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Last edited by Yka59; 05-21-2024 at 01:55 PM.
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05-17-2024 03:34 AM
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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.
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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.
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Originally Posted by Yka59
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Originally Posted by garybaldy
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!
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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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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.
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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 :-)
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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.
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Originally Posted by ragman1
Originally Posted by ragman1
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'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.
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Here's the author of that arrangement. I don't think he's very good. This is Misty? Poor man's murdering it.
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Originally Posted by ragman1
He doesn't actually ever play the melody "straight," but I would call this far from a murder.
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Not my bag of chips, but the “chord on every beat” makes sense now. Stride guitar.
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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??
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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.
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Originally Posted by ragman1
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Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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Originally Posted by Yka59
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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.Last edited by ragman1; 05-18-2024 at 05:51 AM.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
This is a core skill of the jazz guitarist, especially and particularly those who aspire to be solo performers.
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Originally Posted by ragman1
The Autumn of Solo Guitar 2024
Yesterday, 12:42 PM in Chord-Melody