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Question: When song writing, what determines the chorus chords and the length of the chord progression?

(Posted by: R on 2010-02-23 14:54:41)

For instance. Say I had written a verse that went F, B, C, F (8, 8, 8, 8) .. Would I still have to remain in the F Scale? Would the chords have to corrospond to the 8, 8, 8, 8 timing exactly (four repeating chords) or could I play a combination that totals 32? The chords in the verse I mentioned were just made up on the spot. If you want apply the question to a collection of chords that work. :) I am trying to find 'the rules' so I can understand them and understand how best to bend them when I need to and not end up with disjointed music that sounds good on its own but bad together.. understand why, and modify it and not spend hours get annoyed.. etc

Posted by: woodley on 2010-02-23, 15:00:55

Clive James once described 'disco' music as being an endless nailed being hammered in by a giant moron. Ear candy has set rules... music breaks them. You don't have to stay in any key, nor follow any tempo. You only have to create what is right for your imagination.

Posted by: musician x on 2010-02-23, 15:00:30

You wouldnt be using the F scale for this song because there is no B in the key of F its Bb, my guess for the key would be C, because C is the chord 1 in the Key of C and F is chord 4 in C,

Posted by: lostinconfusion on 2010-02-23, 15:50:15

It sounds like a very formulaic approach you are taking. Don't think in terms of bars, think in terms of if the song is working as a piece of music people would actually listen to? Is the verse too long? Is there wasted bars in the chorus? Things like that. Write a song first, worry about the theory or practicalities afterwards. Technically, F and B don't really work, but if you are playing bar chord rock it won't matter too much I guess. As I say, write a song and edit it as needed so it sounds good, or like a song. Good luck.