Originally Posted by: faith83

last few lines of verse:

E7/E/E7/A

bridge (as currently conceived):

Amaj7/E7/E/Amaj7/E/A

Chorus:

A/E/A

A folk song, so very simple chords under more complex lyrics.[/quote][p]Got it. So the A chord of the verse leads to the Amaj7 of the bridge. And maybe that doesn't seem like enough of a dramatic change at that point. All those sections end with A, so maybe there needs to be a different chord at the end of one of those sections that helps dovetail or lead into the bridge?

Conversely, the Amaj7, E7 & E major all share the note G#. So maybe a different chord with a G# in it might work.

How about:

F#min7 add9 > E7

|--4----0-----------|

|--2----3-----------|

|--2----1-----------|

|--2----0-----------|

|--4----2-----------|

|--2----0-----------|

How about a modulation to really change shake it up?!

G#7 > C#min

|--4----4-----------|

|--4----5-----------|

|--5----6-----------|

|--4----6-----------|

|--6----4-----------|

|--4-----------------|

[quote=faith83]I don't know the notes of the melody

But surely they are easy to figure out. Often they are the notes of the chord you are playing with one or two passing tones in between chord tones.

And sometimes if you play the notes of the chord one at a time while singing the melody you might find one that isn't working for you. So you adjust the chord until you find the right note & then you can find the chord you were looking for!