Module 13: Chord melody: solo jazz guitarLesson 4advanced⏱ 120 min + 25 min daily for three weeks

Arranging an original ballad

A complete 16-bar original ballad arranged for solo guitar in two voices, with every voicing, register and bass choice explained, and the same method applied step by step to arranging a standard.

Why build one from scratch

You learn more from arranging sixteen bars yourself than from memorising a hundred bars of someone else's arrangement, because every choice has to be yours and you have to be able to defend it. This lesson walks through an original ballad, Evening in F, written for the purpose: a melody on strings 1 and 2, a progression made of the cells that standards are made of (ii–V–I, the minor ii–V to the relative minor, the IV to iv, a iii–VI7 turnaround), and a two-voice arrangement in which the lower voice is a three-note shell and the upper voice is the melody. Everything in it comes from lesson 13.1; what is new is the scale (sixteen bars, four phrases), the planning of register and bass motion across the whole form, and the discipline of writing it down.

The method at the end is the one to use on a standard; the tune is original so that it can be notated here in full.

The tune: form and changes

Sixteen bars in F major, four four-bar phrases, in the shape A–A'–B–A'' (a statement, a varied restatement, a contrasting phrase that moves to the IV, and a final phrase that cadences). The chart:

In Roman numerals the first phrase is Imaj7–viiø7–III7b9–vi7: the minor ii–V from lesson 3.4 taking the tune to its relative minor. The second phrase is ii–V, then iii–VI7b9–ii–V, a standard turnaround. The third phrase goes I–IV–iv–iii, the IV-to-minor-IV move that you will find in dozens of standards. The last phrase repeats the minor ii–V, then the final ii–V–I. The cell that gives the tune its character is the first one; here it is in F and in two other keys, because you will want to recognise it in standards:

The melody

Learn it first as a single line, as always. The register is deliberately narrow (a tenth, from the open-position D on string 2 to the D on string 1 at the 10th fret) so that every note can sit on top of a shell without leaving the position. The degrees are written in the analysis below; two notes that the engine does not accept as chord tones are in allow=: the 9th of the I chord at the end of bar 1 and the 13th of the I and IV chords in bars 9 and 10. Where the melody sits on a 9th the chart symbol says so (Dm9, Bbmaj9).

\tempo 63
.
\ts 4 4
:2 8.1{ch "Fmaj7"} :4 10.2 8.2 | :2 8.2{ch "Em7b5"} 6.1{ch "A7b9"} | 5.1{d ch "Dm7"} :4 6.2 | :2 5.2{ch "Dm9"} 3.2 | :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1 | 6.1{ch "C7"} 3.1 | 5.2{ch "Am7"} 4.2{ch "D7b9"} | :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1{ch "C7"} | 10.2{ch "Fmaj7"} :4 8.1 10.1 | :2 8.1{ch "Bbmaj9"} 8.2 | 8.2{ch "Bbm6"} 6.2 | 5.2{ch "Am7"} :4 8.2 5.1 | 8.2{ch "Em7b5"} 6.1 :2 6.1{ch "A7b9"} | 5.1{ch "Dm9"} :4 6.2 5.2 | :2 3.2{ch "Gm7"} :4 3.1{ch "C7"} 6.1 | :1 5.1{ch "F6"} |

Sing it with the degrees: 5–3–9 over the I chord; b3 of the viiø7 falling to the b9 of the III7; 5 and b3 of the vi; and so on. The melody is built almost entirely from 3rds, 5ths and 9ths, which is what makes it easy to harmonise and is also, not by coincidence, how most ballad melodies are built.

The arrangement: how it is built

The lower voice is a three-note shell (root, 3rd and 7th, or root, 7th and 3rd) on strings 6-4-3 or 5-4-3, held for the length of the chord. The upper voice is the melody on strings 1 and 2. The combined sound on any beat is therefore a four-note voicing with the melody on top, exactly the shell-plus-one-note shapes of lesson 4.4, but written as two voices so that the melody can move while the shell rings. This is how most solo players actually think: a bass-and-guide-tone skeleton underneath, the tune on top, the hand changing shape only where the melody leaves the span of the shell.

Three planning decisions were made before any voicing was chosen:

• Register plan. Phrases 1 and 3 sit high (shells at the 5th–9th frets) because their melodies climb to the 8th–10th frets on string 1; phrases 2 and 4 sit low (shells at the 2nd–5th frets) because their melodies live around the 3rd–6th frets. The arrangement therefore breathes between two positions, up for a phrase and down for a phrase, rather than jumping bar by bar.
• Bass plan. Every chord has its root in the bass except where a bass line is wanted; here the roots are all kept so that the ballad sounds grounded, and the walking-bass variation at the end of the lesson shows the alternative.
• Colour plan. Dominants resolving to minor chords get a b9 (A7b9, D7b9); the I chord gets a 9 or a 13 when the melody supplies it; the final chord is a 6th chord with the 3rd on top, so that nothing is left hanging.

Bars 1–8

\tempo 63
.
\ts 4 4
\voice :2 8.1{ch "Fmaj7"} :4 10.2 8.2 | :2 8.2{ch "Em7b5"} 6.1{ch "A7b9"} | 5.1{d ch "Dm7"} :4 6.2 | :2 5.2{ch "Dm9"} 3.2 | :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1 | 6.1{ch "C7"} 3.1 | 5.2{ch "Am7"} 4.2{ch "D7b9"} | :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1{ch "C7"} |
\voice :1 (8.5 7.4 9.3) | :2 (7.5 5.4 7.3) (5.6 5.4 6.3) | :1 (5.5 3.4 5.3) | (5.5 3.4 5.3) | (3.6 3.4 3.3) | (3.5 2.4 3.3) | :2 (5.6 5.4 5.3) (5.5 4.4 5.3) | (3.6 3.4 3.3) (3.5 2.4 3.3) |

Bar by bar:

• Bar 1 (Fmaj7). The root-5 shell at the 8th fret (root, 3rd, 7th on 5-4-3) under a melody that starts on the 5th and falls to the 3rd and the 9th. The 3rd is doubled in the melody for one beat, which is fine: a doubled 3rd on top is the most natural sound a major chord has. With the 9th on the last beat the sonority is Fmaj9. Fret the melody with the 4th finger and keep the shell down for the whole bar.
• Bar 2 (Em7b5–A7b9). The half-diminished shell is root-5 at the 7th fret with the b3 on top (string 2, fret 8), doubling the melody's b3 an octave below in the shell. The A7b9 is a root-6 shell at the 5th fret and the melody supplies the b9 on string 1; the combined shape is the classic 7b9 voicing with the b9 on top. This is the first position shift of the piece, down from 7–9 to 5–6, and it is small.
• Bar 3 (Dm7). Root-5 shell at the 5th fret, melody on the 5th then the b3. The shell is held for the whole bar; only the 4th finger moves.
• Bar 4 (Dm9). The same shell, the melody now on the 9th resolving to the root. Both melody notes are on string 2, so the shell's 1st finger (string 4, fret 3) and the melody's root (string 2, fret 3) can be taken with a small partial barre. The resolution 9–R on a minor chord is one of the oldest sounds in the music.
• Bar 5 (Gm7). The phrase ends and the register drops: root-6 shell at the 3rd fret under a rising melody 5–b7–b3. The three melody notes use strings 2, 2 and 1 at frets 3, 6 and 6; the shell never moves. The b7 on top of a m7 shell is a m7 with a doubled 7th, which sounds fuller than it looks.
• Bar 6 (C7). Root-5 shell at the 3rd fret with the melody on the b7 (string 1, fret 6) and then the 5th. The first shape is the one stretch in the arrangement, 1st finger at the 2nd fret and 4th finger at the 6th; it is the standard "7th on top" dominant shape and worth the reach. If it hurts, play the shell for beat 1 only and the melody note alone.
• Bar 7 (Am7–D7b9). Am7 is a root-6 barre shape at the 5th fret with the 5th on top. The D7b9 is the x-5-4-5-4-x shape every jazz guitarist knows: root-5 shell plus the b9 on string 2, and the melody is that b9. From the Am7 the melody falls by a half step (5th of Am7 to b9 of D7b9), and in bar 8 it falls another half step to the 5th of Gm7: a chromatic line in the top voice across three chords, which is the kind of thing you listen for when you choose voicings.
• Bar 8 (Gm7–C7). The same two shells as bars 5 and 6, so the hand already knows them; the melody is 5–b7 over the ii and the b7 over the V, which resolves down a half step to the 3rd of F in bar 9. Both shells are released on the last eighth to allow the shift up to the 8th fret.

Bars 9–16

\tempo 63
.
\ts 4 4
\voice :2 10.2{ch "Fmaj7"} :4 8.1 10.1 | :2 8.1{ch "Bbmaj9"} 8.2 | 8.2{ch "Bbm6"} 6.2 | 5.2{ch "Am7"} :4 8.2 5.1 | 8.2{ch "Em7b5"} 6.1 :2 6.1{ch "A7b9"} | 5.1{ch "Dm9"} :4 6.2 5.2 | :2 3.2{ch "Gm7"} :4 3.1{ch "C7"} 6.1 | :1 5.1{ch "F6"} |
\voice :1 (8.5 7.4 9.3) | (6.6 7.4 7.3) | (6.6 5.4 6.3) | (5.6 5.4 5.3) | :2 (7.5 5.4 7.3) (5.6 5.4 6.3) | :1 (5.5 3.4 5.3) | :2 (3.6 3.4 3.3) (3.5 2.4 3.3) | :1 (8.5 7.4 7.3) |

• Bar 9 (Fmaj7). The same shell as bar 1, but the melody now rises 3–5–13: the restatement is a variation. The 13th on the last beat over the held major 7th gives a maj13 sonority, the warmest colour a I chord has, and it is reached with the 4th finger on string 1, fret 10, while the shell holds.
• Bar 10 (Bbmaj9). Root-6 shell at the 6th fret (root, 7th, 3rd on 6-4-3) with the 9th on top, then the 13th. The shell is two frets below the Fmaj7 shell and the melody stays at the 8th fret: the hand barely moves for a chord that changes function entirely.
• Bar 11 (Bbm6). The borrowed iv chord. The shell is root, 6th and b3 on 6-4-3 (there is no 7th in a minor 6th chord, so the 6th takes its place in the shell), and the melody is the 6th and then the 5th. Compare bar 10 and bar 11 with the melody on the same string 2, fret 8: the only change in the lower voice is the 3rd dropping a half step and the 7th dropping a whole step. That is the IV-to-iv sound, and it is the emotional centre of the tune.
• Bar 12 (Am7). The iii chord standing in for I, the barre shape from bar 7, with the melody 5–b7–R. Ending the phrase on the iii rather than the I keeps the tune open for the last phrase.
• Bar 13 (Em7b5–A7b9). The minor ii–V again, same shells as bar 2, but the melody is more active: b3 and b5 of the half-diminished chord, then the b9 held over the A7. Recognising that this is bar 2 with a turn is what lets you learn the arrangement in half the time.
• Bar 14 (Dm9). Root-5 shell at the 5th fret, melody 5–b3–9: the 9th is on string 2, fret 5, which is the string the shell's 7th does not use, so the full shape is the Dm9 of bar 4 with the melody an octave lower in the voicing.
• Bar 15 (Gm7–C7). The final ii–V. Gm7 with the 5th on top, then the C7 shell with the 5th and then the b7 on string 1 (the stretch again, for one beat). The b7 of the V falling to the 3rd of the I is the oldest cadence there is, and it is why the tune ends on the 3rd.
• Bar 16 (F6). Root-5 shell with the 6th instead of the 7th (strings 5-4-3 at frets 8-7-7) and the 3rd of the chord on top at string 1, fret 5. A 6th chord with the 3rd on top is the standard last chord of a ballad: no 7th to resolve, no root on top to sound final in a military way. Let it ring.

Here are the combined shapes that the two voices make on the beats that matter most, verified against their symbols, so that you can see each one as a single chord:

An intro and a second chorus

Two additions turn the sixteen bars into a performance. First, an intro built from the last two bars of the tune, the commonest intro in jazz because it ends on the V chord that the melody wants: ii–V–I–VI7b9–ii–V, four bars, the last one held for the melody's first note.

\tempo 63
.
\ts 4 4
(3.6 3.4 3.3 3.2).2{ch "Gm7"} (3.5 2.4 3.3 3.1).2{ch "C7"} | (8.5 7.4 7.3 5.1).2{ch "F6"} (5.5 4.4 5.3 4.2).2{ch "D7b9"} | (3.6 3.4 3.3 3.2).2{ch "Gm7"} (3.5 2.4 3.3 3.1).2{ch "C7"} | (3.5 2.4 3.3 3.1).1{ch "C7"} |

Second, a variation for a second time through: bars 5–8 with a walking bass from lesson 13.2 under the melody instead of held shells. The bass is on strings 6 and 5, the melody stays where it was, and there are no chords in between: two voices, the top and the bottom, and the ear fills in the harmony. Use this for one phrase, not for the whole tune.

\tempo 63
.
\ts 4 4
\voice :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1 | 6.1{ch "C7"} 3.1 | 5.2{ch "Am7"} 4.2{ch "D7b9"} | :4 3.2{ch "Gm7"} 6.2 :2 6.1{ch "C7"} |
\voice :4 3.6 6.6 5.5 8.5 | 7.5 3.6 6.6 3.5 | 5.6 7.5 5.5 2.6 | 3.6 6.6 3.5 7.5 |

A full performance is then: intro; the tune with shells; the tune again with the walking bass in bars 5–8 and 13–15; the tag and rubato ending from lesson 13.3 in F. About three minutes of music, every bar of it explainable.

Arranging a standard by the same method

1. Learn the melody by ear and from memory, in one key, on strings 1 and 2, in a register where its highest note is no higher than the 12th fret on string 1 and its lowest no lower than the open string 2. If it does not fit, change the key or move a phrase up an octave.
2. Write the changes in Roman numerals and identify the cells: ii–V–I, minor ii–V, IV–iv, iii–VI–ii–V. You already have voicings for every cell from this module.
3. Mark the degree of every melody note. Chord tones get a shell plus the note; 9ths and 13ths get the shell plus the note and the symbol gains a 9 or 13; passing notes stay single.
4. Plan the register by phrase, not by bar. Decide which phrases sit high and which low, and look for shells that serve several consecutive bars from one position.
5. Choose shells first, then check the combined shape with the chord dictionary: root in the bass, 3rd and 7th in the middle, melody on top. Where the melody runs out of the shell's reach, release the shell rather than grabbing a new chord on every note.
6. Add colour last: b9s on dominants going to minor, 13ths on dominants going to major, a 6th or 6/9 on the final chord, a #11 on a final major chord if the tune is modern.
7. Write it down (in alphaTex or on paper) and play it at half tempo for a week before you try to make it sound like music. Then add an intro from lesson 13.3, a walking-bass phrase, and an ending.

Players to study, each with a different balance of the same ingredients: Joe Pass (Virtuoso), Ted Greene (Solo Guitar), Ed Bickert, Martin Taylor, Lenny Breau, and George Van Eps, who wrote the book on the two-voice approach used here.

Exercises

1. Melody and shells separately: the melody alone from memory; the lower voice alone, in time, naming each shell; then together at 50 bpm.
2. Bar pairs: bars 2 and 13 (same shells, different melody), bars 5 and 8, bars 1 and 9, bars 10 and 11. Play each pair ten times to learn the arrangement as five shapes rather than sixteen bars.
3. Combined shapes: the eight verified shapes above as block chords, four beats each, then as broken chords (bass, then middle, then melody).
4. Transpose the whole arrangement to Eb (everything down two frets; the open-string melody notes become fretted) and to G (up two frets).
5. Your own tune: write sixteen bars of melody over the same changes, or write new changes from the same cells, and arrange it by the seven steps.

Quiz