most of the stuff i write tends to be based on the chord changes. this is probably down to me concentrating mostly on chords and not paying as much attention to the melody.
is it best to start soley with a melody and then work out some changes ?
what i tend to do is play chords and the pick a melody from the changes.
I am not sure why there has not been a lot of advice offered on your post. For what it is worth, you will probably find your compositions are quite different when you write melodicaly rather than by chord changes. I figure that people remember the melody rather than the chords and a strong hook is how the tune is recognized. If you work on finding a nice hook or melodic sequence you can then harmonize it in many different ways. You can also experiment with accidentals to add color - -something that would not happen just working from chord tones and scales.
I would say - just try different ways and see what you like. There's no "best" way.
when i write something i tend to do so on keys, which i tend to play chords on more than solo - so it's probably from that that i stick with the changes.
i remember reading a quote from mercer ellington that he was told a good exercise is to write a tunes melody that doesnt fit any of the changes. sounds tough to make it work out but should be interesting trying.
It depends on what you want to accomplish. If it's a combo chart, it should be a good spring bar for soloing, so the chord progression is of primary importance...melody is just frosting on the cake. However, if its scope is beyond that of a simple blowing tune, melody is very important because it establishes the mood, feel and style of the piece.
So I think both ways of approaching it are valid, you just need to decide what fits the circumstances.
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writing a melody outside a songs chords
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