"Giant Steps" - Chord Melody

Giant Steps (Chord Melody) - PDF

Another harmonized melody I wrote up for a student of mine.  The idea this time is to not play the root (or bass note) of any chord (common practice in jazz).  Half-way through I slightly altered some of the chords.  I'm a fan of playing a 6/9 chord instead of a Major7 chord.  Start with the 3rd of the chord and go up by 4th intervals (so 3rd, 6th, 9th, 5th).  It's an easy shape on guitar and has a nice "open" sound.  Lots of guitarists these days like Frisell, Scofield and Metheny will use that shape for a Major chord.

You can view a short video of me playing this at The Stringslinger YouTube Channel.

Besides obviously listening to Coltrane's masterful original recording, I also suggest checking out Pat Metheny's live performance off his Trio 99-00 album.

Sorry this doesn't have TAB.  I guess I'm assuming anyone who'd be interested in harmonizing Giant Steps can read standard notation.  If you'd like TAB, feel free to contact me.  Thanks!

"All The Things You Are" - Chord Melody

All The Things You Are (Chord Melody) - PDF

While waiting for a student this morning, I wrote down this basic chordal melody to the standard "All The Things You Are" that I was going to hand out to him.  Turns out, he didn't show.  :(  Oh well.  You can view the .pdf file above or click on the pics below to enlarge.

For those who have a more experienced knowledge of chord voicings, this will appear fairly basic.

For those who are interested in having a more "modern" sound, lower the 5th of each chord down to the fourth to create some quartal harmonies (chords made up of consecutive 4th intervals).  This works great on any min7 chords.  Quartal harmony can work with dominant7 or major7, though some ears may not enjoy that sound as much.  Just experiment and find what works for you.  Hopefully, this can be something useful to start with.

Notice that the rhythms are very straight.  Please don't perform it this way, unless you're looking to receive the title of lamest guitar player alive!  Once you become comfortable with the chord shapes, change the rhythms up to give it some life.  Leave one chord short while let another one ring out, etc.  And please don't just play those constant eighth notes as they appear (I just followed the Real Book melody, which no one plays "as is").

 

 















Again, this is just a basic foundation to understand what and where to play.  It's up to you how to play it.  The best advice is to listen to others and hear how they interpret the melody.  Then make it your own!  Here are some people to start with....

Pat Metheny, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker