Song structuring

[Frankie Rage]

My lifetimes work:

Written = 800
Binned = 600
Mediocre = 194
Reasonable = 6

 

[DarkFriend]

Vocal melody should dictate key changes and chord movement. Think about the most popular songs of the past 30 years, and its all about melody. Do you hum chords? No you hum melodies. If you can sing a full song's melody in your head, it is pretty easy to figure out what chords go under the melody either on piano or guitar. Don't think about songs in terms of what chord goes with what chord. Some of the weirdest chord movements make sense under the right melody.

 

[BenignVanilla]

Some of the weirdest chord movements make sense under the right melody.

And having said that...you can add variety and interest by replacing chords with relative chords that work. Maybe if you have G as a passing chord, you toss in an Em instead.