If you've ever wondered how you can know which chords go with which melody notes, I've got good news for you! It's easier than you might think to learn how to go about matching the melody notes (the tune) of any song to the appropriate chords. It's really a simple 2-step process, once you understand it, but if you don't know the secret, you can wonder about it for years. But if you learn it now, you will know it the rest of your life. Back when I was a teenager learning to play the piano, it used to puzzle me which chords to use with which melody notes: "I wonder how those top pianists know which chords to use? I mean, they don't always use the C chord to harmonize the C melody note, or the D chord to harmonize a D in the melody, and so on -- so how do they do it?" A few years later I had the extremely good fortune to find a teacher in Hollywood by the name of Dave. He was THE teacher -- he taught many of the recording artists and names you would recognize -- plus a young aspiring piano player named Duane (me). And he showed me how to go about matching the melody notes of any song to the appropriate chords. That changed my musical life. I didn't have to wonder any more -- I knew for sure which chords went with which notes, and when and why. It's really a simple process once you understand it, and it has to do with knowing just 2 facts: Fact 1: There are 3 basic chords that will harmonize any note, and that note is a member of all 3 chords; Fact 2: These 3 chords rotate as the melody moves through the song, so pick the chord that has that melody note in it. These 3 chords are known as the "primary chords" for a reason: they are the "home boys" for that song. Lots of other chords can be used in a song, but you can get by with just these 3 "home boy" chords. Then once you master them, you can widen your scope to "cousin chords" and "neighbor chords" and "color chords" and all kinds of other exciting variations, and then the sky is the limit in terms of improvising and making up your own musical sounds. |
