How do I turn a chord progression into a song?

Question

Say I have a simple progression, 1-3-1-5 (degrees),do I do that throughout the whole song, or does it change?

Answer 1

Music is mathematical you can do anything with those numbers.  Improvise, be creative, add a seven, or something to break it up, or create a couple other progresions with slightly different rythms. Add em all together Typical songs have  Intros, Hooks, Chorus', Verses',  Bridges, and  Outros, you can even just play a simple l**k to break up the progression. It's all about the creative process and what you want to hear and write. If that progression alone sounds good keep it.  Trust your own ear.

Answer 2

A song is best thought of being in sections. I'll assume for this we're talking about a 'traditional' pop song.

Typically there will be the following sections, which will go something like:

Intro

Verse

Verse

Chorus

Verse

Chorus

Middle Eight

Chorus

Chorus Repeat (Perhaps til a fade out).

So in this case you'd need a chord progression for the verse (of which you could use then for your intro), a progression for the chorus which is different to the verse and a quite different middle eight to retain the listeners interest.

This is a very basic answer however. The question could just as well be asking, "What is the meaning of life?" as music is personal to each and every person, most of all the composer. You can do whatever you want to form a song. You could chug through the same chord for twenty minutes or use every chord under the sun.

Look at the traditional pop song for example which is low in variation, and then something in the vein of early Genesis or Yes which often contains very little repetition over the course of ten minutes or more.

Answer 3

Normally songs have a 'break' in the middle.

But like verse and chorus.