Beginner - Adding chords to fiddle tunes

[edspyhill01]

As a mandolin beginner I have a question about filling out fiddle tunes. I'm working on learning some basic fiddle tunes as I learn to read music. Is there a basic way to add the chords to the fiddle tune melody line? These are the chords printed on the fiddle tune lead sheet.

[mandroid]

learn some chord construction, 3 part harmony is one way to think of chords, [and some more notes for extended chords too, but that is another level ..

the key has 3 Major , and 3 minor chords in it + the 7th [not all of them apply, in the style]

or 2 part harmony
some call double stops , That is is a good start to harmonizing to the melody line.

intervals between 2 notes often called Major and minor, depending on how far apart they are.

Common terminology: unison, 2nd m/M, 3rd m/M, P4, P5, m/M6th, m/M7th, 8va.

there is a Theory section to shift this to, too, though some folks with college music theory studies,

can get ahead of those who are slow on this stuff, like Me.

[JeffD]

As a mandolin beginner I have a question about filling out fiddle tunes. I'm working on learning some basic fiddle tunes as I learn to read music. Is there a basic way to add the chords to the fiddle tune melody line? These are the chords printed on the fiddle tune lead sheet.

It depends on the genre of music.

If its Irish music, its probably better to play the melody line clean, and let a guitar or bouzouki back up with the chords, rather than incorporate the chords in your playing of th emelody.

If its bluegrass, play only the chords when its not your break, and only the melody, or some cool variation of it, if it is your break.

If its old timey, you might put pieces of the chords in your playing, double stops and harmonies from the chords, etc.

etc. etc. It depends on the kind of music and what kind of expression you want.

And if you are Jesse McReynolds there are even more options.


I personally do not care for chord melody playing, where you play every note of the melody inside of the chord that goes with it. The whole thing sounds like a long stream of chords, with the melody in there somewhere. Chord melody can sound cool on a guitar, but on mandolin I think putting in all those extra notes just clutters things up, and makes real expression that much harder. Besides, there are so many choices between single note melody on the one hand, and full four note chords on the other.

My own taste, my own opinion. Others disagree.

[gregjones]

learn some chord construction, 3 part harmony is one way to think of chords, [and some more notes for extended chords too, but that is another level ..

When the tune starts off, or changes chords the melody note will almost always be a note of the chord indicated on the tab sheet. The start, a chord change, or the change to the "B" part of the song is a good place to use a chord or a double stop (two of the chord notes) as a bit of "spice" to a melody line that nobody knows the words to.

As Jeff pointed out, if you play every note as a chord it's just strumming. Just a chord or double stop here and there will go a long way to "filling out" your sound.

If it's a D note, fumble around with a D chord and see which pairs of notes or even if the whole chord sounds best to you in the tune you are playing, then when a chord change comes, like to a G, fumble some more with a G shape to see what fits at the change then carry on with the melody.

[John Kasley]

Instead of thinking about playing the notes of a chord "vertically" (picking all the notes at the same time), try thinking about playing them "horizontally" as arpeggios (picking them individually). Experiment with starting the arpeggio on the third or fifth of the chord instead of the root(for instance E and G in a C chord). Try picking the notes in different order, etc. You'll find lots of places where arpeggios will fit.