Fitting Chords to Melody <<<<<<<< Return to Arranging Home Page Selecting which chords to play with a melody requires that we have a bank of chords appropriate to the key of the musical piece.  This bank of chords can be developed in two ways - by ear or by a detailed analysis of the music.  It is important to understand each method. Spelling Chords in a Specific Key Most dulcimer music is played within a diatonic scale.  The bank of chords appropriate to this scale is built using each tone of the diatonic scale as the root tone of a triad.  Each member tone of these triads must appear within the diatonic scale.  That means no accidentals are allowed.   The seven chords of the diatonic scale are shown below.  Seven Chords on the Diatonic Scale - Key of D Solfege do re me fa so la ti Intervals unison major 2nd major 3rd perfect 4th perfect 5th major 6tg major 7th Tones of the Diatonic D Scale D E F# G A B C# Chord Number I ii iii IV V vi vii dim Chords on the Diatonic Scale - Key of D D Em F#m G A Bm C# dim Chord Spellings D-A-F# E-G-B F#-A-C# G-B-D A-C#-E B-D-F# C#-E-G It is significant to note that only three major chords exist within the diatonic scale.  The major chords are those whose roots are the 1st, 4th and 5th tones of the scale.  Musicians often refer to chords by Roman numerals to prevent confusion between the names of intervals and the names of chords.  Roman numeral “IV” refers to a chord built on the 4th tone of the scale.  Arabic number “4” refers to the fourth tone of the scale.  The three major chords of the diatonic scale are I, IV, and V.  These three chords support thousands of melodies and will keep you playing at most jams. The ii, iii and iv chords are minor.  These chords help to establish mood within music.  The vii° chord is a special class of chord called diminished.  This powerful chord is seldom used because it is so full of tension.  But when it is used, the effect is dramatic.

A Detailed Approach to Chord Selection The brute force method of chord selection takes time, but rewards you with great creative insight on chord selection.  Here is the method. 1.  Write down the tune. Use standard notation, solfege, or intervals to write the melody.  This takes practice, but the technique can be learned.  Trust your ear and exercise it.  The more you do this the easier it gets.  Don’t worry about the rhythm at this point, just get the tonal relationships worked out.  You may work from a lead sheet or an ABC file. 2.  Write out all the chord options Using the chord substitution chart, write out the names of the chords that support each melody tone.  Write down ALL of the possible chord choices.  For example, if the melody tone is So  - that’s an A in the key of  D - the chord options are: I or D, V or A and III or F#m.  Below is a chord substitution chart for the key of G. Take the time to work out this chart for the key of D. 3.  Determine the flow of the melody Decide which tones are essential to the melody and which are passing tones.  Passing tones are there to move the music form one essential tone to another.  Musicians often speak about the “shape”  or “contour.”  These terms refer to the general outline of the melody and focus attention on the bare bones, essential tones that define the music.  Do not try to create consonance between each passing tone and the chords.   In fact, at times it is more effective to use a chord that is dissonant with the melody tone.  This works to build tension and is effective for short periods of time. Chord Choices in the Key Of G If the Melody Tone Is Choose One of These Chords G G  (G-B-D)   C  (C-E-G)   Em  (E-G-B)     A A  (A-C#-E)   F#m (F#-A-C#)   D  (D-F#-A)     B Bm  (B-D-F#)   G  (G-B-D)   Em (E-G-B)     C C (C-E-G)   Am (A-C-E)   F#dim  (F#-A-C)     D D  (D-F#-A)   Bm  (B-D-F#)   G  (G-B-D)     E Em  (E-G-B)   C (C-E-G)   Am (A-C-E)     F# F#dim  (F#-A-C)   D  (D-F#-A)   Bm  (B-D-F#) In traditional and popular music, chords rarely need to change with every beat.  Celtic music is a different story.  Chord changes frequently appear every couple of beats.  That's do in part because harmonic support of Celtic music is rather new.  When most of the tunes were written, guitars, mandolins, and bozukis were not on the scene.  Celtic chord changes are very much related to 20th century, rather than, traditional sensibilities.  Very rapid chord changes often occur in jazz. It’s not unusual to find chord changes on every beat. Your final selection of chords can accommodate some momentary and passing dissonance.  In fact, such dissonance can improve the quality and excitement of the tune. 4.  Select a progression of chords The chords you choose will establish your interpretation of the music.  As an example of this, look at the fiddle tune Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine. Study the traditional chords that define it as a march or dance tune.  Then use the chord substitution chart to convert the tune to a slow, stately air.  It’s all in the chords!  As you make chord selections an important relationship among the I, IV, and V chords will become apparent.  The I chord is the tonic chord.  It establishes the tonal center of gravity for the music.  Musicians speak of “tonality” or “tonal center.”  The V chord is called the dominant chord.  It creates tension and establishes the desire to return to the I chord for release.  The IV chord is called the subdominant chord.  It helps create musical color and proves transition to and from the I chord and the V chord. A helpful exercise is to spell the I, IV, and V chords.  Take note of the shared tones, the consonant tones, and the dissonant tones among these chords.  The shared tones are called pivot tones.  This exploration will help you to understand how chords progress from one to another and back to the tonic chord.

Choosing Chords by Ear The detailed method of chord selection is the way to do it if you have time and paper.  Often you’ve got to react on your feet - like during a jam.  Selecting chords by ear is a very useful skill and requires only a few basic guidelines. 1.  Use the Chord Box as a Guide.  Look again at the circle of 5ths and the expanded version showing the relative minor chords.  From that diagram the Chord Box can be extracted.   These six chords, will support most all traditional and popular melodies.  For most music, these six chords define all of your options.  Here’s the Chord Box for the Keys of D and G: Chord Box fo the Key of D G D A Em Bm F#m   Chord Box for the Key of G C G D Am Em Bm 2.  Apply these guidelines in choosing chords. ►Begin and end on the chord whose name is the name of the key.  If a tune is in the key of  “D”, the “D” chord is the tonic chord.  The tune will likely begin and end on that chord.  Some tunes end on a V chord to close with a kind of up-in-the-air feeling.  ►The middle and the end of the A or B part of a tune is signified by a V chord moving to a I chord.  That’s called a “cadence.” ►Chords almost NEVER change on every beat.  Many fiddle tunes - especially Old Time tunes - use only I and V chords.  Minor chords appear infrequently in traditional fiddle tunes unless the tune is modal in character. ►During jams, keep the chord selection simple and predictable.  Other musicians rely upon this.  A jam is not the time to show off a creative new chord progression.  It may work beautifully as a personal arrangement, but during a jam the other musicians will simply think you got the chords wrong! ►Watch guitar players and mandolin players for cues.  When their left hands change position, the chord has changed. ►Remember the Chord Box and those six chords.  Most fiddle tunes, ballads and popular tunes will only use the six chords in the chord box.

Factoid In recording sessions, guitar players usually play from “chord charts” not from music in standard notation.  Often these charts don't show  the names of the chords.  Instead, the key is indicated and the chords are presented as Roman numerals.  This is done so that if the arranger decides at the last moment to change the key of the piece, new charts will not have to be written.  Often that change of key is determined by a vocalist who, on that day, can’t hit the highest or lowest tone in the score and needs the music slightly higher or lower.   <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  Back to Arranging home page

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