That's funny. I was logged into Anders' account to upload some videos for him, and accidentally posted as him. Suddenly I got really good at guitar and speaking in Danish.

Anyway, TaylorSwiftYAY:

From a basic standpoint (not considering inversions and counterpoint and all that stuff)...

I've gone to a lot of improv comedy shows in L.A. and have noticed that even untrained musicians, if they can do the basic open-position chords, can usually come up with *something* if they just wing it and sing along off the top of their head. Every once in a while there's a train wreck. But remember that we naturally tend to write melodies with our voices that follow the basic chords, just because we've heard them so many times. If you weave it together, adjusting the chords and adjusting your voice you'll find something that works as you go. It's great to do this as a natural part of the process -- thinking of the chords and melody at the same time. Even if you don't know what they are, develop that creative muscle.

When I write songs, I often just start playing those easy chords and humming and find something that sounds inspiring, then I figure out what it is as I go. Just get into the act of doing it, be musical, throw some clay on the wheel, and then you can elaborate from there.

I feel safe saying most pop / rock songs are made up exactly like that, and tweaked later by a producer / arranger / someone else in the band with music theory experience.

-Carl.