So here's a dilemma I frequently encounter when writing songs: I'll write a song, everything's sounding good, and then a day or so later I'll realize it has the same chord progression as another song (by someone more talented and famous). Like I just had a song in mind only to realize halfway through playing it that the verse is just a modified version of the Funny Bunny verse.

Goddamn it that is so frustrating. Do you guys do that? What do you do to remedy the situation? Say screw it and just go forward with it, or any methods to avoid this?

It happens to me all the time. I don't really think it's that bad if you borrow a few progressions here and there, especially if you vary it up a bit.
Look at Kono Yo No Hate Made. It has a very similar chord progression to Green Day's Basket Case, or One Life, which sounds WAY to much like Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger in my opinion. (here come the flames)
A modified version of a chord progression is fine, as long as it isn't a blatant rip off and you're not trying to write another Funny Bunny.

Go ahead and try to find a chord progression that's never been used by anyone, ever.
Try not to do it consciously, and write your own melody~

Hahahahaha. Congratulations, you've realized that chord progressions happen. Seriously, as long as they're your own style, you've not copied anything.

It bothers me when people complain about songs being "rip offs" of other songs because of chord progressions. I find that a lot of songs that people claim to be "rip offs" sound nothing like what others are comparing them to (or if they do, it's such a minor nuance that it just doesn't matter).

What it comes down to is style. When you first began composing music, you're not going to have a style, so of course you're going to sound similar to other artists. But hopefully as you play, perform, and write more you will develop your own style.

I don't think that most people realize that Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven all wrote music using the same basic concept of harmony. Yet do they sound anything alike?

It's not about finding "NEW CHORD PROGRESSIONS". It's about optimizing your sense of style in music composition.

To say that it comes down to this or that is absolutely silly. Any similarity you can think of, including chord progression, is a factor. The simple issue is whether enough of those factors coincide for one work to be considered to be a "ripoff." If many factors coincide, it's a ripoff. If fewer factors coincide, it's derivative. And so on. Obviously, certain factors are more important than others (lyrics vs. chord progression), and certain combinations of factors can be far more critical than each are separately (a chord progression in a certain strum pattern can be as compelling as a unique melody), but there is no "one factor" that is prerequisite for a ripoff. To say as much is unreasonably silly.

I mean, it most certainly does not simply "come down to style." "All Along the Watchtower" is still "words and music by Bob Dylan," regardless how drastically Jimi Hendrix may have adopted it as his own in his own style.

True.

But still, style is something that you probably haven't developed too well at this point in your life (sleepyhead). It takes years of experience and influence for you to cultivate a sound that is "your own" in musical composition (usually). Well, unless you're bullshitting (which is fine with some people, if you want to go that route).

To sleepyhead, I'm saying, don't worry so much about being "unique" right off the bat. You'll try things that make you feel as an individual, sure (we all try for that), but don't be dismayed if you find something you've written sounds similar to something else you hear. Just keep on going.

I find it's best to finish songs (especially ones that you think are "good") regardless of what happens from the time you start to the time you finish. You can learn a great deal about what makes music "generic" and what makes it "unique" through writing out things, even if they feel off at times. Of course, if it sounds like shit or if it really is just a plain "rip off" of something else, it's time to purge.

I'm sure I'm one of the youngest in this discussion, but I've been writing music since I was in middle school, and this is part of my mindset on trying to sound "new" or be "innovative".

I remember getting a "Jomei, you rock" from Culen on the old boards for making a complaint similar to this one.

Basically every time I'd think I was onto a good song, I'd stop and realize it was One Life.

Just make sure your melody isn't the same and you're fine. All the good chord progressions were taken by white people in wigs hundreds of years ago anyway.

[quote="[Mr. Lostman]"]which sounds WAY to much like Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger in my opinion.[/quote]

Which sounds like John Lennon's [i]Imagine[/i]....

[quote="Jomei"]All the good chord progressions were taken by white people in wigs hundreds of years ago anyway.[/quote]

Yep.

My music theory teacher in high school made an interesting demonstration by playing a few chords on a piano, then stopping short... you just wanted to hear the next chord, you just knew what it was, and it didn't sound complete without it. Maybe in another 500 years different sounds will be considered harmonious, but who knows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I

Don't worry about original chord progressions.