Module 13: Chord melody: solo jazz guitarLesson 1advanced⏱ 90 min + 20 min daily for two weeks

Harmonising a melody

Put a chord under every note of a melody on strings 1 and 2 by choosing the drop-2 or drop-3 inversion whose top note is the melody note, then learn which notes to harmonise and which to leave alone.

Why the melody decides everything

When you comp, you choose voicings for their sound and their voice leading. When you play a tune alone, you lose that freedom: the top note of every chord is the melody, and the melody is not negotiable. Chord melody therefore turns the voicing question upside down. Instead of asking "which Dm7 do I like?", you ask "which Dm7 has this melody note on top, in this register, within reach of the chord before and after it?" Once you can answer that question for any note on the first two strings, you can harmonise anything.

The good news is that you already own the raw material. Every drop-2 and drop-3 inversion from lesson 8.1, lesson 8.2 and lesson 8.3 is a four-note chord with a specific degree on top. Four inversions means four possible melody notes per chord from chord tones alone; add the tensions from lesson 4.4 and you can put almost any diatonic note on top of almost any chord. This lesson teaches you to find those voicings fast, and then, just as important, to leave some notes unharmonised.

The melody lives on strings 1 and 2

Keep the melody on the top two strings. There are three reasons. The highest string carries, so the melody is heard over the chord even when you play every note at the same volume. The strings below are free for the chord: a drop-2 on 4-3-2-1 or a drop-3 on 5-3-2-1 puts the melody on string 1; a drop-2 on 5-4-3-2 or a drop-3 on 6-4-3-2 puts it on string 2. And the right hand can treat the top string differently from the rest, which is the subject of lesson 13.5.

So the four string sets you need are:

For a melody note on string 1 you choose between drop-2 on 4-3-2-1 and drop-3 on 5-3-2-1; for a note on string 2, between drop-2 on 5-4-3-2 and drop-3 on 6-4-3-2. That is the whole decision tree.

Choosing the inversion by the melody note

Each inversion of a drop-2 voicing has a different chord degree on top. In root position (root in the bass) the top note is the 3rd; in first inversion (3rd in the bass) the top is the 5th; in second inversion (5th in the bass) the top is the 7th; in third inversion (7th in the bass) the top is the root. Here are the four Cmaj7 drop-2 shapes on 4-3-2-1, with the note names so you can see the top voice:

Play them in order of melody note, lowest to highest, and say the top degree as you play. The first bar starts at the 1st fret with the 5th on top because the root-position shape with the 3rd on top only exists at the 10th fret on this string set (the root would need a 4th-string note below its open D).

\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
(2.4 4.3 1.2 3.1).2{ch "Cmaj7"} (5.4 5.3 5.2 7.1).2 | (9.4 9.3 8.2 8.1).2 (10.4 12.3 12.2 12.1).2 | (9.4 9.3 8.2 8.1).2 (5.4 5.3 5.2 7.1).2 | (2.4 4.3 1.2 3.1).1 |

Drop-3 inversions work the same way, with a different pattern of top notes: root position puts the 5th on top, first inversion the 7th, second inversion the root and third inversion the 3rd. You do not need to memorise either table. What you need is the reflex: melody note, chord quality, which inversion? The chord dictionary labels the degree on every string, so use it to check yourself until the reflex is there.

When the melody note is a tension

Melodies are not made only of chord tones. The commonest non-chord melody note by far is the 9th, and the 13th is the next. Both are easy to harmonise: use a four-note voicing in which the 9th or 13th replaces a chord tone, exactly as in lesson 4.4. The table shows which notes you are adding when the symbol gains a 9 or 13:

Two rules of thumb for the harder cases:

• The 9th on top of a major or minor 7th chord: drop the root from a drop-2 shape and put the 9th in its place, or use the shell-plus-9 shapes from lesson 4.4. On a dominant chord the same move gives a 9 or a 13; lower the 9 one fret for a 7b9 when the chord resolves to minor.
• The 4th (11th) on top of a major chord sounds like a suspension, which it usually is: either harmonise it as a sus4 or wait for it to resolve to the 3rd and harmonise that. On a minor 7th chord the 11th is fine (a m11 voicing). On a dominant chord a melody 4th is a 7sus4.
• A passing or chromatic note that lasts an eighth or less: do not harmonise it at all. Play it as a single note between two chords.

The melody

Here is an original eight-bar phrase over a ii–V–I-based progression in C, with a iii–VI7 in bar 4 to send it back round. Learn it as a single line first, with the chord symbols in your head, because you cannot harmonise what you cannot sing. The engine checks every note against the chord in force; two notes are deliberately not chord tones, and they are the subject of the next section: the second note of bar 3 (the 9th of the I chord) and the second note of bar 6 (the 9th of the V chord).

\tempo 92
.
\ts 4 4
:4 6.2{ch "Dm7"} 5.1 :2 8.1 | :4 7.1{ch "G7"} 8.2 :2 6.2 | :2 5.2{ch "Cmaj7"} :4 3.2 5.2 | :4 3.1{ch "Em7"} 5.2 :2 9.1{ch "A7"} | :4 10.1{ch "Dm7"} 8.1 :2 5.1 | :4 7.1{ch "G7"} 5.1 :2 6.2 | :2 5.2{ch "Cmaj7"} :4 3.1 7.1 | :1 8.1 |

Before harmonising, analyse the melody the way you analysed lines in lesson 7.3: write the degree of each note against its chord. Bar 1 is b3–5–b7 of the ii chord, bar 2 is 3–R–b7 of the V, bar 3 is 3–9–3 of the I, and so on. The degree tells you the inversion before you touch the guitar.

Harmonising every note

Now a chord under every note. Each voicing was chosen by the melody note, then by proximity to the chord before it. Look at how little the hand moves: bars 1, 2, 5 and 6 stay between the 5th and 8th frets, and the shapes alternate between the two drop-2 string sets as the melody crosses from string 2 to string 1.

\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
(5.5 7.4 5.3 6.2).4{ch "Dm7"} (5.5 5.3 6.2 5.1).4 (7.4 7.3 6.2 8.1).2 | (5.4 7.3 6.2 7.1).4{ch "G7"} (8.5 9.4 7.3 8.2).4 (5.5 5.4 4.3 6.2).2 | (3.5 5.4 4.3 5.2).2{ch "Cmaj7"} (3.5 2.4 4.3 3.2).4{ch "Cmaj9"} (3.5 4.3 5.2).4{ch "Cmaj7"} | (5.5 4.3 5.2 3.1).4{ch "Em7"} (5.5 5.4 4.3 5.2).4 (7.4 9.3 8.2 9.1).2{ch "A7"} | (10.4 10.3 10.2 10.1).4{ch "Dm7"} (7.4 7.3 6.2 8.1).4 (5.5 5.3 6.2 5.1).2 | (5.4 7.3 6.2 7.1).4{ch "G7"} (3.4 4.3 5.2 5.1).4{ch "G13"} (5.5 5.4 4.3 6.2).2{ch "G7"} | (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2).2{ch "Cmaj7"} (3.5 4.3 5.2 3.1).4 (5.4 5.3 5.2 7.1).4 | (9.4 9.3 8.2 8.1).1 |

Here are the voicings of the first two bars and the two tension chords as diagrams, with their inversions, so you can see the logic:

Bar by bar:

• Bar 1. Three Dm7 voicings, three inversions, chosen purely by the melody note. The second one is a drop-3 (bass on string 5) because the drop-2 with the 5th on top on 4-3-2-1 sits at the 3rd fret, too far from its neighbours.
• Bar 2. The G7 with the 3rd on top is drop-2 root position on 4-3-2-1; the G7 with the root on top is drop-2 third inversion on 5-4-3-2 at the 7th–9th frets; the chord on beat 3 is second inversion, the b7 on top. The top voice falls 3–R–b7 and the bass moves G–F–D.
• Bar 3. The 9th arrives, and the plain Cmaj7 drop-2 has no 9th in it. The custom shape on beat 3 is the 5-4-3 shell with the 9th on string 2 from lesson 4.4: the root stays in the bass, so the chord is Cmaj9 rather than rootless. Then the shell alone for the last beat, because three notes under a repeated melody note sound lighter than four.
• Bar 4. The iii chord takes a drop-3 (bass on string 5) with the b3 on top, then drop-2 third inversion with the root on top, then A7 drop-2 root position with the 3rd on top at the 7th–9th frets, which hands the melody up to the high D that opens bar 5.
• Bar 5. The barre at the 10th fret is Dm7 drop-2 third inversion, the root on top. It is the only chord in the piece above the 9th fret and it is there for one beat, so it is worth the jump; the next two chords walk the hand back down.
• Bar 6. The 9th of G7 on beat 2 becomes a rootless G13 on the top four strings, which also puts the 13th in the voicing. Rootless voicings are the natural home of melody tensions: with no root to accommodate, the four notes can all be colour.
• Bars 7–8. A drop-3 on 6-4-3-2 with the 7th in the bass gives the I chord more weight at the cadence; then the 5th and 7th on top in drop-2 and drop-3 shapes, and the final chord is drop-2 third inversion with the root on top, held for the whole bar.

Harmonising selectively

Playing a chord under every quarter note is an exercise, not a performance. Listen to Joe Pass or Ted Greene play a ballad: the chords land on the long notes and on the downbeats, and the moving notes between them are single, so the ear hears a melody with harmony rather than a sequence of chords. The rule of thumb is to harmonise the first note of each chord change and any note of a half note or longer, and to leave quarter-note and eighth-note passing tones single. Here is the same phrase played that way; the two 9ths are now single notes, so they need no special voicing at all.

\tempo 84
.
\ts 4 4
(5.5 7.4 5.3 6.2).4{ch "Dm7"} 5.1.4 (7.4 7.3 6.2 8.1).2 | (5.4 7.3 6.2 7.1).4{ch "G7"} 8.2.4 (5.5 5.4 4.3 6.2).2 | (3.5 5.4 4.3 5.2).2{ch "Cmaj7"} 3.2.4 5.2.4 | (5.5 4.3 5.2 3.1).4{ch "Em7"} 5.2.4 (7.4 9.3 8.2 9.1).2{ch "A7"} | (10.4 10.3 10.2 10.1).4{ch "Dm7"} 8.1.4 (5.5 5.3 6.2 5.1).2 | (5.4 7.3 6.2 7.1).4{ch "G7"} 5.1.4 (5.5 5.4 4.3 6.2).2 | (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2).2{ch "Cmaj7"} 3.1.4 7.1.4 | (9.4 9.3 8.2 8.1).1 |

Compare the two versions. The selective one is easier, swings more and lets the chords ring under the single notes, which is a sound in its own right: let the chord sustain while the melody moves, rather than muting it. When you are arranging, start selective and add chords only where the melody feels bare.

Drop-3 for a bigger sound

Drop-3 voicings put the bass on string 5 or 6 and leave a gap between bass and the upper three notes, which makes the melody stand out and the bass sound like a bass. Here are the first four bars with drop-3 shapes only: 5-3-2-1 for melody notes on string 1, 6-4-3-2 for notes on string 2. The hand works a little harder (two of the shapes span four frets) but the sound is unmistakably solo guitar.

\tempo 66
.
\ts 4 4
(8.6 7.4 7.3 6.2).4{ch "Dm7"} (5.5 5.3 6.2 5.1).4 (8.5 7.3 10.2 8.1).2 | (8.5 7.3 8.2 7.1).4{ch "G7"} (5.5 4.3 6.2 3.1).4 (7.6 5.4 7.3 6.2).2 | (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2).2{ch "Cmaj7"} (3.5 2.4 4.3 3.2).4{ch "Cmaj9"} (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2).4{ch "Cmaj7"} | (5.5 4.3 5.2 3.1).4{ch "Em7"} (7.6 5.4 7.3 5.2).4 (10.5 9.3 10.2 9.1).2{ch "A7"} |

In practice most players mix the two: drop-3 on the downbeat and on long notes for weight, drop-2 for the moving chords where a small shape is easier to grab. The full ballad in lesson 13.4 does exactly that.

Working method

1. Learn the melody alone on strings 1 and 2, in one fingering, from memory.
2. Write the degree under each note. Chord tone, 9th, 13th, or passing note.
3. Decide which notes get chords: changes and long notes first.
4. For each of those notes, find the voicing: string set by which string the melody is on, inversion by the degree on top, and then the one closest to the previous chord. Use the chord dictionary to confirm.
5. Play it slowly, holding every chord for its full value, at 60 bpm, until the melody sounds like a melody.
6. Only then add chords under the shorter notes if the music wants them.

Exercises

1. Inversion reflex: for Dm7, G7, Cmaj7, Am7 and Fmaj7, play the four drop-2 inversions on 4-3-2-1 and name the top degree of each. 60 bpm, two beats per chord. Then the same on 5-4-3-2, then drop-3 on 5-3-2-1 and 6-4-3-2.
2. Melody-note test: a friend (or a random-note app) names a chord and a note; you play a voicing with that note on top within five seconds. If the note is a 9th or 13th, use the rootless or shell-plus-tension shapes.
3. The phrase, three ways: single line, fully harmonised, selectively harmonised. Record all three and listen to which notes need chords.
4. Transpose the phrase to F and to Bb: the melody starts on the b3 of the ii chord in each key, and every voicing moves by the same number of frets. The shapes do not change; only your choice of where to cross between string sets might.
5. Write your own eight bars over the same changes, quarters and halves only, and harmonise it by the method above.

Quiz