View Full Version : Chord Melody
gnelson651
Aug-31-2005, 1:20pm
By playing around on my mando, I figured out how to play a chord melody for "Boil'Em Cabbage Down" but not sure about any other songs?
I am self taught and have not found any books that define or describe chord melodies or how they are formed.
How do chord melodies work and how do you figure one out so it actual sounds like the song?
Glenn Nelson
Las Vegas, NV
glauber
Aug-31-2005, 1:40pm
Play chord inversions with the melody note on top. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Not trying to be a smart aleck, that's really it. If you know the chords for the song, and you know the melody, then you just have to put the 2 together. In the mandolin, this is an exercise in creativity and frustration, because there are only so many strings available for you to play with. You sometimes end up playing the melody on octave higher than you normally would.
There's also the option to just play the melody and add harmony notes here and there, like 2-note chords.
In jazz circles, if i understand it right, the term "chord melody" means something else; it's when you form a chord shape and slide it up and down during an improvised solo (parallel voices).
There are usually plenty of examples of both kinds in Mandolin Magazine (http://www.mandolinmagazine.com/) (the actual magazines, not the Web site).
I ain't not expert but I've work out a few. First thing is, ya gotta know where all the possible notes for a chord are in the possition yer playing. See the fretboard diagrams below for G and C. Each number indicates a valid chord note- 1st, 3rd, or 5th.
Next, find the place to play the melody note you want; this may or may not be the same as one of the notes shown in the chord diagram. Once you found the melody note, look on the string one lower for a chord note. Play that note in conjunction with the melody note. Finally, you may find you have to "move stuff around" to get something to work out playable.
<span style='font-family:courier'> G
1===5========
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-------------
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--------3----
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| | O | |
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------------1
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3------------
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| | O | |
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----1---5----
C
5===========3
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-------------
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----3--------
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| | O | |
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--------1---5
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-------------
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| | O | |
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1---5--------
| | | |</span>
Jack Roberts
Aug-31-2005, 3:52pm
There is an awesome chord melody version of Abraham Lincoln's favorite song, "Listen to the Mockingbird" in Jethro Burns' book. Also, there is a chord version of "What a Friend" in the latest Mandolin Magazine.
I can't improvise chord melodies yet, but I'm getting there by learning from the various sources out there.