A chords first songwriting process usually means coming up with chords and backing rhythms as a first step, and then once that’s working to some degree, coming up with a melody and lyrics. There is an inherent weakness in the chords-first process, which is that melodies can be ignored and then added in, almost as a final step. This weakness can be overcome, however, and it’s the subject of my eBook “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression.”
The main benefit of the melody-chords process is that it requires you to have a melody in fairly good working order before you start experimenting with possible chords that support it.
And the reason that’s beneficial is that it places the spotlight on the part of your song that people are more likely to be able to hum and remember. Getting the melody in good shape early in the process increases the odds that you’ll wind up with a tune that’s got an interesting shape, that gets built on enticing patterns, and that listeners will want to keep returning to.
