Finding the melody

Hi Geoo,

Could you sing the melody (just la, la, la or whatever) and record it?

Then play it back and try and match it single note by note? Once you know the notes in the melody it should be simpler to match them to compatible chords (I think there are rules for how to do that, which I'm not sure of right now...)

I'm currently working on developing a strategy to master just what you're talking about, as my whole voice control and note recognition is rubbish at present.

I'm singing the notes up and down the neck (singing the note names, but doing it as scales, not just one fret after the other). And I'm also working through sheet music a bar at a time. So I'll pick a song, stare at the staff and play and sing three or four notes backwards and forwards for a while, and then add more, change bars and so on.

I'm hoping that if I do this for a few weeks I'll start to develop the ability to be able to look at a written note and sing it, without the cue from the guitar. And also do the reverse - hear a sound and know what it was.

Weeks might be a bit hopeful, but I'm not in a rush. I'll nail it eventually.

Good luck figuring out your melody, that must be quite frustrating.

Thanks Chris. I have recorded it, it is my SSG assignment for this week. So, I will try your suggestion of playing it and see if that helps. I think that the problem is that the chords arent ones I have learned yet. So, maybe like you say if I can find the approximate area of the neck it is on, then I can figure out the chord.

Its kind of like you say. As I start singing and trying different chords it alters the way I sing it cause then I get a different tone in my head. So I will try the play back idea.

Geoo

Yes, trying to find the chords to a melody line is a little tough sometimes, especially if you wrote it. Whenever I start humming a melody, like when I'm making dinner or something, I figure I'm not going to use it or become a major act by capturing it, so to speak, lol, so I just enjoy the moment.

And lots of times a good, memorable melody has all the chordal tones in it, sometimes even having a little arpeggio bit between the notes. When you sing it seems to come out so naturally and nice - complete with pauses when you have to take a breath!

It's great.

But trying to find the chords: I usually wind up humming in Eb, so I normally go back and rethink it in D (my favorite key anyhow). And let's say the first note is a D - like 2nd string, 3rd fret kind of thing. I know I can try a D major or minor chord for that, or it could be the seventh of an E7 chord. It could be the 'sus' part of an A major, or it's right there in a G major or minor chord. It could also be a lot of other things, like the 9th in a C chord, but I've realized that normally, my mind doesn't come up with extensions; the notes I hum are usually already there withing plain ol' major chords.

Or minor chords sometimes, but just the root-third-fifth. I usually find the melody notes somewhere in a plain triad.

Then, usually, the melody line will go up or down, but again, usually, it's still within that chord you just played. I think it's wonderful how our imaginations already 'know' the rules, so to speak, and if you just go by ear, you'll figure things out.

One chord for each note would be like bebop or something, and I've never come up with that sort of stuff :)

And plus, the best melodies (aside from all the theory and stuff) wind up using just the three main chords - root, four, and five - sometimes not even five7. So, with any given melodic note, you have 9 choices of what chord you're going to 'wrap' it with so to speak. Makes it a little easier, at least to me.

Good that you guys are doing it by ear though - makes that inner-to-outer connection better and faster.

Best

Thanks DemoEtc,

That was useful stuff. :D

I'm still trying to figure out all the guidelines for how to choose the chords to "wrap" melodies with, as you describe it - and that certainly helped point me in the right direction.

Cheers, Chris.

Thanks Demo

I didnt see your post until this morning so I spent last nights lesson with my instructor discussing how to find the melody. Basically, he said the same as you.

So I came home and found that the key for my song is D. That the D chord has an A-D-F# in it. My instructor said that thirds are usually pretty sweet areas to play with and sure enough the chord progression I was looking for all found in that D chord. What was throwing me off was I didnt know how to fret the F but I did find it last night. I just have to get better at fretting the barre chords.. LOL

I am repeating what the instructor said from memory but I think I got most of it right. I think it time it will help me to figure out the melody from now on. And maybe teach me a few chords.

Geoo