kind of new at this. i seem to come up with the lead for a song, and then have to go back and place the best chords for the lead. how is this done? look to see which chords have the lead note in them? lots of trial and error? or is there more structure, say, using only major 7's for most all the song? or do types of chords vary a lot within a song?

i know majors and minors are much different from each other and inter-mixing them is tricky, but does varying the type of major chord throughout a song usually flow well?

thanks,

jim

It helps to learn some things about tonal harmony. While in Ionian Mode (natural major: eg C D E F G A B all natural)the chords are:

I ii iii IV V vi vii(dim)
or; Major 1, minor 2, minor 3, major 4, major 5, minor 6, diminished 7th

for minor (harmonic); i ii(dim), III, iv, V, VI, vii(dim) ...kind of...

Then you need to learn basic chord progressions

eg) I-IV-V-I, or more common in pop I-V-IV-I

After you understand basics of chord progressions you can analyze your lead melody line for guide tones (non-passing notes) that fit in chords of a progression. Or you can be like 95% of guitar players and make sh*t up until it doesn't sound awful.