Best Chords for a Love Song

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

If you’re feeling loved up and want to pen a masterpiece to woo someone special, you’re going to need to write something that properly captures the very essence of love. One of the most popular subjects for songs, but one of the hardest to pull off convincingly.

Love notes

Strange as it may seem, some notes are better suited to love songs than others. You want to convey tenderness, conviction, warmth and desire, with a touch of vulnerability. Avoid starting in a Major Key, and try a Minor, or even Blues Minor scale. Try different keys and listen to the emotional quality of each triad (it’s really easy to do this in our Captain Chords software)

Cupid’s chords

Chords like C Minor, D Minor, and E Flat Minor would be better suited to sad break-up songs, right? Whereas chords like A Minor, B Flat Minor, B Minor, and G Flat Minor immediately sound romantic. Amazingly simple, isn’t it? Choose one of the romantic sounding root notes from the table below:

A Minor / B# Minor / B Minor / B Minor / G#Minor / G Minor

You can then try out different diatonic (complementary) chords for the rest of your progression. While Minor Keys are best to start in, Major Chords can add power and passion, so don’t be afraid to use a mixture in a love song.

Captain Chords allows you to experiment until your progression sounds exactly right. If you can imagine reading a romantic poem over the top of your progression, it’s probably pretty good!

Easy does it.

A love song can be in almost any style of music, from RnB to Drum n Bass, Punk Rock to EDM. There’s no one way to compose a love song, but a great love song always sounds smooth, with satisfying rhythms, a little passion and sweet, soulful tones. Your progression should have all these characteristics, so avoid staccato, aggressive rhythms, fast octave changes and keep you chord choices simple and satisfying. If you can imagine reading a romantic poem over the top of your progression, it’s probably pretty good!

Listen up

A love song chord progression made in Captain Chords:

G Flat Minor (AKA F# Minor) / D Flat Min (AKA C# Minor) / D Maj / E Maj

Invert and conquer

Notice how the tonal quality changes when First Inversion is selected? Inversions are a great way to add interest to your chords.

Each triad’s highest note is called a perfect fifth. It’s 5 notes away from your root note. An inversion takes that fifth and moves it to a new position – usually a 6th, 7th, 9th or 11th. This adds subtle dissonance to your chord which can add flavour.

Pull the heartstrings

Love songs often use octave changes throughout the song to increase the emotional power. Try making your Verse with default triads, First Inversions of the same chords for your Pre-Chorus, and take it all up an octave for your Chorus – instant swoon!