Is the chord creating the melody or finding the chord according to the melody

Is the chord creating the melody or finding the chord according to the melody.
When using Scaler, I often think about a problem.
It’s to find the chord first, and the melody appears. OR Think of the melody first, then find the chord.
Obviously, Scale can do both of these things.
But which way do you prefer now?
Discuss it together?
It’s a very interesting thing. :smile:

I think this is quite a complex question you raise - in fact a very complex question.

If you think of the notes of C major scale, they tell you little in themselves about what chords might fit (and importantly, what progressions might fit), unless you think in terms of modes. The same notes fit against a cheery ionian, Spanish sounding phrygian, or discordant locrian.
This is complicated even more if is one is looking at pentatonic scales, which many guitarists do, as, for example, C major pentatonic is contained within the G melodic minor scale. You need the bigger picture.

I would take the view that you need some form of framework for what you plan to compose - what sort of tonality is it ? The intervals in the notes of your tune relative to the root will tell you which scale family, and if they went T/ 2T / ST, you’d sort of think that raised 4th was maybe pointing to lydian.

So IMHO just a scale or some chords don’t really get you anywhere other than having a whole bunch of choices, but it becomes clearer I feel if you have a outline plan of the tonality as a whole. Just my take …

(Of course, this is one reason why scaler is so great ! You have all the harmonisations and substitutions a mouse click away instead of writing out stuff or twanging aimlessly on my axe trying to make it work)

In my case, considering I often hunt for guitar riffs with this workflow, I find a series of chords first

Even because I don’t know music theory, so finding chords according to the melody could be very tough, if not impossible