When melody note is: | Simply play this chord: |
C | E + G + C (played all at the same time) |
D | F + A + D |
E | G + C + E |
F | A + C + F |
G | C + E + G |
A | C + F + A |
B | D + G + B |
C | E + G + C |
E D C D E E E (Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb) _____________________________________ G+C+E (Ma) F+A+D (ry) E+G+C (had) F+A+D (a) G+C+E (lit) G+C+E (tle) G+C+E (lamb) Notice that the original melody note is still on top! That’s the whole point of using the harmonizing chart I’ve created for you above. The song still sounds like “Mary had a little lamb”, the melody is still obvious, but with the addition of full-sounding harmony! D D D (lit-tle lamb) _____________________________________ ________ (lit) ________ (tle) ________ (lamb) E G G (lit-tle lamb) _____________________________________ ________ (lit) ________ (tle) ________ (lamb) E D C D E E E E (Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb, her) ______________________________________ ________ (Ma) ________ (ry) ________ (had) ________ (a) ________ (lit) ________ (tle) ________ (lamb) ________ (her) D D E D C (fleece was white as snow) ______________________________________ ________ (fleece) ________ (was) ________ (white) ________ (as) ________ (snow) If you’ve chosen the right harmonizing chords, then you should have a nice full-sounding arrangement of Mary had a little lamb above. If not, just try it again until it works. Lastly, try taking “Are you sleeping” and do the same thing you did above. This time, I won’t provide you with a template. You’ll have to do it all on your own: “Are you sleeping” C D E C (Are you sleep-ing) C D E C (Are you sleep-ing) E F G (Bro-ther John) E F G (Bro-ther John) G A G F E C (Morn-ing bells are ring-ing) G A G F E C (Morn-ing bells are ring-ing) C G C (Ding dong ding) C G C (Ding dong ding) Look for the answers in my next newsletter.
Meanwhile…
You now have a formula: A) Determine a melody to any song B) Replace the melody notes with harmonizing chords making sure to keep the melody note as the highest tone of each chord (see chart above) C) Add bass (or left hand) — We’ll cover this in another newsletter There you have it. I hope you’ve benefited from this lesson. Let me know on my message board.
Chords to study for future online classroom lessons:
- Major triads; see pg chapter 5 of 300pg course
- Minor triads; see pg chapter 8 of 300pg course
- Major sixth chords; see pg chapter 13 of 300pg course
- Minor sixth chords; see pg chapter 13 of 300pg course
- Seventh (dominant) chords; see pg chapter 10 of 300pg course
- Minor seventh chords; see pg chapter 10 of 300pg course
- Major ninth chords; see pg chapter 14 of 300pg course
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Jermaine Griggs
Founder at HearandPlay.com
Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!
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