2001 Heartside Publishing Chord Melody Arranging by John FrancisAn Introduction for Guitar

ChoChord melodies are harmonized solo instrumentals. They are the bread and butter of the solo jazz and fingerstyle genre. Any instrument capable of playing three notes, together, has the ability to perform them. They are very popular among guitarists and piano players. Traditionally, fake books have been the best source from to find the building blocks of these arrangements. They contain the lead sheets from many popular songs. Lead sheets contain the melody on one staff with the chord name, or harmony written over the top. One needs only the melody of a song and the chord names associated with it in ororder to make a chord melody. Intermediate guitar players should have no difficulty increasing their repertoire and understanding of music theory by taking advantage of this technique to make solo arrangements of their favorite songs. Such arrangements are often unique, since solo guitar music is rarely found in music stores. By creating one's own arrangement, a player is able to put one's own stamp on a song.

Guitar music is written an octave higher than it sounds. This is done so that it will fall evenly across the treble clef. When one reads a lead sheet the melody is written in "concert pitch." This is the "actual pitch." Guitar players will find this playable on the middle strings in the open position.

InIn order to make a chord melody arrangement for guitar, we must transpose the melody up so that it will be displayed an octave higher. Once this is done, we need to find chord voicings that will allow us to reach of the melody from within the song's harmonic structure. Through a series of altered chords and passing tones the arrangement will take on a life of its own. We will keep it fairly simple here, but with the clever use of arpeggios and rhythm, pieces, may become even more interesting.

Chord Melody Arranging Page 2

For our purposes we placed everything in the same voice. You may brush two or more strings with the thumb or use all your fingers. Five Foot Two is a typical example of Dominant 7th use in the cycle of fifths.

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