Conference napalm::guitar

    I think you want the jazz notesfile. 
    
    :-) I'm kidding! 
    How much "theory" do you know? This involves finding the melody note
    and then finding an inversion of the chord that you can fit under/with
    it. And then being able to play the melody while changing the chord
    underneath. What kind of songs are you talking about? 
    
    jay
    

    Jazz???!! 
    
    
    I know little theory - I took lessons about a year ago, & I was trying to 
    figure out some old standards like "Wave" by Jobim, "My Funny
    Valentine," and "Aint Misbehavin."  I have what is equivalent to a "fake 
    book" - but I wanted to play more than the melody or the chords separately. 
    A long time ago, I took some lessons, and now I'm trying to "re-learn" this
    with some old Mel Bay books.  I remember my teacher mentioning similar
    to what you said, just wanted the best way to go about this.  Is there
    a good or "best" book on this topic?
    
    Thanks for your help
    
    Scott  
    

    Larry's right,you can start with a melody and then voice the chord
    underneath the melody note. Also  use your ear to help you decide
    what chord or voicing sounds the best. Where you hear a natural
    resolution ie II V I,you may want to create a bass line that heads
    in the direction of the root of the chord you will end at or pause at.
    
    One way of learning how to write chord solo's is to analyse what others
    have done. But for starters I'd find a very simple tune and develop
    and understand it before trying a larger project.
    
    							Rick
    
     

    Don't laugh, but the first tune I did this with was Jingle Bells in
    C, first position. Then from there you can get fancy or whatever.

    
    I'd also say don't get hung up about filling every bar with
    chords. I often find that if I have bar or two of melody and I just
    can't seem to slot the right chords in whatever inversion then I
    usually end up just playing the melody over those bars. At first it
    sounds bad (to my ear) because I've sort of copped out. However, after
    a time it begins to sound OK and the more you play these individual
    notes with flair and confidence the more they sound right.
    
    A good example is the following. I do a passable rendition of 'Dance
    With Me' in the style of Earl Klugh. However, there is a couple of bars
    that I just cannot combine the chords with the melody line. So I just
    play the melody line here. At first it sounded weak and very basic. Now
    though, I play these notes with real feel and confidence and it all
    sounds OK. I have the same experience with Mark Knopfler's 'Going
    Home' (Local Hero).
    
    Listen to any classical piece and you'll be surprised at how many
    single note extended 'breaks' there are. Concerto de Aranjuez is a
    classic example. But do you sit there thinking "God that's awful, he's
    only playing one note melodies there"?
    
    Richard

    Thanks for the replies! - another question - when a note falls in a
    measure whose chord does not include that note, is there a method of
    determining how to buid under that note? - (ie. Chord says "C", but note
    to play is "A")
    
    Thanks
    Scott

    Re: .7
    
    If the note is A and the chord is C, howzabout making it a C6.  That's
    what extending chords is all about, innit?
    
    							Brian

Re .8:

The comment in .7 definitely applies, but what's also common, where a specific
bass line is what you have in mind, is notating the bass note in conjunction
with the chord. In your example, this would be C/A, or if you want to combine
this idea with .7, C6/A.

To my own ears, FWIW, these aren't the same- having the bass play an A against a
straight C chord in all other parts (keyboard, guitar, anything with chords)
doesn't sound the same as playing it against a C6 chord.

I notate specific bass notes a lot, as the bass line is an integral part of what
I "hear" when I'm writing something.

Bob

    RE: -1
    
    The 'A' note on guitar added to the 'C' chord makes a C6 chord.  If the Bass
    player is on a root note of 'A', are you sure your 'C' chord is not
    really an Am7?  The basic diff between C chord and Am7 chord is the 'A'
    note.....I'm not sure how much of a beginner you are; when I first
    started my young ear might have confused a C chord for Am7.
    
    FWIW,
    
    Steve

Nah, I'm no kind of beginner at all- getting close to forty years worth of music.
(And no, that doesn't mean I'm "old"...) I took the basenoter at face value.
You're right that novices might confuse an Am7 with a C/A, but the two *do* have
different sounds and occur in different places. Hope I'm not introducing too much
subtlety here- my "seasoned" ear is pretty partikkalar about what it intends to
hear when I notate stuff.

Still 'n' all, pointing out that the same notes can be described as *different*
chords depending on overall context is a good reminder for our "novice" noter.
Heck, a good reminder for *all* of us- "Well entered!"

Bob