Thanks , food for thought . Yes , I understand where you are coming from . I guess the approach I ' m thinking of is just an organisational tool in my mind . So I ' m not thinking , yes , I ' ve got every chord to play with here . Well I am to a degree . But I understand I need to temper it and keep to some form of viable structure . Re the melody yes , I seen a video that really sticks in my head , which is one by Hal Galper where he talks about the only real rule being let the melody be your guide . So yes I ' m thinking along melodic lines as well . And have that in the back of the mind . Should be noted I ' m not trying to make modal music . Just looking for compositional tools to stick in my arsenal that allow me to experiment . So I ' m aware this leads me away from modal music , to tonal music and ultimately it leads to I guess chromatic music . In the sense of chordsnot sure if that bit makes sense ! I guess the proof is in the pudding . I may stick up something sometime and discuss the themes above with something to reference too . Thanks for your comments , appreciated .