First try at chord melody; feedback appreciated

clear · Jul 25, 2020

Here's my first attempt at chord melody. It is a short piece (8 measures). I'd like to hear your feedback before making a longer piece. Thanks!

The first section is only the melody; the second section is chord melody.

Besides issues with chord melody harmonization; I just read this article ( https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/build-chord-melody-3-easy-steps ) and decided to give it a try. I've also tried making the piece easier to play on the ukulele, but some notes are still pretty hard. Like I need to mute the 1st string in some; and the second-to-last, which needed a pinch technique. Better choice of notes for chord melody or ease of playing?

clear · Jul 25, 2020

I should have done this earlier, but anyway, I decided to see what other people's chord melody looked like... and realized that my initial attempt wasn't very much like chord melody. So... here's a second attempt.

My uke skills aren't very good, but I think the 2nd version I might be able to play it. If some of you more experienced people can comment on its playability (or pretty much anything), that'd be excellent as it'll help me learn more about constructing chord melodies later on.

bunnyf · Jul 25, 2020

I listened to the first video and was gonna write that a mix of chords or partial chords with the melody as the top note, interspersed with single melody notes is usually more effective but I then saw your second post and that is definitely more like it. I usually look to land the chords (or just double stops) on the down beat, with passing notes between sometimes. I can highly recommend James Hill’s online course, The Ukulele Way. It teaches chord melody construction specifically.

clear · Jul 25, 2020

bunnyf said:
I listened to the first video and was gonna write that a mix of chords or partial chords with the melody as the top note, interspersed with single melody notes is usually more effective but I then saw your second post and that is definitely more like it. I usually look to land the chords (or just double stops) on the down beat, with passing notes between sometimes. I can highly recommend James Hill’s online course, The Ukulele Way. It teaches chord melody construction specifically.

Thanks; that makes sense.

Here's version 3; I had to change the melody a bit, but I don't feel anything's lost.

Musescore seems to have a bug playing the high G note in the 4th to last measure.

clear · Jul 25, 2020

WRT online course, I'm not sure about taking a course just to construct chord melody; hoping to pick it up with some community feedback.

I appreciate your feedback. Down beat.. I've updated with that.

clear · Jul 25, 2020

Actually, I've been looking at some more chord melody music, and I think the saying "less is more" is applicable here. So, in my 3rd version, maybe the second measure should just be single notes.

Ed1 · Jul 25, 2020

clear said:
Actually, I've been looking at some more chord melody music, and I think the saying "less is more" is applicable here. So, in my 3rd version, maybe the second measure should just be single notes.

I agree with bunnyf about the chord being on the downbeat when possible. Next might be the beginning of a phrase based around a chord. So, the second measure could start with a chord and then the first of the eighth notes might also be a chord with the rest being single notes.

Ms Bean · Jul 25, 2020

clear said:
WRT online course, I'm not sure about taking a course just to construct chord melody; hoping to pick it up with some community feedback.

I appreciate your feedback. Down beat.. I've updated with that.

I think you can get a good idea of how it works in practice by analysing a simple example. You could study these sources:

Spencer Gay's arrangements: https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...0525697098/Chord+Melody+Songbook+11+12+17.pdf

Roger Ruthen (PDF minstrel) https://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com/

Putter https://sites.google.com/site/tabs4ukes/home-1

Wilfried Welti (he also uses upstrokes which works really well) https://www.ukulele-arts.com/?lang=en

Good luck!

bunnyf · Jul 26, 2020

Long held notes would also be the ones to work chords or double stops. In mando world tremolo would also be likely on those long notes. Really, anyplace where you’d place stress, as if you were singing.

clear · Jul 26, 2020

Really appreciate all the tips. They are very helpful; I can now write chord melody with much more confidence.

Here's a summary for the next person (and please correct me if I get it wrong).
Basic rule of thumb for candidate chord locations:
1. Down beats, accents.
2. Longer notes.
3. Chord changes.
4. Phrase starts.

Thanks again.

NewLele · Jul 27, 2020

There’s a thread called Chord Melody Lessons in the ukulele tips section linking to videos explaining how to construct. I found them easy to understand and fascinating.

clear · Jul 27, 2020

NewLele said:
There’s a thread called Chord Melody Lessons in the ukulele tips section linking to videos explaining how to construct. I found them easy to understand and fascinating.

Thanks; I just watched the 4-part videos. Although interesting, the videos spent way too much time on explaining chord formations, which isn't what I'm looking for.

First try at chord melody; feedback appreciated

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