Hey guys I have a question. Lately I have been playing more and more Jazz type stuff and chord melody. I enjoy this type of playing and think I would like to begin to take songs that have already been written and try and arrange these songs into Chord melody. I can read sheet music, and thought that some of the simpler songs in my piano books would be a good place to start to learn the process. My question is this: What is the starting point in this process? Do I start with the melody line and go from there, or should I first figure out what each of the chords in the song is and then work out how the melody line relates to these chords? Any advice or tips and tricks of the trade on Chord melody arrangement are greatly welcome Thanks in advance!

Here's one great lesson to get started with chord melody

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Chord-...jor-7th-Chords/

Thanks man! I hadn't seen that series of lessons yet. Great stuff there, and good theory lesson as well

Hey there This approach is usually very good for many purposes - developing yourself by always being aware of the relationship between harmony and melody is a tremendous accomplishment.

I would start like this: Pick up a famous guitar theme, learn the chord progression and then the melody and then try to play them together on your guitar by building the melody notes out of the chord changes. It will prove a wonderful tool for orchestrating as well! Hope this helps

If you like you can check out my Improvising Workshop Series for some tips on that

Thanks Guys! These are some great tips and lesson links! Basically I have been trying to figure out the chords first, and then see how they relate to the melody line. That part is not too bad, but occasionally I run into a melody note that is not part of the Chord (I believe this is called a passing tone) and it throws me off. Hopefull the more I study it out and work with this kind of stuff, the less I will get thrown off by those "odd" notes.