Stuck in the melody rut

Rick Garrett · From: Tyler, Texas

I seem to be stuck in the melody of each song I play. I need some ideas of how to go about playing AROUND the melody. Any help appreciated.

Rick

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

If you can sing or hum or whistle the notes you want to play, then maybe you should slow way down, or stop, and find each note on your guitar.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Only a suggestion: Try listening really hard to the tunes installed on the Jerry Byrd Fan Club site. Listen extremely close to the "back-up" playing; then, the bridge where he eventually solo's. I'm not encouraging you to copy JB's style but rather, the question you ask, is right there for your ears to hear it.........provided you discover HOW to LISTEN to what it is you're searching for.
No sarcasm intended there. Some folks listen to the pretty music; others use that pretty music as a research TOOL to improve or master some element of their playing.

Marty Pollard · Posted 26 Jun 2005 5:31 pm

I think the next logical step would be to start finding and using the two harmony parts in place of the melody.

I've got the opposite 'problem'; I just generally don't do the melody cuz the singer's already doing it and so, usually, are the other players.

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Rick, please bear with me if this is overly elementary, I don't know your skill and experience level but this is good practice in any case.

I would suggest first learning to play the melody using all the correct chordal positions so as to be able to include harmonies at will while playing the same line in different positions on the neck.

Once you have mastered the various chordal positions appropriate for the melody in question, try deviating farther and farther from the melody while still playing in those same positions, until you can forget about the melody entirely. You will find that most of what you play still works with the song.

If you are always in the correct position for the chord of the moment and setting yourself up for the next one, you will find that there are a great many musical lines available from any melody and since you are drawing from the song's chord structure you will find that there are plenty of good harmonies available in those positions as well.

Remember that subtle changes in rythm as well as the actual choice of melody and harmony notes themselves can provide you with many possibilities to improvise around a melody.

Funny thing, a lot of folks never seem to realize the possibilities that begin with the melody and just noodle endlessly around the chords of the song. I wish more would learn to play the melody first, it's often the best place to begin crafting a great solo break.

Hope this is helpful - dg

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

Rick;
On the other hand, consider yourself on the lucky~side! Some people play all their musical~careers and never find the melody!

------------------
“Big John” Bechtel
’04 SD–10 Black Derby w/3 & 5 & Pad
’49-’50 Fender T–8 Custom
’65 Re-Issue Fender Twin–Reverb Custom™ 15” Eminence
web site

Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

Rick,
What John said! The melody is a good place to start. A piano player once showed me how to noodle around on the chords that frame the melody line.

But maybe you're like me; I've been doing harmony all my life and I find it more interesting. It's just how I hear it.
There are several harmonies for every melody, so you can't really make any mistakes (so to speak).

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Hello Rick,man i don't have no teck.advice,but after playing so much by myself,really messes me up at times.i play the songs,trying to make the steel say the words.but when it comes to singers,then we need to slide over and under around them,to keep from walking on top of their singing.also the AF pedals,and Dpedal to get lots of 7ths.ect.augmented, just really helps to fill the gaps. sorry i ain't no better at explaining. farris

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

What the Grafe-man said. Also, in C6th at least, it's challenging to play the same melody starting on each different string rather than stuck in one position. It forces you to block, and forces you to learn the pedal functions to play harmony notes. A lot of steel guitarists try to play by moving the bar as little as possible - so learn how to play the melodies up and down, changing strings as seldom as possible.

Above all, listen carefully to good music. Not as background while you're doing something else, but as study material. I'm a 70's dinosaur, so a paltry few of Duane Allman's melody design tricks are seared into my memory, Santana, Hendrix, Page, (Jerry Garcia

) etc. All Beethoven ever did was fool around with chords and scales, you know? So fool around. If you have any money, go to Amazon.com and order the 2-CD set of Bach's Partitas and Sonatas for solo violin played by Henryk Szeryng and the Dover edition of the sheet music - 30 bucks and you're set for ideas for the rest of your life.

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Hey Rick, I'd love to have someone like you in my band. You'd be amazed at how many good (I thought) lead guitarists or steelers I've worked with who couldn't play the d@mn melody. I'd want to twin the ride so I'd say play the melody and I'll catch the harmony and they can't do it. There are a bunch of "Lick Players" out there who can't play anything but licks and can't even play a simple major scale when asked. I really enjoyed working over the years with forumite Kenny Dail when he was in my area. When one of us wanted to do something we'd just tell the other one "major scale from the top down I'll get the harmony" or I'll get the melody on the next break give me some harmony and it always worked. I'm amazed where I live at how many "Good" players there are who can't really play. Bobbe Seymore knows about this, he used to live here and I've heard some stories about him and I can relate to it!........JH in Va.

------------------
Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 27 June 2005 at 06:25 AM.]

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

I wasn't gonna reply again,but this got me to laughing!!i was trying out amps years ago in CARLTON music store,winter haven fla. and didn't know no better!Just sitting there playing songs!Mr.Carlton came up and said give this man a job.he said he is the first steel player i ever heard who can acctualy play the dam thing.He said most oh them just doddle around.I didn't even know at the time what he was talking about.
farris

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Good Post-Rick, you are lucky to learn the melody, the licks and fills will then be easier and will come after.

That is all I know how to play is the Melody, hundreds and hundreds of em. We used to call them "Solos"....al

------------------
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Adrienne Clasky · From: Florida, USA

Mr. Grafe, that was some of the best advice for improv that I've gotten for ANY instrument. Thank you!

Billy Carr · From: Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)

Well, you've got some good advice and pointers here on this subject. I do all of the above but I also look for more than one way to play a song. Playing the melody is a good path to follow. I look at each song as a multiple choice so to speak. Like A,B & C choices. All three will be correct and work. It just depends on what flavor or taste you want to add to a particular song. This is a real good subject!

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

Rick, there's nothing wrong with playing the melody. That's usually the only thing a listener will remember. However listen to Lloyd Green's instrumental recordings. Lloyd has a way of weaving improvisations around the melody like no one else. You can always tell where he's at in the song melody wise, no matter what else he's adding to it. In my opinion he's the best at it, and that's what makes him so interesting to listen to.

------------------
Randy
http://hometown.aol.com/pulltightb/home.html

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Melodic variations can vary a lot- as Randy says, when you listen to Lloyd play a melody, he's not playing it exactly the same way twice...the wonderful tradition of Texas contest fiddle playing gives you some great ideas on how to play in melody with all sorts of variety and still have the essential melody notes intact. The idea is to never go so far out that within a bar or two you can still tell what the basic tune is.

I wrote a book/CD set for underarm guitar called "Creating Melodic Variations on Fiddle Tunes" where I take a very boiled-down bare bones skelton of melody and show various ways of fleshing it out melodically.

Then again, some tunes are just perfect the way they are

------------------
http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

Rick Garrett · From: Tyler, Texas

Thanks guys to each one of you thats offered some advice and help. Man thats the thing that makes this forum so special. Folks willing to help us new guys. My friend Jody Sanders brought me a copy of Fred Laymans book on chord progressions for the E9th. So far I've read the entire book and just starting to work on the stuff inside but it looks like this is exactly what I need to round things out a bit in my music. I have a good ear and can find just about anything I want to play but the stuff in this book will let me know WHY I'm playing various things. Thanks again guys and God bless every one of you.

Rick

Jay Dee Maness · From: North Hills, CA

I am a huge fan of playing the melody. I have done it through my entire musical life and still do. I love playing around the melody too, but when it comes right down to it, the melody is where I live and I won`t ever appologize for it. Randy is right, Lloyde is one of the best at playing the melody.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic