How To Use ‘Chord Association’ To Write Music

Note: Some of you have used the following exercise/game to write new music. If so, please leave a comment and share that music. Would love to see what you’ve come up with.

You know the game. When a word is thrown at you, you respond with a word(s) or image it triggers in your head. For example: Paris: Eiffel. Coffee: Good Morning. Etc etc.

So, I was thinking of what chord types trigger what words or images in me and how  I can use them to write songs and perhaps tell a story – or set a mood, at least.

Major – Home

Minor – Nostalgia

Major 7th – Love

Minor 7th – Joy

7th – Pain

Diminished – Puzzle

Just a few to start with. No need to do that with all the chords (you will go nuts and will be very confused). Now a DM7 will feel slightly different than CM7 – than will EbM7. DM7, to me, is a little “warmer” than a CM7.

How would I write songs or music with that? If I played the progression, a IIm7-V7-IM7 (Dm7-G7-CM7), and tried to state a theme or tell a story, it just might mean – taking the association I’ve made above – “Joy Pain Love”

The night is a little cold and I’m feeling a little nostalgic, so I played the sequence bossa nova style. A title springs to mind – “When I Remember Your Face.” Not so good, but not such a bad way to start.

Just one of many, many, many approaches to start a song. What the game did, if nothing else, is that it gave me a title and a style to begin work with.

What comes to your mind when you hear those chords? Do you tend to pick certain types over others?

Related: The Power of Vulnerability (In Writing Music)

Subscribe to this blog if you’d like to receive new lessons by email or via RSS. You won’t be disappointed. Check out the list here.