Frank,

Thanks for your kind words.

A couple of things can help with harmonization.

Is the strong melody note part of a strong chord? Is it one of the notes of a one, four or five chord...or a six, two or three in minor?


Another helpful tactic is to learn a lot about the basic styles of music. A twelve bar blues can be played with a one, four and five chord, so can a lot of country. A sixteen bar ragtime usually uses one, four five, six major, two major and sometimes three major. Once you see some of the patterns take shape, you'll find that even the most unusual jazz has some relation to the basic patterns (for example, the six could be a flatted six, the two could be a flat three, or you could use ninth or thirteenth chords and etc.)

One last tactic, see if a section of the song reminds you of another song. You might have three or four notes in the same order as they appear in a familiar song...try harmonizing like or similarly to that song.

Good luck, and happy chord hunting.

Mike


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You have to practice improvisation. -Art Tatum

Mike Dunbar Music

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music