Song Help Request Finding Harmony Notes - learning to count.

Hi

I know just enough about music theory to get royally confused.
Question: I have a tabbed out melody line.
I want to tab out a harmony part to it.
For some reason I am convinced that the harmony should be a third lower and/or a fifth higher than the melody.
So if the key is A Minor, and I look at this chart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MinorScale.svg
Say the Main Melody note is an F
what note is a fifth higher? C?
what note is a third lower? D?
am I counting correctly?
thanks

peewee said:

Hi

I know just enough about music theory to get royally confused.
Question: I have a tabbed out melody line.
I want to tab out a harmony part to it.
For some reason I am convinced that the harmony should be a third lower and/or a fifth higher than the melody.
So if the key is A Minor, and I look at this chart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MinorScale.svg
Say the Main Melody note is an F
what note is a fifth higher? C?
what note is a third lower? D?
am I counting correctly?
thanks

Click to expand...

The answer to you questions are: YES, YES, and IT'S NOT AS SIMPLE AS THAT

When you are working out intervals between notes (up or down) you count the first note and the last note, like you have. That is absolutely correct. However, you would usually only count the notes that are in the key. For example, if you are in the key of G, the interval between G and the D above it is a 5th. But a 2nd below G is F sharp.

So, if the main melody note is F and you are in the key of D flat major, the 3rd below it would usually be D flat. Always think about what key you are in and which notes are used in that scale.

This can get confusing, so just be aware that there are different kinds of intervals: major, minor, perfect, augment, diminished.

As for what harmony notes to use. No, I'm afraid that it is not quite as simple as putting a 3rd or a 6th below the melody note.

My advice for tabbing out an accompaniment is

1. Keep it very simple to start with
2. Make sure you know what key you are in and the notes available in that scale
3. Choose a style of accompaniment and work on that style for a while

Hope this helps.

Ken,
Thank you for the thoughtful and helpful reply. I've been attempting to play pieces with three parts (chords, melody and harmony) as part of a uke group, and in my daughter's violin lessons, and I'm trying to understand / reverse engineer what is going on.

Of course it's more complex than adding a line above or below, although I think that's pretty much what a lot of heavy metal twin leads are...and if it were that simple all the time, it would be dead boring. Good clarification.

Often the "harmony" part or counter-melody sounds like it's orbiting the notes of the main melody, I suppose picking out individual notes from the chord underneath or an extension of that chord. Simpler lines follow the melody and occasionally diverge into 3rd below, 5th above, etc. That's where it gets tricky I suppose, as the nature of the chord will determine the interval that works best..this is about where I hit a wall.

Probably applying a mathematical and analytic approach to this is only part of the way to understanding it. Maybe I need a keyboard to plink on.

Can you elaborate on this point : "3. Choose a style of accompaniment and work on that style for a while" ?
What are the options here, I'm not sure I get what you mean.

thanks for taking the time to reply, I am honored.

If you are going to tab out any accompaniment or piece of music, you have to first decide how you want it to sound. My arrangements, for instance, are very different from other people's arrangements. This is because I have decided how I want them to sound. Other people decide how they want their arrangements to sound.

For instance, a melody and an arpeggio accompaniment will sound very different from something played in chords with the thumb. Even then you have to make a decision about whether you want the tune at the top, for example, or whether to play one note or two for the notes of the tune. There are an infinite number of variables.

Listen to my recent recording of The Water Is Wide as an example. Here the tune is in the middle, with notes both above and below the melody notes. With this arrangement I thought in terms of chords (quite complex ones) and turned them into arpeggios and then emphasised the melody notes. Another arrangement might be completely different. Once you develop a style that works, repeat it.

It's threads like this that slap me in the face with the cold reality that even though I can strum chords and pick notes, I have no freaking idea about music.

You and me both, Poidog!