A chord melody arrangement is an instrumental piece that includes both melody and harmony. The notes can be arranged for solo, duo, or any number of instrumentalists. Usually we refer to one person (a soloist) playing all parts.
One of the things I enjoy in playing Beethoven’s famous Ode to Joy as a chord melody arrangement is sliding my left hand fingers up and down the fret board of the ukulele. However, it’s a lot more fun to just play one part in an ensemble. That’s the joy of Ode to Joy.
At my recent “Ode to Joy of Uke” workshop I shared the three ukulele parts on screen while all participants followed and played along with a video recording. I then e-mailed the password-protected one-page PDF of the three parts to everyone.
To make it more accessible, I made it more readable by splitting up the parts into a two-page PDF of the Ode to Joy with chords, chord diagrams, and tablature. Hopefully, this will get more ukulele players interested in reading and playing together.
Here’s the video I presented in the one-hour workshop in Zoom. You can slow down the following video if necessary to play along.
For the first time, I’m offering a “Chord Melody” class in Zoom, dedicated to this topic. This eight-week course includes the following topics.
- Easy chord melody arrangements in different genres such as classical, folk, pop, and rock. Examples: Waltz in F by Carulli, Fly Me to the Moon, Banana Boat Song, and selections from my forthcoming “Fun with the Ukulele” book.
- Examine different kinds of chord melody arrangements: block chords, broken chords, pedal tones on melodic lines, strum vs pluck accompaniment, multi-part voicing.
- Take a lead sheet such as Moon River and Can’t Help Falling in Love create a chord melody arrangement. Different strategies. After enough practice, you can do this by sight.
- Other considerations: transpositions, chord inversions, introductions, interludes, and outros.