Hi!
Im taking classical lessons, but there isnt always sheet music for non-classical songs so I play them in this way: get chords from Internet, play them with left hand, try to add melody with right hand. My qusstion is: is there any connection beween chords and melody, so that I could faster learn the melody? (because, tbh, i dont have good ear; yesterday I was doing Desperado by Eagles and couldnt work out the whole melody altough it must be easy)

And, another questiuon, not very related to the above: when I have the one finger melody worked out: is there a simple way to add a few notes to make right hand busier and sounds more interesting?

Very thanks!

Why don't you get a fake book that has both the chords and melody?

I have the same issue. Started on guitar so a lot of my sheet music has just chords, for those, I just have to muddle along and try to work out the melody (probably a good exercise in playing by ear if you think about it).

Try playing an open voice in the left hand (say 1 5) and add the missing chord note to the right hand below the melody note.

Well, you can find chords on internet for virtually any song, but you cant find fake or normal sheet (at least for free).

Thx about the suggestion. Does this simple change really make change? OK, Im now going to try it

Every melody note can be thought of as being related to the underlying chord. In simple terms, the melody is either the Root, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th of the underlying chord.

Oh, rinticop are you always so clever or just on internet??

OK, I might asked a stupid question, but thats because I want to become better. So, if you dont know the answer or if the answer even doesnt exist then please STFU.

Actually pian00b, rintincop is absolutely correct but perhaps expressed his answer the wrong way.

The melody note will almost always be in the scale (key) that the chord is derived from. Think of the melody note as either being in the chord (in the scale) as part of the basic chord, or as a color tone, or as a passing tone from another scale.

For example, say that you are playing a song in the key of 'C', and that the chord is an 'F Major', and the melody note is a 'D'. The D is in fact the 6th of the F chord (ie: it is a scale tone) so your chord is actually an F6.

This means that you can play any other tone in an F6 with the right hand, as long as it is played below the D (the melody MUST always be on top).

The result of spreading the chord across both hands (open voicing) is to give the overall tone more space.

If the melody note was not derived from the scale (say an Eb) then it really is just a passing tone (ie: you'll notice that the melody does not sit for very long in this unusual state and the next group of notes will quickly resolve to the scale tones and even be restricted to tones of the basic chord.

When trying to play-by-ear (pick out the melody) from the chords, it is always best to first try to notes from within the chord (at least for the first note of a bar or at a chord change), but after that, all bets are off as the melody may use passing tones. Notes that are held for any duration (quarter note or longer) will not likely be color tones so you can pretty much assume that those notes are in the chord or at least from within the scale. The problem is that most guitar music is poorly written as the chords are often simplified (ie; they are missing the actual extensions that include the melody notes).

BTW:

There are no stupid questions!!!

I hope this helps,

Rodney

I don't think you got the point, pian00b. Rintincop gave you the answer you are looking for. Melody tones come from the underlying chord. That is the connection between melody and chords.

In a given measure, the melody tones can be classified as chord tones and non-chord tones (also called "passing tones", "neighboring tones", etc). The melody will *focus* on the root, 3rd, and 5th chord tone, but the others will make an appearance as well.

To make the right hand more interesting, you can double the melody tone (i.e. play the octave), add chord tones (1-3-5-7 of the chord), or add "color tones" (2-4-6 of the chord). Or you might play one or more harmony tones below the top melody tone, such as a 3rd and/or a 6th below. (If the 3rd sounds wrong, use a 4th interval.) That's about it.

I think you owe rintincop and apology.

it's very efficient to read notation .. at least in the right hand.

@Rodney
Yes, it helps, thanks

@mahlzeit
Thanks, especially for recipe what to add in right hand. One question: I know that ear is ones guide to choose to add whether a chord tone in right hand or color tone, but just out of curiosity, are there any ˝rules˝ for this, where is which more appropriate?

@apple*
Yes, I know, but as I said I cant find always sheet music.

@rintincop
Thanks, and please accept my appologize.

The only rule is this: it is good if it sounds good. (Oh, and "less is more".)

One general "rule" is that passing tones, because they are not members of the chord that is being played, are usually played on the off-beat, between two playings of the chord, or after the chord.

For example, if the left hand chord is a simple C root chord (c-e-g), and the passing tone is d, you might play this:

C chord with c note melody; Next, d note melody which is the passing tone, played as the c chord decays. Next, the next C chord again, played with e note melody, which again is part of the chord.

That way, the dissonate sound of the passing tone is not played at the same moment as the chord, so it does not clash. When it is played, the chord is fading, so it sounds better.

Also, passing tones sound better if they are further away on the keyboard from the chord. Try playing a root c chord, with the d passing tone inside it, like this: c-d-e-g.

It will not sound that good; Next, play the same c-e-g root chord using the c below middle c, but this time put the d passing tone on the d above middle c. Same note, but now it sounds much better.

These are not hard and fast rules, but will Hope this helps.

It certainly helps! Thank you, too.

Ahh. A rule just begging to be broke.

This is going to sound easier than it is but here goes: Play the melody note with the 5th finger of the right hand. Play the root of the chord with the 5th finger of the left hand, now here's the tricky part, fill in the rest of the chord with the other fingers, 3rd (try not to play the 3rd in the left hand, it usually sounds bad, muddy), 5th (5th can be optional), 7th (in a lot of cases you can pick this up with the 1st finger of the left hand), 9th. etc. This is very basic, there are a lot of things that can cause you to have to alter these rules but this may help with what you're doing. I have been working on this kind of voicing for a couple of years now and I can play most songs out of a fake book but it still takes time to figure out all of the chords, it usually takes me a couple of weeks to get the song to sound good. My teacher says that this is the way the pros do it. It sounds very full and much more interesting than left hand chords and right hand melody. It will take several more years to be able to just sit down and sight read any fake book song. No one said this stuff would be fast or easy But it is FUN!!

Good Luck!