There’s always more than one way of harmonising a melody.

Here are two sets of chords for the major pentatonic song Amazing Grace.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

Version 1
C C7 F C
C C G G
C C7 F C
C G C C

Download Amazing grace version 1

Version 2
C E F C
Am D G
C E F C
Am D
F C/E G/D C

Download Amazing grace version 2

What ideas can I steal from this?

The most interesting part from version 2 is the E chord. It isn’t in the C major key, strictly speaking, but because the melody uses an E at this point, and the C and E chords both share the E note, it sounds good.

So, the idea to steal is using interesting chords, and thinking about your chord choices.
Try looking for chords that sound good with your melody notes, but don’t just follow the tired I IV V chord progressions we’re all used to.

For example, in the key of G, you might try a Bb chord, an Eb chord, or an F chord. None of them are in G major, but they can sound good, depending on your melody.

Acknowledgements
I had this idea after follow a link on this useful list which led me to this article about the Beatles (which is mostly badly written and pretentious, but still interesting).

Now, have you got your copy of my free ebook?

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