How do I know what chord progressions to use in my songs?

Answer 1

If you listen to any song that is considered a "classic" or "hit", you will notice that the music defines the words. Even a song with silly words will have silly music. I can only imagine the words to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sung to the music of "Bohemian Rhapsody". You could piece the words and music together, but both would be weaker. If you are a serious songwriter, you will plan and design each song. What style of music would be listeners relate to the lyrics. The main riff to "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles is very specific to the subject of the song. Of course, if you have Alvin and The Chipmunks singing "The Witchdoctor", it is really a sped up version of that same style.

1. If your lyrics were the theme for a film, what people and environment would be in the picture?
2. If you were able to have any artist record this song, who would it be and what attributes of their music would work well with the song idea?
3. What songs and styles could you research to help paint a picture for this song?

Answer 2

it depends, some songs don’t even need a real chord progression if the melody is enough to keep the song interesting in the absence of the harmony of chords. The best way to get an intuition for what chords to use is to analyze music that you like and want to emulate, and start noticing patterns because there are some big ones. What key you are in, what style of music, and what the melody sounds like are all important variables which make the chord progression sound good or bad. Rhythm is at least as important as harmony also, a lot of the most famous songs of all time have surprisingly simple chord progressions with an interesting rhythm, and they sound great. Here are some cookie cutter progressions that you could experiment with and are very common in popular music:

I-IV

I-IV-V

I-V-VI-IV

I-VI-IV

*major key I-VI-IV-IVminor

II-V-I

VI-II-V-I

I-III-IV

I-II-IV

Try playing the chords and working in a bit of a melody to practice your musical creativity.