Learning Melody Chords

[carl365]

It's my goal for guitar to play melody chords so I've been reading about it on the Internet but it's pretty confusing so far. Are there any rules of thumb or a very basic requirement list and a simple way to get started? I get the impression it's something you make up on your own by combining chords and single notes. A lot of sites begin by showing you how someone like Joe Pass plays which is light years away for a beginner.

Thanks.

[mr. beaumont]

It's usually called chord melody. The concept is simple, you play the chords to a song, you put the melody as the top note. As you encounter some melody notes that are not part of the original chord, you get some interesting sounds...combine that with a jazzy chord progression in the first place, and it sounds very hip and complicated fast!

To play like this, it's best to start with actual songs and their chords and melody...making this stuff up as you go along is pretty advanced. Start very simple...there's some things it's very helpful to know before you dive in.

1. What notes are actually in the chords you are playing

2. All the places on the neck you can access those notes.

I'll try to post a video about this later...actually, if you check out my website I have a pretty basic chord melody arrangement of "autumn leaves" that I go through, but I still reccomend starting simpler than that.

Take a song and write out the melody. Above the bars, write the chord names you'd be playing as an accompanyist.

Now, play the chord on every beat of the melody. Alter the chord as needed to make the melody the top note. That's it!

Takes a lifetime to master...eventually you get into jazzier tunes, chord substitutions, independent basslines, voice leading...it's a very rewarding way to play because it's like playing "lap piano." But it takes a long time to get there...I've been playing in this sytle almost exclusively for 10 years, and I'm just starting to feel like I'm getting comfortable...if you want it, keep at it, the road is a lot of fun...

[JonPR]

Ideally you need a full and comprehensive knowledge of chords as mr beaumont says, but the simplest way into this is to learn to play the melody first, and ignore the chords to start with. Choose the easiest key you can; you may need to transpose.

Once you can play the tune, try adding chords in the spaces between phrases. Most of the time, you should find that melody notes are part of the chords, so you should be able to hold the chord while playing the tune - you might just need to move an odd finger now and then. Of course, this may mean adjusting how you've been playing the tune, maybe moving it to different strings. Fretboard knowledge is essential here.

A lot of the time, with most tunes, you will find the melody descending quite low. Ideally, for chord melody playing you need the melody to be above the chords, because the top note of a chord is usually the most audible. So you might need to move the melody up the octave, and relearn it on the top 2 or 3 strings. Again, you need to know your fretboard well enough to be able to do this.
You might also need to investigate other keys, if you want to make use of open strings as much as possible in the accompaniment. (Although experienced chord melody players use very few, if any, open strings.)

As you get used to combining occasional chords with the tune (in the gaps), you can move on to playing chords at the same time as particular melody notes, always keeping the melody as top note of the chord.
Remember you don't need full chords for this. a couple of extra strings along with the melody note will do. But incorporating root notes or bass notes can often be important - maybe better than a full chord at certain points.

In fact, there are many approaches to what is essentially a method of solo guitar performance - unaccompanied, or rather self-accompanied. You can have every melody note harmonized beneath, in a kind of "thickened line" (effectively 3 or 4 different melodies flowing together); or you can have a single melody line supported by bass notes or a bass line; or something in between - bass notes with occasional chord punctuations.
Above all, the melody has to be clear at all times, and not swamped by the chords.

Here's a nice clip of John Etheridge playing a melody with a walking bass, and very minimal harmonies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hex9U...eature=related
(admittedly he's cheating by having bass guitar strings fitted on his E and A...)

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by carl365

It's my goal for guitar to play melody chords so I've been reading about it on the Internet but it's pretty confusing so far. Are there any rules of thumb or a very basic requirement list and a simple way to get started? I get the impression it's something you make up on your own by combining chords and single notes. A lot of sites begin by showing you how someone like Joe Pass plays which is light years away for a beginner.

Thanks.

Hi Carl...
One of the first exercises I give students is figuring out the chord progression to simple kid tunes like Mary Had A Little Lamb - in 5 keys. Then I ask them to figure out the melody in the first position middle of the strings.

Then I ask if they can hit a chord and find the first 7 melody notes, then change the chord and find the next three, etc.

We always do a chord accompaniment plus melody of Amazing Grace in 5 keys (E to A to D to G to C) where they learn both melody and progressions in each key, and then on the fly we take turns alternating between melody and chords while the other plays the opposite.

It's a process, but quite manageable. Simple tunes are best to start...

[carl365]

Thanks for the great replies and tips guys, things are beginning to become clearer and as usual, I've copied this thread to print. mr.beaumont, I'll view your vids today and have begun to memorize what notes are in the chords I'm learning.

I'm very glad to have begun learning all the fretboard notes, I can see how it'll be vital in chord melodies. Also have been practicing fingerstyle from a beginning classical guitar technique book even though I have a steel string.

JonPR:
You've answered some puzzling questions I had, one is how to play a melody note that is not part of the chord. (seems the pinkie gets a extra workout)

Also adding chords in the spaces between phrases.

My biggest puzzlement was this:

QUOTE: "Remember you don't need full chords for this. a couple of extra strings along with the melody note will do. But incorporating root notes or bass notes can often be important - maybe better than a full chord at certain points"

I wondered why a lot of chord melody arrangements played only the top or bottom notes of a chord.

Larry:
I came across this site when you mentioned Amazing Grace. I've been practicing this simple tune and can play it fairly well.

Thanks all!

[mr. beaumont]

With too much information in the chord, the melody can get lost.

Lots of the good old "cowboy" open chords are doubling things like roots and fifths...superflouous in a chord melody...

Two or Three notes plus bass is often plenty-- melody on top, one or two voices in the middle, and bass.

Heck, you don't need bass for every note...and as Jon mentioned, you don't need to harmonize every note...

[carl365]

mr. beaumont,
I watched your videos and yes your right, I need to come back in the future and perhaps I'll be able to make use of the info. It's too advanced for me right now.

But, let me say your audio in the videos is great. The biggest problem I have with watching many Youtube videos is that it sounds like the mic is 10 feet away from the person making for a tiny sound and in a large echoing room on top of it.