Chord melody problem

[Yka59]

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[Banksia]

There is no set formula for the mix of chords and single notes. The simplest advice is to play slowly and slog your way through it. It may take a long time but you will learn a lot and hopefully get a warm inner glow of achievement.

OR, let's say there are four chords to the bar, how about starting with just the first one in each bar + the melody notes for the other 3? Then bump it up to the chords on beats 1 and 3. Then, well you get the idea. Often, when chords are written 4-to-the-bar (in a 4/4 tune) some changes only require you to move 1 finger so something that looks complicated on paper may not be as bad as you thought. There may be others where you just move the entire chord shape up one or two frets. You could learn all these easy parts first.

This is how I learned chord melody and I'm sure there are better methods. And remember that although it may seem difficult now, there was probably a time when all you knew was G - C - D7 and you got way past that stage. You will also get past this stage.

[ragman1]

You are 100% right, chord melodies don't have a chord on every note, it doesn't sound good. You could simplify it yourself according to your ear. That probably wouldn't be too difficult for you. As Banksia just said, there's absolutely no set formula. If it sounds good, it is good.

Alternatively, you could simply find a better source of arrangements. There are lots of them around, books, videos, etc. It would also help if you could begin to learn to read music, it does make life easier. But most resources have both notation and TAB.

[garybaldy]

Hi. I'm a total beginner for jazz and I can't read music. I use tabs and I'm looking at some good books for standards but the one's I found have a chord for every note? Can anybody tell me what's the idea with this and how are you supposed to read/play this? For me a normal chord melody is a chord a few notes a chord and so on, but... Thanks for your help in advance. Yka

Hi. Which books have you found with a chord on every note please? Thanks

[Yka59]

Hi. Which books have you found with a chord on every note please? Thanks

Hi.
Here's one: Jazz Favorites For Solo Guitar (Yelin Robert.) and then the other: Jazz gems for solo guitar (Yelin Robert.) I'm trying to attach a photo so you'll see. Thank to EVERYBODY for their help!

[ragman1]

Mmm... I think possibly this is one way of showing how every note could be harmonised. I suppose that could come in handy in places.

But I also think some kind of explanation of what they're doing is needed For example, I'd want to know why they're harmonising a bar of Ab9 with the chords shown - okay, Ebm is the ii of Ab7, but B7 and F7? Why? Or the bar of Dm7 with Bb major chords. And so on. And those chords aren't simple, they're extended and altered quite extensively.

I think just presenting them without explanation is rather tricky. Do they give any explanation for these substitutions or are they just thrown at you?

[pamosmusic]

Yeah a lot of the time when I’m teaching this junk I’ll have someone go through and harmonize every note so they know how. Then we go through and harmonize just the first beat of every chord change. Then I tell them it’s usually somewhere in between and usually way closer to the latter approach than the former.

The Bruce Foreman solo guitar etudes book is lots of single notes. You can check him out on Instagram to see if you like that style of playing.

[ragman1]

Incidentally, I take it this is designed to be played with a pick. But a lot of chord melody players use their fingers. Playing 5-note chords isn't a very good idea.

The full 6-string Bb69 can be strummed with your thumb but those 5-string ones are a bit much. There'll be an awful lot of strumming sounds going on!

[rlrhett]

When people talk of a chord under every note, they are usually referring to the Robert Conti material. He explicitly states he is trying to train your mind and your fingers with that approach. He doesn’t expect you to perform that way.

To be fair, he also says he likes the sound of a lot of chords, but your tastes may vary. Practicing dense series of chords for six months is, undoubtedly, a great way to get it into your fingers.


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[Tal_175]

There are different textures for chord melody. Putting a chord on every note is often referred to as block chord texture. What works best for chord melody is of course using a variety of textures and making good artistic decisions about when to use them. As others said, putting a chord on every note is also a good exercise to train application of chord voicings and seeing melody notes in relation to chord of the moment.

[ragman1]

But does he explain why certain subs are what they are? Sorry, I'm insistent about this! No one's fault here if he doesn't, of course :-)

[ragman1]

I know. But it's not whether WE know but whether the unwitting novice to chord melody knows, which I doubt. And I'm not sure if describing it the way you did would actually enlighten him much either.

[Tal_175]

- okay, Ebm is the ii of Ab7, but B7 and F7? Why? Or the bar of Dm7 with Bb major chords.

I know. But it's not whether WE know but whether the unwitting novice to chord melody knows, which I doubt. And I'm not sure if describing it the way you did would actually enlighten him much either.

In case anybody needs a reminder of the forum rule that you should always ignore Ragman. Otherwise you'll regret without exceptions.

[ragman1]

'okay, Ebm is the ii of Ab7, but B7 and F7? Why?'

That wasn't me asking the question, it was posing the question the beginner would probably ask. You didn't understand the context.

[ragman1]

Here's the author of that arrangement. I don't think he's very good. This is Misty? Poor man's murdering it.

[mr. beaumont]

Here's the author of that arrangement. I don't think he's very good. This is Misty? Poor man's murdering it.

Murdering it?

He doesn't actually ever play the melody "straight," but I would call this far from a murder.

[pamosmusic]

Murdering it?

He doesn't actually ever play the melody "straight," but I would call this far from a murder.

Ahhhhh very George Van Eps

Not my bag of chips, but the “chord on every beat” makes sense now. Stride guitar.

[pamosmusic]

As an aside … has anyone checked out Tal Yahalom? He’s been doing this chord melody workshop a couple times a year and I want to do it eventually. He’s killer. (The stride guitar comment reminded me of him)

Edit: assuming that’s not our tal??

[AllanAllen]

It sounded more like a long intro into Four than Misty to me.

If someone posted that here I would comment to focus more on the melody and ballad feel of the tune.

[lawson-stone]

Here's the author of that arrangement. I don't think he's very good. This is Misty? Poor man's murdering it.

It's evidently not an arrangement of the tune but an improvisation weaving elements of the melody with other ideas in a strongly chorded manner. It reminds me of the Joe Pass solo arrangement in one of his old books, which also features a lot of chords and is almost a thesaurus of chord-melody jazz ideas. I really enjoyed this Robert Yelin performance. He is a great player.

[AllanAllen]

As an aside … has anyone checked out Tal Yahalom? He’s been doing this chord melody workshop a couple times a year and I want to do it eventually. He’s killer. (The stride guitar comment reminded me of him)

Edit: assuming that’s not our tal??

Les Paul, and Chet Atkins vibes, real cool

[garybaldy]

Hi.
Here's one: Jazz Favorites For Solo Guitar (Yelin Robert.) and then the other: Jazz gems for solo guitar (Yelin Robert.) I'm trying to attach a photo so you'll see. Thank to EVERYBODY for their help!

Thanks so much for the info.

[ragman1]

Murdering it?

He doesn't actually ever play the melody "straight," but I would call this far from a murder.

But it's a lovely tune. I don't think he has any feeling for it, he's just playing it as a swing thing.

I can understand a version that put a little bit of gentle swing on it, that would probably work, but this is too far removed from the real feeling of the tune. Not so much misty as fog with strong winds :-)

It's funny how personal preference here is often taken as laying down the law. It's not, it's just a preference, there's nothing to argue about or defend, etc. I prefer Misty as a ballad, obviously others don't mind it with a bit of bounce. That's okay, no problem. Each to their own, I suppose.

[lawson-stone]

It sounded more like a long intro into Four than Misty to me.

If someone posted that here I would comment to focus more on the melody and ballad feel of the tune.

It's an improvisation on the changes to the tune incorporating some phrases from the melody. Remember, as a jazz player, you will need to play the tune, you will also need to improvise, and as a solo guitarist, that means learning to improvise over a tune in the chord-melody style. Yelin is doing that here and I think it's quite wonderful. Listen to Joe Pass' treatment of the tune on Virtuoso 2 (I think). Play with his treatment of it, which is from his book on chord-solo performances of standards. Yelin is playing strongly in this tradition. Barney Kessel also was a player that maybe some here would accuse of playing "too many chords" but he could harmonize a long, complex melodic line chordally on the guitar just like a pianist would. He does it so fluidly we almost don't realize what an accomplishment it is. Or Wes Montgomery, who would often play a whole chorus of a solo in block-chords.
This is a core skill of the jazz guitarist, especially and particularly those who aspire to be solo performers.

[lawson-stone]

But it's a lovely tune. I don't think he has any feeling for it, he's just playing it as a swing thing.

I can understand a version that put a little bit of gentle swing on it, that would probably work, but this is too far removed from the real feeling of the tune. Not so much misty as fog with strong winds :-)

It's funny how personal preference here is often taken as laying down the law. It's not, it's just a preference, there's nothing to argue about or defend, etc. I prefer Misty as a ballad, obviously others don't mind it with a bit of bounce. That's okay, no problem. Each to their own, I suppose.

There's also a version of Misty by Joscho Stephan on YouTube. I say nothing :-)

I think it's more than mere personal preference. There is a long tradition of improvising on Misty using block-chords, interspersing melodic fragments, and even playing it up-tempo or as a moderate swing. That's all solidly in the jazz tradition, and someone standing in and affirming that tradition is not just exercising a personal preference. It's affiliating with a community and a tradition. The decision to end-stop the tune as a 65 bpm ballad where only the melody is played is a more narrow choice, in my view.