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The Mel Bay Chord Melody System
The ability to play chord melody is one of the most useful and satisfying abilities a guitarist can have. If you are able to give a listener the melody with your guitar WHILE you are providing a harmonic background, you will immediately be considered a more advanced guitarist. This is because the majority of players are strummers and singers (in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld "not that there's anything wrong with that!). I played in a church for a number of years, and people thought I was a genius because I could not only strum the chords and sing, but I could then play a musical break, chord melody style, and then return for another sung verse. I stood out from all the guitar players they were used to hearing. Well, I let those people believe I was a genius, its good for business! But I'll tell you the real story... There is a method for learning how to do this, and there is a logic to it as well. It does take an investment of practice time, but it will pay off big, musically, and maybe someday monetarily as well. One of the best places to start acquiring the skill is the Mel Bay system for chord melody. It will get you started learning the essential chord shapes used for chord melody, which requires higher position chords than rhythm playing. Mel goes key by key, and the lessons are clear and easy to understand, however, I would advise having some musical understanding first. Examples are in tab as well, so note reading is not essential, but as in all other areas of guitar, you are better off reading than not. Chord melody playing is a vast subject, and there is much to learn that is beyond the scope of this book, but this book is an excellent beginning for the player new to the subject. Take a GuitarPrinciples lesson on Chord Melody: learn "Happy Birthday"! |
