The Music Template
Lesson 5 Module 1
Chords for your 1st song
Laws and Licensing - Chords cannot be copy written but melodies can. Make sure you change melodies so they don't match anything else you have recently heard.
3 chords and the truth (I, IV, & V) "Three Chords and the Truth", is an oft quoted phrase coined by Harlan Howard in the 1950s which he used to describe Country music
Pop Music likes to make it fancy by adding the “vi” chord.
I’m going to give you 2 different songs that you can work with to write your song. I will give you the underlining chords and you will create the melodies on top of them.
Start by putting down the chords
Then, I’m going to show you how to keep your notes within the chords by using the “stable” setting.
- Melodies in your song should repeat. Try creating a melody over eight measures. Try singing some of what you have written from your brain storming session for the chorus and the verse over that melody. Decide which you think works better and then copy and paste it into the correct section. Then create a different melody that fits the other section.
- The chorus melody should be different than the verse but each should be the same every time it is repeated over the corse of the song.
Let's look at my song: "That's my Favorite"
Here is an example from my "How to Write a Love Song" course. This melody is actually an example of a "4 BAR" phrase repeat in the verse. I recommend doing an 8 Bar song first but this video also gives examples for when you come back and write more.