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I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to post about the whole songwriting convo, but I would like to add this:
A song’s melody is very, very heavily influenced by the chord progressions underneath it. A song could be in Am or it could be in C, and depending of which of those it is in, the melody’s tone will change drastically (keep in mind Am and C share the same scale and are relative.)
What I’m saying is that, for example, writing a song in a different key affects the meaning and the execution of the lyrics. So, yes, a song’s chord progressions can influence the melody even if added after.
ReplyCopy URLYou guys are really misunderstanding what a chord progression means.
It simply means a sequence of notes. If you’re playing guitar and you play 5 specific notes in a loop that’s a chord progression.
And you can add a guitar chord progression for example to a song after it was already fully written and it still doesn’t influence the melody in anyway.
A lot of that is actually done in the process of remixing a song. When you remix a song, you’re generally adding certain chord progression of certain instruments underneath the song.
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by
M.
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by M.
You can’t really copyright a chord progression. There are only a certain number of chords that are diatonic to the key (not borrowing notes from another key), so there are only so many chord progressions possible.
You can’t treat the law as black and white. Also music is not that simple to deconstruct. (Edit: and like I said before, law really has no bearing on music theory, so don’t conflate the two).
Technically:
Melodies are copyrighted, yes. Chord progressions are not protected by copyright, yes.Reality:
While you can borrow chord progressions, there are considerations. For example, to use the same chords with the same rhythm as another song, it may be possible you are copyright infringing. You must still ensure that your use of the chord progression is unique. Borrowing this way works better only for songs that use standard progressions. However, the more unique a progression is, the harder it is to hide where you got it.
(Note – I’m not pulling this out of my ass. I have citations: Gary Ewer).So if chord progressions are plagiarized, depending on the circumstances you can probably still sue for damages.
And in regards to your second point, no. There are a million ways chord progressions can be used. E.g. If the song jumps outside the key by borrowing chords from other scales, that’s a unique chord progression which influences the melody. There are many different examples and a million possible combinations of this.
ReplyCopy URLYou can’t copyright a chord progression.
You can sue for damages if you feel that another person’s chord progression is way too similar to yours.
That’s what happened with Thinking Out Loud, but I believe that it was ruled that chord progression was used way too commonly for it to be anybody’s intellectual property.
ReplyCopy URLYou guys are really misunderstanding what a chord progression means. It simply means a sequence of notes. If you’re playing guitar and you play 5 specific notes in a loop that’s a chord progression.
You have the basic definitions down but there is a relationship between chord progressions and melodies. They are VERY complimentary, which means that chord progressions can be melodies, and in fact they often inform the melody. The top tone of a chord is considered to be part of a melody. This means that for practical reasons, whoever writes chord progressions may, in many circumstances, deserve songwriting credit. You have to remember that in pop music, progressions are not as rigid and things are often more spread out.
We are looking at things practically. Melody and chord progressions are not a good generalisation of music to begin with. Many notes will overlap at any given point in a song. “Chord progression” is actually a very ambiguous phrase. A melody is a dominating voice. Harmony is the supporting sounds around that melody. You will find many chords crossing between a combination of those.
ReplyCopy URLYou can’t copyright a chord progression. You can sue for damages if you feel that another person’s chord progression is way too similar to yours. That’s what happened with Thinking Out Loud, but I believe that it was ruled that chord progression was used way too commonly for it to be anybody’s intellectual property.
This is literally what I just said I – Can you please actually read? It’s frustrating talking to a wall.
ReplyCopy URLLike I said chord progressions can be, and often inform the melody. E.g. If the song jumps outside the key by borrowing chords from other scales, that’s a unique chord progression which influences the melody. There are many different examples and a million possible combinations of this, of course. Alex00g2 is wrong.
When chord progressions inform the melody, it’s the melody that is considered to be the unique part of the song, not the chords. You can have the exact same chord progression, e.g. C-F-G-C with different chord inversions and that will imply a different melody.
There are probably no examples in recently charting popular music that use unique chord progressions, that haven’t already been used by Bach, Beethoven, The Beetles or by someone in 20th century jazz, blues or progressive rock.
Usually the songwriting credits come down to what has been agreed before the artist and producer go into the studio.
ReplyCopy URLTechnically:
Melodies are copyrighted, yes. Chord progressions are not protected by copyright, yes.Reality:
While you can borrow chord progressions, there are considerations. For example, to use the same chords with the same rhythm as another song, it may be possible you are copyright infringing. You must still ensure that your use of the chord progression is unique. Borrowing this way works better only for songs that use standard progressions. However, the more unique a progression is, the harder it is to hide where you got it.So if chord progressions are plagiarized, depending on the circumstances you can probably still sue for damages.
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