Scott Paul Johnson

Community Challenge 103 | Start with a Melody

Added 2025-07-08 17:09:56 +0000 UTC

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Hi Everyone,
This one might really be a challenge, but I want you to try it!

As you get comfortable writing music, you start to notice that some approaches work better for you than others. Some people like to write lyrics before they even start writing music. Some people like to write a chord progression first, then melody, then lyrics. It all depends on your workflow and preferences. Some people write a groove with intricate parts before even considering a melody, and others block out a basic chord progression to make more detailed and interesting AFTER writing a melody. It really just boils down to what works for you.

In my opinion, starting with a melody is more difficult than starting with chords, because you have to do some trial and error to figure out what chords will work with that melody. It takes a little more effort and skill, especially you haven't spent a lot of time writing melodies or you're not familiar with chord in a key.

My Melody Making series will help you understand how melodies work

In this MTM lesson, I spend more time talking about reharmonization: the concept of altering the chord progression of a song based on the notes in the melody. This lesson will help you understand how to do this for your own melody.

Of course, if you haven't seen MTFG II or similar lessons on Chords in a Key, you'll probably have a difficult time with this challenge.

Post what you write to the community forum.

As usual, you can participate in and previous Community Challenge at any time.