Is looking for chord after having the melody unusual?

Question

Most people I encounter seem to have the opinion that **the** definitive way is to first have the chords and then "mess around" with the harmony notes until one founds a desirable succession of notes, i.e., "melody".On the other hand, I usually already have some melody in my head and so I try to find acceptable harmonization for it. However, others usually put me down for it and insist on the aforementioned method (chord first).Is looking for the chord after having the melody that <s>weird</s> unusual? I thought it's natural as a lot of people do it anyway with existing music and it's even tested in music theory examinations.

Answer 1

Both ways work. Melodies can pop into our heads, often in the middle of the night. Play it or write it down. The melody dictates what the harmony/chords will be.

On the other hand one can write a song from a chord progression. an excellent example is LET IT BE, by the Beatles. Mc cartney came up with it by figuring out a chord progression and the rest as they say is history.