Generate melody ideas from any chord progression


Use this free melody generator to create melodic ideas from your chord progression. Paste in your own chords or build a progression manually, then choose a style, rhythm, range, and phrase shape to generate a melody that follows the harmony.

The generator works by prioritising chord tones on strong beats while allowing passing notes and rhythmic variation on weaker beats. This helps create melodies that feel musical, balanced, and more natural than completely random note generation.

You can experiment with different styles such as Pop, Lofi, House, Trap, and Jazz, preview the melody using the built-in playback engine, and export the result as MIDI for use inside your DAW.

Useful for:

  • Writing vocal toplines
  • Generating synth lead ideas
  • Beat making and songwriting
  • Breaking creative block
  • Learning melody and harmony relationships

This tool is part of a larger music-generation project still in development. In the meantime, check out the Chord Progression Generator — the one standalone piece that's fully finished and ready to use.

Every generated melody is based on your chosen chord progression, helping you explore how rhythm, repetition, motif development, and resolution work together in real music.

4 / 8 / 16 barsLoop / Verse / Chorus / Bridge8 stylesRhythm-first generationMelodic colourHuman feelLock + regenerateMelody roles explainedMIDI export
Quick start: paste a chord progression, choose a Melody Style, Section and Melody Role, then press Generate Melody. The defaults are designed to create a musical phrase rather than a string of notes. After generating, each bar shows its phrase role and a Why? explanation.
1. Musical directionSet the harmony, length and job the melody needs to do in the song.
If the progression is shorter, its chords repeat while the melody keeps developing.
Suggested key: This progression fits A Natural Minor / C Major / G Mixolydian.
Enter chords separated by dashes, commas or arrows. Example: Am - F - C - G. Slash chords like Am/E are supported. Enter 2–16 chords; the Melody Bars setting decides how long the generated phrase is.
Try a progression to get started quickly.
2. Shape the melodyChoose what the melody is for, how it develops and how colourful the note choices can become.
Hook favours recognisable repetition and a memorable payoff.
Controls passing notes, extensions and approach tones without changing the chords.
3
SparseDense
3. Timing & performanceLet the style choose a suitable groove, or override it. Performance settings affect playback and MIDI rather than the underlying melody idea.
Style Default chooses a suitable rhythmic family for each generated phrase.
Adds small timing, note-length and velocity differences after composition.
Changes candidate scoring. Wildcard permits occasional contrast; it does not disable harmonic checks.
Generating and scoring melody candidates…
E – E – F – A – A – B – F – F – E – E – G – G – D – E – D
Am → F → C → G
Am
F
C
G
E
E
F
A
A
B
F
F
E
E
G
G
D
E
D
Understand the melody: each card shows the chord underneath, the bar's phrase role and the melody notes. Orange notes are melodic colour/tension. Use Why? to see how each bar relates to the phrase and harmony.
No bars locked
Bar 1Motif
Am
Chord tone · Passing / neighbour tone
Chord tones: A – C – E
E E F A
Motif over AmThis bar establishes the main melodic identity. The bar uses 1 colour/passing note around Am, while stronger notes are kept harmonically stable.
Bar 2Answer
F
Chord tone · Passing / neighbour tone
Chord tones: F – A – C
A B F F
Answer over FThis answers the opening idea while keeping enough rhythmic DNA to feel related. The bar uses 1 colour/passing note around F, while stronger notes are kept harmonically stable.
Bar 3Variation
C
Chord tone
Chord tones: C – E – G
E E G G
Variation over CThe motif is changed without losing its identity. The melody is anchored closely to C here, giving the phrase harmonic clarity.
Bar 4Phrase Turn
G
Chord tone · 6th / 13th colour
Chord tones: G – B – D
D E D
Phrase Turn over GThis bar behaves like a comma: it closes a phrase without fully finishing the melody. The bar uses 1 colour/passing note around G, while stronger notes are kept harmonically stable.
A Natural MinorKey and scale
Pop / Verse / HookStyle, section and role
4 bars / Style Default → Syncopated / density 3 / natural human feelLength, rhythm and feel
Why this melody worksMelody analysis
PhraseThe phrase starts with a motif and answer, then uses a compact motif, answer and ending. The verse setting favours continuation rather than an over-final cadence.
HarmonyStrong positions are protected by chord tones while 3 colour/passing notes add movement on safer parts of the phrase. Colour remains tied to the selected scale and chords.
RhythmThe rhythm was chosen as a complete multi-bar phrase using Syncopated behaviour, then scored for connected cells, breaths and bar-to-bar flow. Hook scoring increases recognisable repetition.
How the generator chose it
The engine first auditions and scores complete rhythmic phrases. It then writes several pitch versions over the strongest grooves, rejects candidates with problems such as strong-beat clashes or unresolved accented tensions, and scores the survivors for phrase-role development, singability, cadence, range and one optional style-specific signature moment. Human timing, note-length and velocity changes are added only after the musical candidate has been chosen.

Updated 08nd September 2026; 22:35 GMT

Need help writing chord progressions? Then try out our Chord Progression Generator.

Alternatively, Generate Basslines or Drum-beats with our other MIDI generators.


How Does This Melody Generator Work?

This melody generator creates note patterns based on your chord progression rather than choosing notes completely at random. Strong beats typically land on chord tones such as the root, third, fifth, or extensions like the 7th and 9th.

Between these stronger notes, the generator can introduce passing notes from the selected scale to create movement and melodic flow. This helps produce melodies that feel musical and harmonically connected to the chords underneath.


Tips for Writing Better Melodies

A strong melody usually combines repetition with variation. Repeating a short motif gives the listener something memorable, while small changes keep the phrase interesting.

  • Start simple with 3 to 5 notes
  • Use repetition to create hooks
  • Resolve important phrases to chord tones
  • Leave space instead of filling every beat


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