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Here’s an audio clip of the chord process.

I then start writing a melody. By ‘writing’ I mean creating or ‘making up’ a melody, and not writing the melody in music notation. Instead of actually writing it down, I capture my work by recording it. The melody needs to ‘sit’ on top of the chords without unintentional dissonance. This can be an awkward and frustrating process sometimes. Some days I can’t come up with anything original. On those days I don’t press the issue. I walk away for a bit, sometimes a day or more, and return with fresh ears. Once again, don’t be overly concerned about this aspect the process. Most folks ears will have a built in sense of whether a note or series of notes works with a particular chord or chords. When writing the melody, you only have three choices; will it go up in pitch, go down in pitch, or remain the same. If you are tone deaf you should probably link up with a melody writer or get outside help from someone who can be there with you during the creative process.

Here’s me trying to through some chords together and see if they work.

In my previous audio clip, I assembled a few chords and determined a feel for the song. Now I’ll try writing a melody over the chords. Sometimes this can get ugly! Here goes…wish me luck!

You’ll also notice that I wasn’t singing any words, just a bunch of gibberish. It’s a way of determining what the melody will be and a way of solidifying it. Don’t be concerned about lyrics at this stage. They are unimportant.

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