Finished Songs

Examples of finished Songs.C

G G G G G G G G E

It’s the Substance of All we hope for

Bb C

G G F F F F E D E

It’s the certainty of the unseen,

F C9/E

C C A A B C C G

Just a little can move mountains.