Chord melody

Ukebottom

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Having a terrible time interpreting/reading chord melodies, where notes are stacked and I have to figure out which chord to play. I understand the melody note is stem up, but where do I go from there?
 
Having a terrible time interpreting/reading chord melodies, where notes are stacked and I have to figure out which chord to play. I understand the melody note is stem up, but where do I go from there?

Or...am I looking for a chord that includes the melody note, and though there may be a number of chords that fit, I need one that sounds best with the song I am playing.
 
Ukebottom, what type of sheet music are you using -- does it have the chord symbols printed over the notes (for example, does it have "C7" or "Bb" written over the stack of notes)? Or does it only have the notes, without any chord symbols printed up above?

(An unrelated aside -- I grew up in Springfield, many decades ago. I hope all is well in Media).
 
Standard Chord melody, such as those on my blog (free:https://ukestuff.wordpress.com/my-ukulele-tabs/) are meant to be played with the thumb, placing the melody as either part of the chord or single notes (as needed). You can break them apart into more traditional fingerstytle, but Chord Melody is a great way to get into reading tablature AND using the ukulele as a melody instrument. It's kind of boring to just pluck out melodies all the time. And it is also unrealistic to think that we'll pick up a ukulele and sound like Jake Shimabukuro (who has been playing--almost exclusively as a focus--since he was 4).
 
Having a terrible time interpreting/reading chord melodies, where notes are stacked and I have to figure out which chord to play. I understand the melody note is stem up, but where do I go from there?

I assume that you are reading staff notation?
Hopefully it is an arrangement for ukulele. If looking at piano sheet music, the notes might not be there to play.

When I play arrangements for ukulele specifically, it is usually in tabs. Makes it easier to dechifer.
If you type the staff notation into the MuseScore software, you can change it into tabs by a push of a button.

Otherwise you can analyze the stacked notes to figure out the chord, and note it above the notation in a hardcopy.
Assuming that you have a bit of Music theory knowledge.
 
There will be the odd time when the melody note will not be in the chord. Get yourself a fretboard map, and try to figure out the placements for your fingers from the fretboard map. Or get a ukulele chord chart. There are sites online that may map out the chord if you provide the notes.
 
This may be very rudimentary but I learn the melody line, then just add the chord (most often they give the name too) where indicated, using an inversion that places the melody note on top. Now recognizing the chord from the grouped notes (with no “name” above) is a whole ‘nother thing. If it’s an easy one I might know it. An app for looking them up by notes would be helpful. If they didn’t put the chord name in I would just put in a double stop (partial chord) located below the melody note.
 
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This may be very rudimentary but I learn the melody line, then just add the chord (most often they give the name too) where indicated, using an inversion that places the melody note on top. Now recognizing the chord from the grouped notes (with no “name” above) is a whole ‘nother thing. If it’s an easy one I might know it. An app for looking them up my notes would be helpful. if they didn’t put the chord name in I would just put in a double stop nearby.

That's pretty much what Chord Melody is in a very clear summary.

I use Uke Buddy to look for different voicing of chords to support the melody...and lately I've been adding the letter names of those chords to get more familiar with the chord shapes up the neck. Due to my background in music and music education, I can make arrangements that I can't play... but work. My goal is to be able to play everything I make.

Incidentally, chord melody doesn't need to be "easy" either. It's a great way to start learning tab--but it can also stretch you.
 
Not an expert on chord melody. It doesn't really lend itself to what I'm doing with my ukulele. But I have been piddling around with it lately anyway. I think that a lot of people start out making it much harder than it has to be, especially starting out. They want to skip the baby steps and go right to dazzling. I know, because that happened to me. I saw some people doing some really great stuff and I wanted to be like them right away. It didn't work that way. Now I'm starting out with baby steps, playing simple songs and adding simple first position chords and making some progress. I'm trying to lay a foundation to build on. It isn't easy and I can see now that it is going to take some time.
 
Not an expert on chord melody. It doesn't really lend itself to what I'm doing with my ukulele. But I have been piddling around with it lately anyway. I think that a lot of people start out making it much harder than it has to be, especially starting out. They want to skip the baby steps and go right to dazzling. I know, because that happened to me. I saw some people doing some really great stuff and I wanted to be like them right away. It didn't work that way. Now I'm starting out with baby steps, playing simple songs and adding simple first position chords and making some progress. I'm trying to lay a foundation to build on. It isn't easy and I can see now that it is going to take some time.

Good move !! My students always want to start on tough songs. I like to teach Twinkle Twinkle to start. Once you learn the basics, chord melodies get easier. I have been doing my own arrangements for several years. I started with Twinkle.
 
Standard Chord melody, such as those on my blog (free:https://ukestuff.wordpress.com/my-ukulele-tabs/) are meant to be played with the thumb, placing the melody as either part of the chord or single notes (as needed). You can break them apart into more traditional fingerstytle, but Chord Melody is a great way to get into reading tablature AND using the ukulele as a melody instrument. It's kind of boring to just pluck out melodies all the time. And it is also unrealistic to think that we'll pick up a ukulele and sound like Jake Shimabukuro (who has been playing--almost exclusively as a focus--since he was 4).

Hope you add more songs!

So, on How Great Thou Art, above God is the C for the chord. But the GCE strings are open and nothing is marked on the A string. SO, do you play the C chord there and strum, or do you just strum the GCE strings and ignore the C chord above God? In other words, do you play the chord listed and the fingering listed on the TAB? (I sure hope that makes sense . . .)
 
The chord names are just there for reference; you only play the notes on the tablature...in that case, you strum strings 4, 3, and 2 with your thumb.
 
The chord names are just there for reference; you only play the notes on the tablature...in that case, you strum strings 4, 3, and 2 with your thumb.

Ok, that's what I thought but decided to ask anyway! Thanks!
 
I love playing chord melodies. I'm a fair/shy singer, so these work out great for me. I'm working on easier things, and adding more difficult elements as I go. I start with arrangements by Mike Lynch, RJ Putter, and others. Then I either play them as is, or make some little changes to suit my style, or ability. Like Choirguy, I use Uke Buddy, The Uke Helper, and Brian's Huge Chordlist Collection to figure out different fingerings of chords. I've written 2 chord melodies of my own, using a fret board map, and those chord websites to figure things out. I just finished tabbing out a simple version of "It Had To Be You" to teach my ukulele group next month.
 
Notes, no chord symbols. Trying to learn how to read music.

And you wouldn’t recognize Media...a lot of changes, bit nice ones. It’s a great little town.
 
If you take the time to learn the 12 basic Major Triads and the 12 basic Minor Triads you can then compose Chord Melodies. For example a song calls for a C chord and the melody note is D. Just add as much of the C chord as you can under the D note. Do that with each melody note of the song. For whatever chord is called for add as much as possible under the melody note. Now go back and take out notes that sound too muddy. If some strange note sounds good, throw it in. Now you have the basics down and can work from their and play simple chord melodies at the same time. As time goes by you can learn more advanced chords like 7th, Maj chords, and so on. They just add more flavor to the song. When I first picked up a ukulele I already knew chords well from playing piano. My instructor was a chord nut, for real and I learned all chords and inversions from triads to 13ths so it was easy for me to start right out on chord melodies. Where I have problems is using my arrangement or those of Mike Lynch from his books is, I lack the natural talent to embellish the arrangement with cool licks that make the song sound real good.
 
A lot of info here and still not quite sure if I personally get what you are asking for but if I had to guess you are asking about arpeggios. Arpeggios are nothing more than playing a chord by its individual notes rather than strumming the chord as a whole. You can stick to the most basic of patterns from 4th string down to the 1st string and back up to the 3rd string then start again on the 4th string. There are many arpeggio patterns and they are usually all pleasant to the ears.

I like how Bernadette breaks it down in this video talking about making it her own. I don't see it making it as her own as much as she is just doing arpeggios with the chords. But it is a great tool to use when working on the chord transition which I have been doing for getting to that D chord is little tricky for me and I am slowly getting better at it. Removing the strum for now and doing arpeggios takes the pressure off and allows me to hear each individual note so I know I am holding the position correctly.



Also she isn't bad on the eyes either.
 
Having a terrible time interpreting/reading chord melodies, where notes are stacked and I have to figure out which chord to play. I understand the melody note is stem up, but where do I go from there?

What do you use it for? To play guitar, piano or anything other?
 
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