How To Compose a Chord Chart

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1. The first step to composing a chord chart is making sure you have your song’s melody and lyrics in front of you.

2. Now, look at the melody and decide which notes are going to be the highest pitched notes in the song. If a high note lasts for more than one measure, repeat that note in that measure. For example, if the song’s theme is going to last eight measures, include the melody’s highest note in each measure of that theme.

3. Once you’ve decided on a few notes from the melody as your chord chart, figure out how many beats per measure it will take to play these notes. For example, if your song’s melody has four beats per measure and you want to include six notes from the melody in your chord chart, it will take eighteen beats total; six notes will fill up nine measures.

4. Now add any remaining lyrics or additional musical phrases to make sure there are enough measures in the chord chart.

5. Now look at your final numbers and decide what chords you’ll need to use for each part of them. If you’re new to this process, I recommend trying out different combinations of chords until you find something that fits right with your melody and lyrics.

I am sure that most of you know how to do this. But even if you do, I think it’s a good idea to have a reference for this kind of information in one place.

So here it is, a chord chart tutorial from me.

Song Chord Charts:

1. Take the song you want to make a chord chart for and make sure it’s in the key of C or whatever key your band plays in. Once you have confirmed this, type the name of the song into google and take note of the number of results that come up. If there are more than 50 results, go back to step 1 and try again (or just use your ears). If there are less than 50, move on to step 2.** 2. Listen to each result and determine which one is closest to what you want your chord chart to sound like.

Hold on though! You can’t just listen to it once. You need to listen to it at least 3 times, paying attention carefully each time for any changes in the melody and then write down every change in chords using common notation.*

3. Once you have done all this, go back through your list and delete any chords that are not going to be used in the song (such

The way to start is by knowing the chord progression you want to use and the song key. This is important because it is the basis of your chord chart, which will have a lot of chords in it.

My preferred method for this is to look at the chords in the song and ask myself what notes are found in most or all of them. For example, if I see a lot of G’s and C’s, I might choose those as my chord root keys and then just fill out the rest of the chart based off of those two chords.

If there are several chords in common, you can decide which one to make more prominent in your chart and pick some “common” notes for that chord that are found in most or all of the other chords.

For example, if you have three chords (A, B, and C) but A has a G

If you are trying to write chord charts and not having any luck, try these tips and see if they help:

Try a different instrument. In my experience, piano scores have the easiest time adapting to this style of arrangement, but others may work as well. Here’s a sample of what I mean. If you’re trying to go from a sheet music arrangement to this, note that you will need to change the chords in the score. The chords in your chart should match up with the chords in the original score, as well as being on beat like any good chart should be!

**Remember that you don’t have to play every note on a chord chart. Feel free to skip around and use only part of one or two chords for each measure. **This is key for getting tricky rhythms to line up properly!

**If your song has more than two chords, consider leaving out some of them in favor of just bass notes (or no notes at all). I’ve included bass notes on my examples below so that you can see how it works.**

*Unless you are going for a specific effect (like an arpeggiated feel), arrange your chords so that they move into new ones smoothly without gaps or skips.* You can do this by

In one column of your chart, list the names of all the notes you want to use in the song’s chords. For instance, if you’re writing a song in the key of G major, your list might include the following: G, A, B, C and D.

In another column list the note that each chord is based on. So for a G major chord, your column might look like this: I (G), IV (F) and V (D).

In yet another column list which finger to use to play each note. For example, when you play your G major chord you’ll use your index finger to play the note G. When you play a D major chord you’ll use your middle finger for D; when you play an A minor chord you’ll use your ring finger for A and so on.

Because there are only 12 notes in music (seven white keys plus five black keys on a piano), here’s a simple rule: The more times a particular note appears in a chord chart, the harder it will be to play. This means that if C is part of two chords in your song, it will be hard to play. If F is part of two chords it will be hard too. But if F is only

The chord chart is a graphical representation of the chords used in a song. It is used by performers or singers to follow the changes in the music. Chord charts can also be used by a session musician to assist them in learning new songs. They are usually found on sheet music, though they are also frequently written out above the lyrics of a song as well.

A chord chart typically contains the following information:

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Finally, take into account the flow of the melody. If a song is in a minor key, for example, it’s usually a good idea to start with the minor chords. The same applies for major keys and major chords.

Treat your choice of chords like an arrangement of colors on a palette: choose your chords wisely, as they will make up most of the color of your song.

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