I love chord melody; and I may have said that before...but I'm saying it again. So what is it? Well, you could always go look it up elsewhere; but let's just say that it is the idea of supporting a melody with chords. Note these chords are not necessarily to be confused with the primary chords that underscore the tune and which the accompaniment may tap into. In the case of chord melody, not all of the notes are harmonised with the primary chords.
Let's just say that there are two kinds of melody notes that may be harmonised: Target notes and approach notes. Target notes are either tones that belong to the primary chord at that point in time; or tensions - notes that can be added to the primary chord such as extensions (6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th) or alterations (#5 b5, #9 and b9...depending. These notes tend to have prominence in the construction of a melody - they appear at significant places and are often found on the downbeat and have a longer durations than approach notes. Approach notes on the other hand don't have any rap with the primary chord and receive a very short duration on their way to a target note. Now, these chords are harmonised in another way - not with chord sound but with something else.
In fact, there are three possible approaches (pun intended):
- Parallel harmonisation - all voices in the chord move by the same amount. Chromatic harmonisation is an example
- Dominant harmonisation - using the dominant 7th (V chord) of the chord built on the target note that follows.
- Diatonic harmonisaton - using a chord that is in the prevailing key.
Bear in mind that approach notes and their consequent chords only last a very short time...so we don't a discrepancy with the primary chord that underscores the tune at this point.
So there you go.
I know that doesn't explain it all - this is a very brief outline here; but it is something I go over in lessons...so happy to elaborate. One final point: not every melody note needs its own chord. Generally it pays to be judicious - perhaps use a chord at the point of primary chord change to state that fact and as a kind of punctuation. There you go...
