chording on the melody

[harpomatic]

Comraden!

Happy holidays to all!

I came upon an interesting and new TO ME concept of chording a song on the melody, as opposed to the bass line. Being a harmonica player first, I am not that sophisticated about chord usage, as there are not too many available on our instrument, and play concertina mostly melodically, not heavy on chords.

Recently I got myself a hammond organ, and got involved in some closer study of chords and chording. So, there is this approach to chording on the melody, as used in gospel by some players. We're talking about passing chords here - one can stick virtually any chord under the melody, if that chord ENDS with the note of the melody that you're backing up. I wonder how new this concept is, and if anyone is familiar with some kind of chord list that would be grouped by the last(highest note) of the chord, as opposed to the usual list of chord names, starting on the base note?

 

Mike.

[Marien]

...

Happy holidays to all!

....

 

When does it start?

[Jim Van Donsel]

...

Happy holidays to all!

....

 

When does it start?

 

For the benefit of non-US members, today is our Thanksgiving Day, and is traditionally the start of the brutally long "holiday season", meaning Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Beethoven's Birthday, Christmas, New Years Day. Thanksgiving Day is when we gather with family and friends, stuff ourselves silly with turkey, then watch (American) football and fall asleep in front of the telly.

 

For those of us who don't care for football, there's always some after-dinner music-making to do.

[yankeeclipper]

For the benefit of non-US members, today is our Thanksgiving Day, and is traditionally the start of the brutally long "holiday season", meaning Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Beethoven's Birthday, Christmas, New Years Day.

You forgot the Winter Solstice!

[Ray]

... one can stick virtually any chord under the melody, if that chord ENDS with the note of the melody that you're backing up.

There's an old jazz saying that there's no such thing as a wrong chord, but some chords are a lot more tasteful than others!

 

... some kind of chord list that would be grouped by the last(highest note) of the chord, as opposed to the usual list of chord names, starting on the base note?

Because chords can have unlimited inversions and extensions, wouldn't a list of possible chords under a top note mean listing all the chords possible in the whole musical spectrum - for each note?

 

Ray

Edited November 28, 2008 by Ray

[Ray]

I just noticed my post above is timed at an ungodly hour of the morning when I was fast asleep! The time here is nearly 9am, and my computer clock is set correctly. What time-zone is the forum clock in? I don't mind it giving the impression that I'm a night-owl, but now I'm feeling knackered!

 

Ray

[Woody]

...Beethoven's Birthday...

 

I think you're taking it a bit far when you have a holiday to celebrate the birthday of a fictional dog!

[Anglo-Irishman]

Comraden!

I came upon an interesting and new TO ME concept of chording a song on the melody, as opposed to the bass line.

...

Recently I got myself a hammond organ, and got involved in some closer study of chords and chording. So, there is this approach to chording on the melody, as used in gospel by some players. We're talking about passing chords here - one can stick virtually any chord under the melody, if that chord ENDS with the note of the melody that you're backing up.

 

Mike,

What exactly are we talking about here? This is the wrong forum for the Hammond organ, but if you're looking for concertina-relevant techniques, you'll have to specify whether English, Anglo or Duet system.

And what do you mean by "passing chords"? I know passing notes - holding a chord and moving melodically from one note that's in it to another note that's in it via a third note that's not in it. This momentarily creates a 4-note chord that may have a lot of tension in it (like a "sus" chord). Is that what you mean?

 

I play Anglo concertina and finger-style 5-string banjo, and in both cases, the chording follows the melody. The bass line is secondary to the chord structure, so it's not much use as a guide. Each melody has an appropriate chord sequence (the "3-chord trick" being the simplest). To put it simply, I use the planned chord in a form (may be an inversion) that has the melody note on top. For passing notes (see above) I keep the lower notes of the chord, and just shift the top note. (The details of how to do this depend on the instrument. This is relatively simple on the banjo, but often involves a search for alternate fingerings on the Anglo.)

 

On the Crane duet concertina, which I'm just learning at the moment, I conceptually have my chords in the left hand, and my melody in the right. But acoustically, what comes out of the instrument at a given moment is a chord with the melody note at the top of it.

 

I assume we're talking improvisation here - if you were sight-reading for the Hammond, you'd just play what's there, and let the arranger work out what it should be. But you've got to realise that improvising is in fact "arranging on the fly". It's not trivial, and it has to be learnt. It helps a lot if you become accustomed to playing other people's arrangements for a while, before you start improvising. There's a lot of "cut and paste" involved

 

So no, chording on the melody is not new. In fact, I'd say it's basic to any harmonised music

 

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

John

[harpomatic]

John,

I'm talking more of a general musical approach to improvised playing, not instrument-specific, although more related to instruments that play chords(less relevant to a flute).

Your approach to harmony is somewhat like mine, and overall more of what i'd call "conventional"(to ME, I must stress).

The difference is exactly between passing chords and passing notes. Passing chords are played behind the sustained melodic note. They don't occur behind every note of the melody, just some that are long enough.

In other words, I'm talking about the chordal improvisation. So you do "momentarily create a 4-note chord that may have a lot of tension in it (like a "sus" chord)

but you arrive at it differently, and it is one of few chords under a sustained melodic note. A way to color a long note, rather than a long sustained chord.

So, yes Ray, a chart of ALL the chords in the Universe does not exist anywhere in it, in whatever order. But for the purpose that is novel to me, the one I describe here, it would be useful to have a list of the same scope as countless other charts offer,but grouped by their last/highest note. The list would not be greater than any other, just arranged differently for a quick reference.

 

 

Mike,

What exactly are we talking about here? This is the wrong forum for the Hammond organ, but if you're looking for concertina-relevant techniques, you'll have to specify whether English, Anglo or Duet system.

And what do you mean by "passing chords"? I know passing notes - holding a chord and moving melodically from one note that's in it to another note that's in it via a third note that's not in it. This momentarily creates a 4-note chord that may have a lot of tension in it (like a "sus" chord). Is that what you mean?

 

I play Anglo concertina and finger-style 5-string banjo, and in both cases, the chording follows the melody. The bass line is secondary to the chord structure, so it's not much use as a guide. Each melody has an appropriate chord sequence (the "3-chord trick" being the simplest). To put it simply, I use the planned chord in a form (may be an inversion) that has the melody note on top. For passing notes (see above) I keep the lower notes of the chord, and just shift the top note. (The details of how to do this depend on the instrument. This is relatively simple on the banjo, but often involves a search for alternate fingerings on the Anglo.)

 

On the Crane duet concertina, which I'm just learning at the moment, I conceptually have my chords in the left hand, and my melody in the right. But acoustically, what comes out of the instrument at a given moment is a chord with the melody note at the top of it.

 

I assume we're talking improvisation here - if you were sight-reading for the Hammond, you'd just play what's there, and let the arranger work out what it should be. But you've got to realise that improvising is in fact "arranging on the fly". It's not trivial, and it has to be learnt. It helps a lot if you become accustomed to playing other people's arrangements for a while, before you start improvising. There's a lot of "cut and paste" involved

 

So no, chording on the melody is not new. In fact, I'd say it's basic to any harmonised music

 

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

John