Arranging my first chord-melody song, need help.

[ECross]

I want to tackle arranging my first chord-melody song and I am thinking of doing The Crystal Ship by The Doors. Any tips about where to start or any links to useful websites or lessons etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

YouTube Video

[bkdavidson]

Take the melody up an octave. Familiarize yourself with inversions if you haven't. If you're pretty comfortable with inversions, all you really need to do is put the melody note on top of the chord. I'm sure there's all kinds of lessons on the actual jazzguitar.be website.

[fep]

I think that's a difficult 1st choice for a chord melody. To make it sound jazzy you may find yourself adding chord alterations, substitutions and reharmonizations.

For example, I might start with this... Gm11 C9 Gb13 Fm7 Cm7



-------------------------8--8----------8--8------
----1----3----4------6--------------------------
----3----3----3------8--------------8------------
----3----2----2------6--------------8------------
---------3-----------8------------------------
--3-----------2-----------------6-7-8------------



So, I added a few chords not in the tune and changed those first two minor chords to minor 7th chords. With this type of tune I'd probably do a lot of that.


If you were to choose something like Autumn Leaves... you'll have an easy jazz tune that you can easily find a lead sheet to help you with the melody and chords. And you could stick to the chords listed on the lead sheet.

And after you're done, there are plenty of chord melodies of that tune done by others that you can compare your arrangement too. That's a valuable part of the learning process.

[ECross]

I explained myself wrong, this would be my second song, because I have done Autumn Leaves recently. I meant this would be the first song that I want to do that I haven't heard other chord-melody arrangements of and am more starting from scratch.

Thanks for the tips though, I'll see how it goes and if I feel I am up for the challenge yet.

[goranlindelow]

Hi!
In my myspacepage (Blogg) I have a method to learn arranging and improvise chordmelody in three steps.
A: melody and cords,
B: melody chords and halfnotebasslines,
C:melody, chords and walkingbasslines.
There are scores,tabs and videos.
In Little song (8 bars, II - V - I in major and minor) I show you the principles! (In version B and C I have som chords substitute etc.)

www.myspace.com/goranlindelow

My own arrangements and improvisations you find at Itunes, Amazon and Spotify. CD "Two days in august" and "Late that night"

Video with arrangement and improvisations on twoo jazzstandard:
Out of nowhere
Moments notice

Best regards!
Goran Lindelow Stockholm, Sweden

[mr. beaumont]

write it out. Look at how the melody lines up with the chord changes.

I'm very visual--I like to "see" a song before I start arranging.

I agree it's a difficult choice, but it'd probably make a cool chord melody.

[richyankee]

That's a good question. In my own (undisciplined) way of learning, I would take one of the approaches recommended here, or maybe two of them and give it a try.

Maybe this only works for me... but, I woudl probably make some progress with that effort, and, being unsatisfied with it, I would stop working on it for a while (actually until you can completely forget what I was trying to do). Then, when it occurs to me that I haven't done that for a while, while playing a familiar tune (one that I may have worked out a few things for), I will try a phrase as chord melody (or whatever technique I'm interested in learning), just one short phrase. Then each time I play through the tune, use the new (chord melody) phrase. Just one phrase in one place - until I start to get comfortable with it.

That's how it starts (the second time) with a promising sound/phrase to anchor it down.

As I said, maybe I'm the only one who learns that way, but I doubt it

For chord melody/solo in particular, I find that (another long way around the barn...) it appears easier to me after I have learned the tune in fingerstyle cords (arpeggiating every chord - until it can be played smoothly/in rhythm and comfortably - so it is swinging or shuffling or whatever kind of movement is natural for the tune - then it's easy to chord melodize, you just 'claw teh bottom 2 or 3 notes together like a 'regular' chord and play with 1, 2 or 3 notes on top for each pulse underneath, That gets you two or three parts happening - depending on how active the bass line sounds.

I hope you find this useful. If not, at least there's something to think about (for both of us).

Rich

[Larry Feldman]

Curious to see how you have arranged this tune now that some time has passed. I am a big fan of jazz treatments of non jazz tunes.

[ECross]

Sorry I have been away from the forum for so long. I haven't picked up a guitar for longer than 5 minutes in a couple months. I just don't have the time right now unfortunately.

[Drumbler]

Originally Posted by ECross

Sorry I have been away from the forum for so long. I haven't picked up a guitar for longer than 5 minutes in a couple months. I just don't have the time right now unfortunately.

Ok...nevermind.