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So, just leaving some experienced knowledge passed down from my professor to myself on how to properly harmonize chords as a block chord melody, and i am kind of using this post as a way to introduce myself to this community so here you go.
When one is harmonizing major scales /minor major 6 voicings are used on the 1356 chords (maj6th works as a minor on the actual 6th) and then you must harmonize the 247s, and this is only for major or minor chords, say you were trying to use this technique on a dominant 7th or diminished, it would clearly just sound flawed so you must take the inversion and add extensions relative to the note being harmonized! Let me know if you have any questions.
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07-24-2013 07:38 PM
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Huh? I didn't follow that. I find examples are important and you gave none.
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Say if you were looking at a c major chord, you would concentrate on the c major scale, C D E F G A B the I ii iii IV V VI and vi as the intervals. Say if you were to harmonize the f for a melody note you would use the diminished chord with the f on top... Or say or if you wanted to harmonize the e of the melody you would play the root cmaj6th which will harmonize the third, sorry for the confusion
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I will prepare a song for this week and transfer it to PDF for a reference, perhaps I will you the joe pass there will never be another you as an example.
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How about posting a short, real-world example of what you're talking about?
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http://www.jazz-mandolin.com/PDF%20F...d%20Melody.pdf ,here sorry I was analyzing this to see if there was anything weird but it's pretty accurate, it was just wrote down an octave, kinda strange but it works! Notice how the top notes are the melody notes
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Also, ignore the tabs they were written out for mandolin
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Where in RI are you? I live in Riverside, though I'm doing chores for my mother-in-law in Northern Michigan at the moment. When I get back to RI, I'd like to hear you play.
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Oh nice, I am from west warwick, I am usually in Kingston area for schooling! Would be fun! I do make it up to providence quite often tho!
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Maybe come up to Roots Cafe on Tuesdays for the jazz jam?
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I've been meaning to make it up there, my good friend, and one of my teachers are there almost weekly his name is mark, great guitarist, quite avant garde. I have been working a summer job and all of the URI ensembles take place on Tuesday/Thursday nights so it makes it difficult, I will def try. However, I do believe I will be at as220 on the 2nd for the "is this jazz?" Series ran in providence. The limiting factor right now is work so maybe I will find a way!
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Cool! I'm glad you are well-occupied. I play at Roots almost every Tuesday, so I will look for Mark. I'll give you a Halloo when I get back there; I love guitar duos. We can have some fun. I can travel to Kingston w/o problem. I have to look up Mr. Targuit in Bristol as well.
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Block chords are more of a piano and horn arrangement thing, they are closed voicings not very easy on guitar.
some guitarists probably think of drop 2 voicings as block chords.
It generally means all the notes in the chord move in the same direction with the melody.
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Hey, Jseaberry! So, Roots Cafe on Tuesday night? Never been there, but then again, to coin a phrase, "don't get around much anymore". Little free time these days and major work hassle happening, but hope for relief in the fall (post September).
Looking forward to kickin' back with a cool beer...
Last edited by targuit; 07-25-2013 at 04:17 AM.
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Yes, there is a terrific jazz jam there every Tuesday, 8 to 11 PM. The house band is really good and we take stuff as far as it goes; often, we open up with a complete collective improv, no pre-conception, and it is usually great fun. I always bring either my Evans amp or Acoustic Image/Raezer's Edge, so us Pluckydudes always have something decent to plug in to.
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I dunno that I agree with that definition, as Wes Montgomery and Barney Kessel both made use of what are commonly called block chords, and they are not necessarily all notes within one octave. Even if they are closed chords that you are talking about, I have been trying to incorporate things I got from Lenny Breau harmonic techniques and Sean McGowan's pick-hand fretting that will ease the difficulty of playing closed voices.
Originally Posted by hodge12
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I also disagree, however it is derived from the piano. What I described is as I instructed, but you may use it as a comping tool as would a piano player, who would also use it as a soloing tool (see where I am going with that)... The proper way to do a chord melody is with block chords
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Guitar duos are my absolute favorite, where I am most comfortable, should be fun
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from Wikipedia:
Block harmony[edit]
In music, block harmony is close position harmonization, and contrasted with open harmony.
In organ performance block harmony means that close position chords are added below the melody in the right hand, while the left hand doubles the melody an octave lower, while in open harmony the middle note of the chord is played an octave lower creating a "open" space in the chord.[5]
A block chord is a chord or voicing built directly below the melody either on the strong beats or to create a four-part harmonized melody line in "locked-hands"[1] rhythmic unison with the melody, as opposed to broken chords. This latter style, known as Shearing voicing (#Voicings), was popularized by George Shearing but originated with Phil Moore.[1]
Block chord style (also chorale style) uses simple chordal harmony in which "the notes of each chord may be played all at once" as opposed to being "played one at a time (broken or arpeggiated chords). The notes of arpeggios are often grouped into block chords for ease of analysis.
Block chords and doubled melody are easily used in a melody line that has a swing feel and strengthen the melody so as to separate that melody from the rhythmic background. Block chording was used to a large extent by jazz bands and orchestras such as those led by Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
In addition to George Shearing, Red Garland was an early jazz pianist famous for his use of block chords. Garland would play 7 to 8 note voicings, often playing a non-moving chord in his left hand, then an octave in his right hand, with 1-2 notes in between. Fine examples of this can be heard on various recordings of his time with the Miles Davis quintet. Bill Evans is also remembered for his use of block chords when he played in Miles Davis' band in 1958.
Contents
[hide]
Voicings[edit]
"A common way to harmonize tunes 'as you go along' in jazz piano (ie, freely and flexibly) is known as block chords: the hands move in parallel, providing a chord for each note of the melody. This often uses a technique derived from the way jazz arrangers write for four horns...or four trumpets: this is called four-way close."[3]
There are a variety of voicings or methods:
- Generic block chord describes those that simply follow the above rule.
- Double melody (Commonly called the "Shearing voicing") with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower.
- Drop 2 (technically not a block chord) with the second voice from the top transposed one octave lower.
If the melody note is part of the chord, the harmony notes are also taken from the chord.
This is a good technique if the melody note is diatonic (and not chromatic) and uses diminished chords for the notes that are not part of the chord. If the melody note is considered a passing tone, the harmony is created either by a diminished chord or a chromatically shifted chord. Before creating the harmonies, the chords could be converted to 6th chords, but this is not a rule.
Examples[edit]
The following is an example of harmonization of a C major scale with block chords. This example uses three diminished chords on the D, F, and B notes and includes an additional diminished chord on G#. This creates a balance in the harmonization of this scale by using all four existing diminished chords.
Last edited by hodge12; 07-25-2013 at 03:13 PM.
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Thank you very much. I will promptly discard the book on Chord Melody by Howard Roberts, all the books on Wes Montgomery's style, and the books by Joe Pass that erroneously describe block chords as they are apparently wrong. This is quite an exact and informative statement from Wikipedia, which I am re-reviewing now. I have to rethink my limited knowledge.
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sorry to burst your bubble.
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Oh no, not at all; I get all my bubbles at discount stores, so it is no great loss.
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Playing chord melody with block chords is ONE way of doing it. Originally Posted by Rgarvey93
I would suggest you give serious, multiple listens to George Van Eps, Ted Greene, Lenny Breau, Jimmy Wyble, Genil Castro and Martin Taylor before you start making absolute pronouncements such as this.
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What you're describing is the Barry Harris method of harmonization. There are other threads here on the topic.
Last edited by RyanM; 07-27-2013 at 08:12 PM.
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Barry Harris method of harmonization by Alan Kingstone, Ive tried to read up a little on this concept, but I can't say i really grasp it....Not sure buying the book ( 40 bucks!)...would help my cord melody playing, but it does sound interesting....Has anybody bought the book and what is your opinion on this method for solo ( cord) melody??.........
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