Songwriting Tip: Let the chords paint a picture.

By Don • May 17th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Resources, Songwriting Tips

I was reading this article from Jeff’s Songwriting Blog on “Taking Your Listeners on a Journey” which reminded me of a recent co-writing session I experienced. In this session, I played a chord progression I discovered and really liked. My co-writer said when he heard it he pictured “a guy leaving the house in the morning and walking down the street and everything is just perfect”.

The next part of the chord progression went decidedly minor key and from that we got on the concept that (a) everything was good, and then (b) he had to deal with some negativity/stress, but then (a) after facing his problems head-on, he eventually came back to everything being good.

Within a short time it became a song with a story and a life lesson on overcoming obstacles and focusing on the good in life. It had a strong melody and 80% of the lyrics.

It certainly is amazing how one person’s vision of what the chord progression depicts can shape the direction and lyrical content of the song.

Try bouncing some songs off a songwriter you admire, you might be surprised at the results.

Don is the founder, writer and editor of BloggingMuses.com. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
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