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Changing Progression

Just to prove the point that the chords are ‘creating’ the melodies, you can try the same melodies, with a different chord progression and they will work, albeit in a different turn of phrase.

For simplicity, try a 1, 5, 4 progression. In the C Major scale that’s C (1), G (5) and F (4).

This chord progression would look like...

...from which you may come up with this melody...

...or this melody...

Practice the 1, 5, 4 chord progression and these melodic examples.

Can you hear that the relationship still works but in a slightly different way?

Changing Scale

What if you don’t want to use C Major?

Let’s transpose this technique onto another scale. For simplicity, we choose the scale of A minor. The scale of A minor consists of the notes ABCDEFG (yes the same as C Major, no sharps or flats but beginning on A and not C).

This is the A minor scale...

The numerical order of the notes in the A minor scale is A=1st B=2nd C=3rd D=4th E=5th F=6th G=7th.

The 1st, 4th and 5th notes still have a special relationship, even though they are now A, D and E.

So using the 1,4,5 system and doing the same as you did with the C Major scale, you could come up with this 4 bar chord progression...

...which could lead to this melody...

...or this melody.