Ive always started all my song by playing chord progressions on a keyboard so have bit of a hard time making good patterns on syntakt where i can only play one note at a time…
Anyone that make syntakt only music that have some tips on the composing songs part? 
WARNING I am not a Syntakt user.
I took a look at the Syntakt manual real quick to see if it had some sort of machine similar to the Monomachine’s ensemble machines and it has a chord machine. I think this is first obvious route to write polyphonic stuff.
I don’t know how flexible that chord machine is, but on the Monomachine, I use those ensemble machines to program as many combinations of chords, harmonies, and single chords as possible. It takes a bit of preparation but they yield some cool results to an extent. When I want a bit more, then I may use 2 tracks of similar machines.
Polyphony in Elektron products is an exercise in problem solving.
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Monophonic woodwind player here…
You can still compose in chords, but you only play one note of the chord in a given moment. You can still designate what notes and tonality occur in a measure, and limit to voicings that, over several measures spell out a chord progression. The main difference is that when you avoid the 3rd, you don’t dictate the chord as much… so if you really want a listener to be grounded in a progression, make sure the 1 to 3 or 3 to 1 is obvious in a short timespan.
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I too tend to start with chords. On Syntakt it has taken a lot of getting used to, but I’ll often play in the rhythm I want then lock the note, chord type annd inversion per step for chord changes. Things sound more natural to me to change the inversion when moving up and down, and I usually think of the bass line as completing the chord progression. It takes a little practice but after a while I’ve come to appreciate the different places it takes things.
There’s also the RK-002 cable, which lets you play a few tracks polyphonically, and that works pretty nicely with the keyboard fold or a midi keyboard.
You can also use a harmonizer. I sometimes use the Eventide H9’s harmonizers to create in-key chords from single notes. You can then resample those chords. That’s on the Digitakt, not the Syntakt obviously, but it might give you some ideas.
This is a good opportunity to change your method and start with melodies and not chords (not that one way is better than the other but it interesting to try something different).