I had fun giving myself a songwriting assignment last week. It kind of forced me to write a new song that I may not have written. As I have said before in previous posts, my internal songwriter is very lazy. Weekly assignments are one way I can kick its ass. 
This week my assignment is a bit less involved than last week. So here it is….My new assignment due by next Sunday :
Write a song MELODY FIRST in the C DORIAN MODE.
The C Dorian scale includes the notes: C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, C – - So that is the scale I am going to base this week’s song on. I have no clue what the song is going to be about, but I have to come up with the melody first, which is not super easy for me. I will probably play a melody on the keyboard and record it and listen to it over and over. It should inspire something. Stay tuned for the song that results this week! If you write your own song, feel free to post it too! ~~ Chad
So when you do a scale like the C dorian, do you base this off of a chord progression in Bb or C?
Hi Ryan. The key signature is basically in Bb. As far as harmonizing a Dorian melody, if you wanted your chords also in Dorian, you would use chords in the signature of Bb. But when you use a mode for harmony, your first chord establishes the mode. There are certain chords that establish each mode. In C Dorian, the chords that really establish the mode are Cm, Dm, and F. So I would start with a Cm chord and make sure to use Dm or F as well, somewhere in the progression. But you can add in any chords in the key as well. The main thing is to establish the mode with the signature chords and notes. With this song, I am going to do melody and lyrics first, and then harmonize it.
Chords in C Dorian are: Cm, Dm, Eb, F, Gm, Adim, Bb