Chord Melody books

liponguitas · #1 09-13-2010, 06:30 AM

Hello,

I've been looking in this chord-melody forum for books that could help me to learn how to comp chord-melodys in a sistematic way. I've already made some of this time of arrangments but it takes me a lot of time, and I think I could improve them.

I already now (i think) the basic theory and practice about chords inversions, scales, improvisation ... And I think I have enough technical to get me start because I have studied classical guitar for a lot of years in a official school.

Can you advise me with some books?

Thanks

Joe S. · #2 09-13-2010, 07:34 AM

It might be a good idea to read Howard Morgan's Book "Through Chord-Melody and Beyond".
This book presents thorough insight into the melody-chord technique. The only hang-up is that there are no preliminary chord forms that you can learn to play the chords beneath the melody notes. A good chord book is a book by Arnie Berle "Modern Chords and Progressions for Guitar" published by Amsco. The book may be out of print. However, you may be able to pick one up on Amazon.
I hope this information is helpful. Joe

Modalguru · #3 09-13-2010, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe S.

It might be a good idea to read Howard Morgan's Book "Through Chord-Melody and Beyond".
This book presents thorough insight into the melody-chord technique. The only hang-up is that there are no preliminary chord forms that you can learn to play the chords beneath the melody notes. A good chord book is a book by Arnie Berle "Modern Chords and Progressions for Guitar" published by Amsco. The book may be out of print. However, you may be able to pick one up on Amazon.
I hope this information is helpful. Joe

+1
Best book on that topic...

derek · #4 09-13-2010, 09:29 AM

I have Howard's book, and while I haven't gone all the way thru it, it is outstanding. I really like Jody Fisher's books on the subject also. Good luck

Bill C · #5 09-13-2010, 09:40 AM

The two Barry Galbraith books of chord melody arrangements are worth studying. They are books of arrangements rather than method books but there's a lot in the arrangements that "makes sense" on a guitar and is therefore memorable and transferrable, imo ...

lindydanny · #6 09-13-2010, 11:11 AM

Sounds like I'll be adding to my collection of dust traps...

~DB

liponguitas · #7 09-14-2010, 04:27 AM

It looks like Howard Morgan's Book "Through Chord-Melody and Beyond"., is a good way to go. I've read the first pages of demonstration in Amazon and it looks nice. If i study also some of Barry's Galbraith arrangements i think i'll go in the right direction.

Thanks!

Joe S. · #8 09-15-2010, 07:20 AM

Hi: I have the Barry Galbraith melody-chord solo book too. I believe that analyzing his chord structures and harmonies are very difficult to do, if not impossible ! Galbraith was a master jazz player, bordering on genious. I tried to analyze his chords and harmonic movement and found myself totally confused ! If you accomplish this feat, please let me know. I would be very interested in your result.
Best regards and lots of luck. Joe S.

nomelite · #9 09-15-2010, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe S.

It might be a good idea to read Howard Morgan's Book "Through Chord-Melody and Beyond".
This book presents thorough insight into the melody-chord technique. The only hang-up is that there are no preliminary chord forms that you can learn to play the chords beneath the melody notes. A good chord book is a book by Arnie Berle "Modern Chords and Progressions for Guitar" published by Amsco. The book may be out of print. However, you may be able to pick one up on Amazon.
I hope this information is helpful. Joe

If you want to complement these excellent books with some chord voicings check out this book:
Amazon.com: Chord-Melody Guitar: A Guide to Combining Chords and Melody to Create Solo Arrangements in Jazz and Pop Styles (Musicians Institute: Private Lessons) (9780634032110): Bruce Buckingham: Books

Modalguru · #10 09-16-2010, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomelite

If you want to complement these excellent books with some chord voicings check out this book:
Amazon.com: Chord-Melody Guitar: A Guide to Combining Chords and Melody to Create Solo Arrangements in Jazz and Pop Styles (Musicians Institute: Private Lessons) (9780634032110): Bruce Buckingham: Books

Great suggestion! I own this one, too.
I think in chord-melody it's very important that you can apply the material immediatly and play some pieces. Otherwise the motivation gets lost, cause it's hard in the beginning. That's why the book by Howard Morgen is so great. You learn the theory, the voicings, the bass lines and there are arrangements of songs in every chapter. But in my mind you learn most by not just copying his arrangements, but by making your own by modifying his versions. And the book by Buckingham is one that gives lots of ideas for doing so, too. And it's cheap...

Cheers, Modalguru

habbottl5 · #11 09-23-2010, 05:36 AM

hello,
musical guitar pays an important role in music it makes it melodious filling.
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Motion Activated Cameras Hidden

jayv999 · #12 09-24-2010, 12:14 AM

I'd recommend learning a bunch of chord-melody arrangements and observe what's going on, what chords are being used, substitutes, chord-scales, pedal tones, etc. One good source for a lot of free arrangements is the TedGreene.com website. In the "Tunes" section of the "Lessons" you can find many of his pages. In addition, you'll find a lot of helpful info about those arrangements in the "From Students" section.
Good luck!
--Jay

FatJeff · #13 09-24-2010, 08:47 AM

The best way to learn this stuff is by doing. Take some easy standards - ones whose melodies have a bunch of long notes (e.g. What Is This Thing Called Love, All The Things You Are, Blue Bossa, Cherokee, etc.) and then just use the chords you already know, or snippets of them, to outline the underlying harmonic progression while you play the melody on top.

It's slow going at first, but you start to get better at it.

I've found that getting yet-another-book-on-the-subject just feeds into my own illusion that if I find the right method book that I'll suddenly "get it." In reality, it does little to help me actually play.

As Pierre would say, "Time on the instrument..."

steev · #14 09-24-2010, 04:11 PM

Another Howard Morgen production in ebook form with video is "Fingerboard Breakthrough" its very good for chord construction and easier to understand than his other book. There are some videos taken from it on Youtube, worth a look. Also totally agree with Fatjeff, you just have to keep plugging away at it until you get to where you want to be.

Russ Kapp · #15 09-26-2010, 08:16 AM

+1 to Fatjeff on the learn by " doing "......I started with expanding my chord voicing vocabulary, i.e. using the CAGED system as a starting point, and creatively elaborated from there.....may be primitive to most schooled upper crust jazz ears, but it works for me.

nomelite · #16 09-26-2010, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatJeff

I've found that getting yet-another-book-on-the-subject just feeds into my own illusion that if I find the right method book that I'll suddenly "get it." In reality, it does little to help me actually play.

Excellent observation. and I'd add that all those companies (book and DVD publishers) already know that we're constantly creating that illusion, so they add more and more material to keep us busy, but we actually never learn that way.

wkriski · #17 09-29-2010, 09:53 AM

I agree wholeheartedly with FatJeff. I imagine there's a lot of people like myself. Lots of practicing, studying, learning bits and pieces here and there. You know a bunch of jazz chords, scales, triads, etc but at the end of the day can't play a chord melody from beginning to end.

Many of the chord inversions you learn will rarely be used. As I write out chord melodies I'm able to get all the melody notes with just a few chords, and ones that are easy to finger.

Russ Kapp · #18 09-29-2010, 11:37 AM

+1 with wkriski.....it kinda reminds me of the various high end keyboard synths I've bought and played " through " in my day with all those whistles and bells, or which, I ended up using perhaps three or four at most...! Fault me if you will, but in the final analysis there's nothing wrong with learning and expanding the craft end over the years and such, but I must be from the old school of " often the most moving and profound works and performances I've witnessed were also the SIMPLEST " .....how about the blues, for instance, ........5 notes and yet SO many songs....YES.....my classical training and background has been a big plus.....but I can also get cought up in missing the forest for the trees.....