Good Chord Melody Book?

[targuit]

Roland Dyens' version of standards are superlative arrangements.

[targuit]

http://www.amazon.com/Roland-Dyens-N...l+arrangements

The reviews are superlative. Of course, this is one link among others, but with reviews. You can hear quite a few on YouTube itself under Roland's name. I think he is quite deservedly well regarded. I enjoy his version of Over The Rainbow and My Funny Valentine, for example.

[targuit]

http://www.amazon.com/Roland-Dyens-N...l+arrangements

The reviews are superlative. Of course, this is one link among others, but with reviews. You can hear quite a few on YouTube itself under Roland's name. I think he is quite deservedly well regarded. I enjoy his version of Over The Rainbow and My Funny Valentine, for example.

[Longways to Go]

You might be a bit too hard on Joe Pass. I watched a video by him early on, dealing with chordal playing, and it was super-helpful. It de-mystified the whole walking bass thing and he also frankly admitted that chord-melody solo playing involves a lot of "smoke and mirrors" in which we create the impression, say, of a walking bass when in fact we only walked maybe 2 notes per measure, used one chord-shot, and played the melody on top, but the combination actually created the overall impression of very much more.

I really liked that and it freed me to play.

I'd also emphatically suggest you learn a bunch of Steve Crowell's arrangements. They are what you want, chord-melody arrangements of standards, and they're performance quality. But he also creates them with pedagogy in mind, helping you learn the basic and intermediate "devices" that allow you to harmonize any melody.

Another old and under-rated resource that I learned a ton from is the old Mel Bay book on Melody-Chord Playing. It's been in print for decades. It's Mel Bay's Guitar Melody Chord Playing System : A System for Playing Guitar Solos in Chord Style Using Popular Sheet Music.It assumes all you have is sheet music, or a lead sheet, and teaches how to create a harmonized melody. Parts might be too arcane or demanding, but overall it's a sound book.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Melody-...+melody+guitar

I got Steve Crowell books I & II used via Amazon (they were not cheap!) They are great -- I'm learning a lot.

My Jerry Hahn book (more of a notebook that I believe he used for teaching college) is also very good too.

I'll get back to the Joe Pass material once I get a little more of this stuff under my belt

[m78w]

This one's pretty good.

The Easy Guide To Chord Melody And Chord Soloing

[EarlBrother]

I second that suggestion.Everything that ive seen is informative, pragmatic,educational from that site.

[omphalopsychos]

I ordered Howard Morgen's Through Chord Melody and Beyond to improve my approach. I have barely cracked it open, but it looks very thorough!

[TommyCorsica2]

Recommend Robert Conti's two books: Chord Melody Assembly Line and The Formula. First one shows you how to get every possible melody note on top of any chord of any quality - plus some nifty tricks they don't teach in theory class. The second shows you how to re-harmonize in a variety of ways so you can play endless variations on any given song.
If you currently rely on tab notation, it will cure you of that crippling handicap.

[rob taft]

Another thumbs recommendation for Howard Morgen's books shown below. A key to any of these books including Bob Conti's and Matt's is to use them road map or guide. If you don't like the author's arrangement, they all give you the tools to change them. Too many times folks get hung up on the author's arrangements. If you want just arrangements then you need to find other books. There are plenty of those out there as well. I have included two below. Another option when it comes to transcriptions is to sponsor Francois Leduc on Patreon. For $2 dollars per transcription plus access to all of his previous transcribed solo guitar tunes you can get enough to keep you busy for years.



Concepts: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar (The Howard Morgen Fingerstyle Jazz Series): Howard Morgen: 9780769230757: Amazon.com: Books


Through Chord Melody and Beyond: Howard Morgen: 0038081318615: Amazon.com: Books

------------------------------Arrangements-------------------------------
Amazon.com: Jazz Masters Play Gershwin: Hal Leonard Solo Guitar Library (0884088877675): George Gershwin: Books

Amazon.com: Joe Pass -- Virtuoso Standards Songbook Collection: Authentic Guitar TAB (Virtuoso Series) (9780769217109): Joe Pass: Books

Patreon - Login

[deselby]

For arrangements, I have learned a lot from Jeff Arnold's books. As with any arrangement they are idiosyncratic but what I like about them is they are playable. I guess they can be considered introductory. But they are well layed out with staff notes, tab and chord notation which I find helpful.

[Alder Statesman]

Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry. You can get The Trail Guide to Chord Chemsitry at TedGreene.com - The Legacy Of Ted Greene Lives On.

[alltunes]

I have many but keep coming back to this book. Also check out Barry Greene's videos on his website...they are excellent

Amazon.com: Berklee Jazz Standards for Solo Guitar - Berklee Press Book/CD (0884088646677): John Stein: Books

[snailspace]

As someone who never had much success in my attempts at playing tunes in this style, I have to say Robert Conti's materials have been a game-changer for me. Although I had read much about the theory (i.e., "keep the melody on the top two strings," "practice smooth voice-leading," and all the rest), it was always a struggle to keep it all in mind, and to put it all into use. Consequently, I'd use what I knew to try to arrange a tune, but progress was always so painstaking and frustrating that I'd eventually give up before getting too far into a tune -- even a simple one.

I didn't think I'd ever learn.

Conti changed that for me. With his book The Chord Melody Assembly Line, which I'm using in tandem with his Play Pro Chord Melody Today! arrangement of "Since I Fell For You," the results have been immediate and rewarding. Almost right away, Conti had me beginning to play a beautifully harmonized rendition of a familiar tune, using many voicings I already knew, with others picked up in the context of the tune itself . . . I was learning music while making music. Conti's lesson includes many of what he calls "off the sheet tips" -- additional variations and subtleties that are not included in the pdf that is part of the DVD. These devices -- bass note movement, slurs, accent notes, arpeggiation, and other embellishments -- make the tune come to life, and provide the student with alternate ways to play the piece (and which can be used on subsequent tunes, as well).

Using the DVD as a companion piece to the Assembly Line book works well for me, because it gives me a chance (via the book) to learn a chord voicing for each melody note, and how to use these chords to harmonize a simple melody. The book shows the method, while the DVD shows the method in action on a well-known tune.

I've read where people have complained that Conti's method is unrealistic, because "you won't ever play a tune with a chord for each melody note", and that "he only shows you one way to play it." These criticisms miss the point, in my view. By showing you how to play a chord for each melody note, Conti equips you to play a chord for any melody note you choose. As the player, you can choose how sparse or dense you want a given part of the piece to be, because he doesn't hold back on giving you information.

It used to be that when I heard a chord melody arrangement, I'd think, "I'd like to be able to play that." Now, after working with these two Conti products, I hear a tune I like -- standards, Beatles, old hymns, everything -- and I look forward, for the first time in my life, to soon being able to create my own versions of the songs I love . . . because Conti is showing me how.

After years of standing still, I'm now taking steps -- small ones, every day -- but at least I'm facing the right direction . . . and moving forward.
The Chord Melody Assembly Line | RobertConti.com
Product Category: Play Pro Chord Melody Today | RobertConti.com

[Spalo]

I agree with you whole-heartedly. Conti was a game-changer for me.

Don't forget his other Chord Melody book, "The Formula" which introduces you to the wonderful world of chord substitution - using exactly the same chords he uses in the first book.

Sp

[Badge]

Honestly, forget the books for this. Learn drop 3s on strings 5&6. And drop 2s on strings 4&5. All inversions. Learn dim7s. Learn some altered chords. Pick a tune and construct your CM. Keep it simple to start. Base and melody. Then build the middle voices. Experiment. Great fun and you'll learn more than any book.

[lawson-stone]

I learned the style by playing some arrangements that were created specifically to illustrate the possibilities. These were by a guy named Steve Crowell. The four books (with CDs) were Jazz Standards in Chord Melody Style. I went through all four books before learning much of anything about the theory of it. I have forgotten a lot of them, but a great many have remained mainstays of my playing. These are not easy, but are accessible enough.

They are on this site, at the very bottom of the page:

Learn Steven Crowell Guitar Solos - Tab Books, Instruction DVDs + Video Lessons

[Steven Herron]

I would recommend "Mastering The Jazz Guitar Chord Melody Solo" which is a Book/DVD by Steven Crowell. Here's the link to the website page that has the full description:

Learn Steven Crowell Guitar Solos - Tab Books, Instruction DVDs + Video Lessons

I would also recommend "The Chord Melody Assembly Line" and "The Formula For Harmonic Protocol" which are both Book/DVD sets by Robert Conti. Here's the link to the website page that has the full description:

Learn Robert Conti Guitar Solos - Tab Books, Instruction DVDs + Video Lessons

Suffice it to say that if I could have gotten my hands on any of the above books decades ago when I was learning chord melody soloing they would have saved me years of suffering trying to figure all of this out on my own!!

Hope this helps,
Steven Herron

[alltunes]

NO financial interest just that I have quite a few chord melody books and I really think you will like this book (link below). Hard copy with a very listenable CD. The arrangements are not full of block chords like some other books I have including one of Conti's. Of course one can choose to leave out a chord at any given given time and just play the melody note thus making dense arrangements sparser. Also John Stein give some background on the tunes and his thinking behind his arrangements. I htink it's good to have all of these books as they all have something to tell.

Here is the author playing My Romance from the book:

And link to book

Amazon.com: Berklee Jazz Standards for Solo Guitar - Berklee Press Book/CD (0884088646677): John Stein: Books

[snailspace]

thanks I just ordered the chord melody assembly line

That's great! I just told someone today, "If you like this stuff even half as much as I do, you'll like it quite a bit." In browsing around various threads on the forum, looking for opinions of Conti's materials -- by people who have actually used them -- I found lots of enthusiasm for his way of teaching and for the results people have reported.

Last night, I re-read much of the thread linked below, because forum member tbeltrans (Tony Beltrans, whose videos appear in Conti's Players Gallery) had some suggestions for how to sequence a study of Conti's chord melody materials.

He recommended going through things in this order . . .

1. The Chord Melody Assembly Line

2. Play Pro Chord Melody Today!

3. Signature Chord Melody Arrangements (there are 9 volumes, so he probably didn't mean you had to work through all of them before moving on to The Formula. One or two to start with, I imagine -- more later, if you like.

4. The Formula (he recommends continuing to use Conti's Signature Chord Melody Arrangements while studying this book, so you can compare what he's doing to a fakebook arrangement).

Although everything Tony had to say in that thread about Conti's method and materials is worth considering, posts #3, 44, and 46 are particularly informative, in my opinion.

Robert Conti's "The Formula"

[Bluedawg]

I really liked Conti's approach for laying down the basics ..... especially the second book .. The Formula

[snailspace]

I really liked Conti's approach for laying down the basics ..... especially the second book .. The Formula

Looking forward to getting into that one once I work through The Chord Melody Assembly Line and a few of his Pro Chord Melody DVDs. Everything I've ever read about The Formula has been 100% positive.

[dhaskins]

Haven't checked these out myself, so you'd have to judge for yourself, but Hal Leonard publishes chord melody arrangements by both Robert Yelin and Jeff Arnold. Well, likely more authors than that, but these 2 seem to cover quite a few tunes.

[pcjazz]

The two Barry Galbraith collections published by Mel Bay contain superb arrangements ranging in difficulty from early intermediate to somewhat advanced.

You might also have a look at the Ted Greene arrangements freely downloadable from tedgreene.com --- they range from beginner to quite advanced.

[zeepot]

I have been on a similar quest, and I think I can suggest a few, if you are open to some non-book options.

Chord Melody Cafe by Mark Stefani on Truefire, a nice mixture of pop and jazz.

Jake Reichbart lessons on guitarinstructor.com : pop, jazz, carols, some are more advanced, his own website has more extensive collections, too. You are supposed to learn from video instructions, rather than from scores. You can watch him playing on youtube videos.

Alex Blanco has some beautiful arrangements in downloadable pdfs. No tabs. His playing on youtube as well.

[Steven Herron]

The jazz guitar chord melody solo books by Jeff Arnold are at the early intermediate to intermediate level and they also sound good. There's quite a selection of them to choose from as well - everything from jazz ballads to latin standards to Christmas songs.