CHORDIFY YOUR MELODIES

CHORDIFY YOUR MELODIES

Cosimo Roche
Cosimo Roche
My gear:

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Author of the book: Cosimo "Roche" Burroni
Texts and scores by Cosimo "Roche" Burroni
Digital edition: March 2021
cosimoroche@gmail.com

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 INDEX

1 – INTRODUCTION pag.4

2 – BIOGRAPHY pag.6

3 – THE CHORDS pag.7

4 – ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT pag.46

5 – FIRST BEAT pag.63

6 – HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY pag.80

7 – DOUBLE STOPS pag.93

8 – MIX EVERYTHING WELL pag.110

9 – CONCLUSION pag.124

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1 – INTRODUCTION.
This book was born for several reasons which I will try to summarize here below.

Firstly, I am in love with chords. I always look for new and interesting chords and I have been
looking for a method to group the many chords studied in a clear and logical way. Inside the
book I will show my personal subdivision of chord I conceived.

2020 was a difficult year that forced us to drastically decrease interpersonal contacts for the
good of the community and to reduce the spread of the Sars-COV-2 virus. The fact of not being
able to get together with friends to play music, participate in jam sessions, organize live concerts
has led me to play much more time alone and, therefore, to focus more on a playing that could
"fill" the silence due to absence of the rest of the musicians.

Finally, I have always admired the way of playing the guitar of great guitarists like Joe Pass: a
much more soloistic and, in a certain sense, “pianistic” approach of the guitar; a way of playing
in which bass, accompaniment and melody are mixed with a single instrument.
However, the biggest problem I encountered in learning this way of playing was the scarcity (or
perhaps the difficult availability) of courses, books or videos on this particular subject. Hence,
having found answers to my questions and having developed concepts that allow to get very
close to the playing described above, I decided to write this book.

The book is aimed at intermediate and upper-intermediate level guitarists and it is divided into
5 main sections:

• The chords
• Economy of movement
• First beat
• Harmonization of a melody
• Double stops
• Mix everything well

The terrain on which I will move will be mainly jazz and its related genres. This choice not because
I consider it better than other genres but because jazz is characterized by a wider and more
varied use of chords (compared to pop, for example) and it allows to apply the concepts I will
explain in a more complete and exhaustive way.

An important aspect that I would like to clarify right away is that this book does not represent a
manual of music theory: not being a professional musician or an expert, I do not think I would
be able to tackle such a complex topic. I will limit myself to providing some basic notions to
make the topics I will discuss more understandable and to touch on the fundamental concepts
that revolve around the theme of this book: the union of melody and harmony on the guitar.
Finally, despite having a degree in English language, I am not well-versed in musical theory
lexicon.

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For the above reasons, if any concept is unclear or inaccurate, I invite you to contact me directly
by email at cosimoroche@gmail.com or through my social channels for explanations or
suggestions.

Enjoy the reading!

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2 – BIOGRAPHY.
My name is Cosimo, I love music and I love playing the guitar. I am not a professional musician
but I am undoubtedly a huge music lover.
I always listen to music, all kinds of music (and when I say every kind of music it really means
EVERY). I always try to be influenced by all the music I listen to and to learn something from
every genre and style.

I like learning new things and discovering the “mysteries” of music. I also like to simplify the
concepts to better fix them in my head as well as make the guitar learning process easier for me
and for those who follow my lessons.

Being a happy husband and a proud dad, I realize that my free time to study the guitar is not
much: this necessarily means I must try to maximize the time at my disposal to improve as quickly
as possible.

I play mostly for myself. Playing the guitar satisfies me and improving my technique and my
ability to express myself with the instrument satisfies me even more.
I do not experience learning the guitar as a challenge with others as much as a challenge with
myself: my goal is to be better than I used to be.

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3 – THE CHORDS.
Let's start from the heart of the matter: the chords. A chord is nothing more than a minimum of
three notes played simultaneously. Clearly, we are not talking about three random notes but
chosen according to a very precise logic.
To better explain this logic, I will use the C major scale.

I II III IV V VI VII
C D E F G A B

TRIADS
A triad is a chord made up of three notes. The triad is made up of first degree (called "root"),
third degree (called "modal") and fifth degree (called "dominant"). The most common triads are:
MAJOR: it has a major third and a perfect fifth
MINOR: it has a minor third and a perfect fifth
Diminished: it has a minor third and a diminished fifth
Augmented: it has a major third and an augmented fifth
As mentioned above, major chords are composed of first degree, third degree and fifth degree.
Consequently, a C major chord (which from now on I will call C major) is composed of C + E +
G.
Minor chords, on the other hand, are composed of first degree, minor third degree and fifth
degree. Therefore, a C minor chord (which from now on I will call C minor) will be C + Eb + G.

SEVENTH CHORDS
The other basic chords you need to know and on which I will focus more in the book are Major7,
minor7, 7, m7b5 known as half-diminished chords and dim7 or o7 known as diminished chords.
In this type of chords the degrees involved are four and no longer 3:
Major7 (Maj7) Chord: 1° degree, 3° degree, 5° degree, 7° degree (CMaj7 = C + E + G + B)
minor7 (m7) Chord: 1° degree, 3° minor degree, 5° degree, 7° minor degree (Cm7 = C + Eb +
G + Bb)
7 Chord: 1° degree, 3° degree, 5° degree, 7° minor degree (C7 = C + E + G + Bb)
m7b5 (half-diminished) Chord: 1° degree, 3° minor degree, 5° minor degree, 7° minor degree
(Cm7b5 = C + Eb + Gb + Bb)
dim7 (diminished) Chord: 1° degree, 3° minor degree, 5° minor degree, 7° double flat (Cdim7
= C + Eb + Gb + Bbb)

INVERSIONS
There is another important aspect regarding the theme of chords: by changing the order of the
addends, the result does not change. Or rather, the order of the degrees of the chord can be
mixed but the final chord will remain the same. These "reshuffles" of notes are known as
"inversions".
In reality, the "official" number of inversions would be limited: 2 for the major (EGC and GCE)
and minor (EbGC and GCEb) chords and 3 for the Maj7 (EGBC, GBCE and BCEG), m7 (EbGBbC,
GBbCEb and BbCEbG), 7 (EGBbC, GBbCE and BbCEG) and m7b5 (EbGbBbC, GbBbCEb and
BbCEbGb) chords.

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Yet, the guitar does not allow the realization of all the canonical inversions (which instead
happens simply with the piano). Therefore, in this book you will find the typical inversions that
are played on the guitar.

EXTENSIONS
Then, you will encounter the so-called "extensions".
The extensions are nothing more than other degrees of the scale in addition to those that are
part of the chord which are used to give a different color and shades to the chord itself. Since it
is difficult to play more than four degrees simultaneously with the guitar, another degree of the
chord is generally omitted when using extensions. The degree that is mostly omitted is the 5th,
since it doesn’t characterize the chord; otherwise, the 7th or sometimes the 3rd degree can also
be omitted.

In the book I listed the most common extensions for Maj7, m7 and 7 chords:
▪ For the major chords: 6, add9, Maj9, Maj13, 6/9
▪ For the minor chords: m6, m9, m11, m13, m6/9
▪ For the 7 chords: 9, 13

TENSIONS
There is another type of extension in which a degree of the scale is added but altered, therefore
sharp # or flat b. These extensions create a dissonant sound which is why they are better known
as "tensions". The main tensions are b5, # 5, b9 and # 9.
It is also possible to insert multiple tensions on a single chord but it is something I preferred not
to do in this first section to give more importance to the single tension when it is used.
Even if tensions can be added to both major chords, minor chords, and 7 chords, actually
tensions are almost always added to 7 chords since it is precisely on the 7 chords that there is
more demand for tension. For this reason, in the chord charts I have inserted the altered
extensions or tensions only on the 7 chords.
Since chords that contain tensions create dissonance, it is right to use them sparingly. Precisely
because I think it is right to use them with balance, I wanted to mark them with a different color
frame so that they are highlighted in the list.

SUS (SUSPENDED) CHORDS

This is a family of chord that I initially intended to omit but which in the end I decided to insert
for greater completeness of the book and because they served to support some of the concepts
I have explained in the manual.

SUS chords are neither major nor minor chords since they do not contain the third. This means,
for example, that a common C major, formed by the notes C, E and G, or a C minor, C, Eb and G,
can become SUS, i.e. suspended, if the third of the chord is replaced by a fourth or a second. So,
the previous chords will turn into C + F + G (Csus4), being F the fourth note starting from C, or
into C + D + G (Csus2).

Finally, if we insert the major 7th to the SUS chord, we will get a Maj7sus4 or Maj7sus2 chord; if
we insert the minor 7 to the SUS chord, we will get a 7sus4 or 7sus2 chord.

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CHORDS SUBDIVISION & CHARTS
Finally, we come to the most important part: my way of divide maj, min, Maj7, m7, m7b5 and
dim7 chords.

The chords you will find in this book are first divided into 3 macrogroups:
1. FIRST MACROGROUP: the chords in which the lowest note is on the sixth string.

Example (GMaj7):

2. SECOND MACROGROUP: the chords in which the lowest note is on the fifth string.

Example (CMaj7):

3. THIRD MACROGROUP: the chords in which the lowest note is on the fourth string.

Example (FMaj7):

After this first subdivision, the chords are divided into 4 other groups depending on where the
first degree or root note is located:
1. The root is on the lowest string of the chord

Example (GMaj7):

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 2. The root is on the mid-low string of the chord

Example (GMaj7):

3. The root is on the mid-high string of the chord

Example (GMaj7):

4. The root is on the highest string of the chord

Example (GMaj7):

The first subdivision allows you to have the same chord with different frequencies: low in the
first macrogroup, medium in the second macrogroup and high in the third macrogroup.

With the second subdivision, on the other hand, it is possible to find a certain chord more easily
along the entire fretboard of the guitar allowing, in fact, shorter shifts in the chord progressions
(as I will explain in the section “ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT”).
Furthermore, I believe that this type of subdivision, being linked to the position of the root,
directs towards a better visualization of the guitar fretboard and, consequently, a faster
identification of the notes on it (a recurring problem for us guitarists).

While learning the chords presented in the book, I strongly recommend that you pay close
attention to the position of the root and of the other chord degrees, always to enhance the
development of the fretboard visualization as well as chord intervals.

But now let's begin!

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3.1 – FIRST MACROGROUP
The chords that are part of the first macrogroup are perfect if you need to accompany a singer
and the bass is not present.

Let’s take G as a tonic. The following chords are GMaj7 chords, the most common inversions of
GMaj7 chord and some of its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

GMaj7 G6 GMaj13

GMaj9 GMaj9

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 ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD
GMaj7 G6 GMaj13

GMaj9 G6/9

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

GMaj7 G6

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
GMaj7 G6 Gadd9

GMaj13

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The following chords are Gm7 chords, the most common inversions of Gm7 chord and some of
its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7 Gm6 Gm9

Gm11 Gm13

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7 Gm6 Gm11

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7 Gm11

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
Gm7 Gm6

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The following chords are G7 chords, the most common inversions of G7 chord and some of its
most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

G7 G9 G13

G7/#5 G7/b5 G7/#9

G7/b9

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

G7 G9 G7/b5

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
G7 G7/#5 G7/b5

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

G7 G13 G7/#5

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The following chords are Gm7b5 and Gdim7 chords, as well as some of its most used inversions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7b5 Gdim7

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7b5 Gdim7

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Gm7b5 Gdim7

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
Gm7b5 Gdim7

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3.2 – SECOND MACROGROUP
The chords that belong to this macrogroup and the third macro group are the best if you have
to play alone or in a band where the bassist is present. The reason is that, in my personal opinion,
guitarists should focus more on the mid-high frequencies and leave the low frequencies to other
instruments such as, of course, the bass. Let's see them!

Let’s take C as a tonic. The following chords are CMaj7 chords, the most common inversions of
CMaj7 chord and some of its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

CMaj7 CMaj7 C6

C6 C6 CMaj13

CMaj9 CMaj9 CMaj9

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Cadd9 C6/9

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

CMaj7 CMaj7 C6

C6 CMaj13 Cadd9

C6/9

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 ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD
CMaj7 CMaj7 C6

C6 C6 CMaj9

Cadd9 CMaj13 C6/9

C6/9

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
CMaj7 C6 C6

CMaj13

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The following chords are Cm7 chords, the most common inversions of Cm7 chord and some of
its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Cm7 Cm7 Cm7

Cm7 Cm6 Cm6

Cm9 Cm9 Cm11

Cm11 Cm13 Cm6/9

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
Cm7 Cm7 Cm6

Cm6 Cmadd9 Cm11

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

Cm7 Cm7 Cm6

Cm6 Cm11 Cm11

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
Cm7 Cm7 Cm13

Cm11 Cm11

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The following chords are C7 chords, the most common inversions of C7 chord and some of its
most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

C7 C7 C7

C9 C9 C13

C7/#5 C7/#5 C7/b5

C7/#9 C7/#9 C7/b9

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 C7/b9

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

C7 C7 C13

C7/#5 C7/#5 C7/b5

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

C7 C7 C9

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C7/#5 C7/b5 C7/b5

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

C7 C7 C13

C7/#5 C7/#5

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The following chords are Cm7b5 and Cdim7 chords, as well as some of its most used inversions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Cm7b5 Cm7b5

Cdim7 Cdim7

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

Cm7b5 Cm7b5

Cdim7 Cdim7

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 ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD
Cm7b5 Cm7b5

Cdim7 Cdim7

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Cm7b5 Cm7b5

Cdim7 Cdim7

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3.3 – THIRD MACROGROUP
I believe these chords are the most underestimated chords by beginners and intermediate
players as well. In fact, this category is one of the most useful for the topic I will discuss in the
book.

Let’s take F as a tonic. The following chords are FMaj7 chords, the most common inversions of
FMaj7 chord and some of its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

FMaj7 FMaj7 F6

F6 FMaj9 FMaj9

F6/9 F6/9

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
FMaj7 F6 Fadd9

Fadd9

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

FMaj7 F6 FMaj13

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
FMaj7 F6 FMaj13

Fadd9

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The following chords are Fm7 chords, the most common inversions of Fm7 chord and some of
its most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7 Fm7 Fm6

Fm9 Fm11 Fm6/9

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7 Fm6 Fm11

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 Fm9* Fm9/11* Fmadd9

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7 Fm6 Fm11

ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7 Fm9* Fm9

Fmadd9 Fm11 Fm13

*The root is not present but I love these chords!

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The following chords are F7 chords, the most common inversions of F7 chord and some of its
most used extensions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

F7 F7 F9

F7/#5 F7/b5 F7/#9

F7/b9

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 ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD
F7 F7/#5 F7/b5

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

F7 F13 F7/#5

F7/b5

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
F7 F9 F9*

F13 F7/#5 F7/b5

F7/#9 F7/b9

*The root is not present but I love this chord!

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The following chords are Fm7b5 and Fdim7 chords, as well as some of its most used inversions.

ROOT ON THE LOWEST STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7b5 Fdim7

ROOT ON THE MID-HIGH STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7b5 Fdim7

ROOT ON THE MID-LOW STRING OF THE CHORD

Fm7b5 Fdim7

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 ROOT ON THE HIGHEST STRING OF THE CHORD
Fm7b5 Fdim7

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3.4 – SUS CHORDS
I made a selection of some sus2, sus4, Maj7sus2, Maj7sus4, 7sus2 and 7sus4 chords and divided
them into first, second and third macrogroup. For simplicity, I only selected the sus chords with
the root note on the lowest string.

Finally, I highlighted the chords that have the fourth degree on the highest note of the chord
because they will be the ones that will be most useful for harmonizing the melody.

SUS E Maj7SUS - FIRST MACROGROUP

Gsus2 Gsus4 Gsus4

Gsus4 GMaj7sus2

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 SUS E Maj7SUS - SECOND MACROGROUP
Csus2 Csus4 Csus4

CMaj7sus2 CMaj7sus2

SUS E Maj7SUS - THIRD MACROGROUP

Fsus2 Fsus2 Fsus4

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 7SUS - FIRST MACROGROUP
G7sus2 G7sus4 G9sus4

G13sus4

7SUS - SECOND MACROGROUP

C7sus2 C7sus4 C9sus4

C9sus4

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 7SUS - THIRD MACROGRUP
F7sus2 F7sus4 F9sus4

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4 – ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT.
Here is a concept that I think is fundamental in music: if you want to become faster and cleaner
both in chord progressions and in solo solos, you need to make few small movements.
When you do many and/or large movements, you lose time and it will be consequently difficult
to reach higher speeds.
Speaking of chord progressions, “economy of movement” means above all choosing the closest
chord to the previous chord.
This type of exercise (and concept) will not only give you speed, but also a great awareness of
where the notes are on the fretboard because you will be forced to find a right chord (among
those we talked about in the previous section) and close to the chord you played before,
wherever you are on the fretboard.

A series of examples will follow to better explain this very important concept.
Specifically, I focused on two harmonic progressions:
• IIm7 – V7 – Imaj7 (simply known as 2-5-1 major)
• IIm7b5 – V7 – Im7 (extrapolated from the song "Blue Bossa" by Kenny Dorham, Dm7b5-
G7-Cm7)

Finally, to apply this concept to a real song, I examined the harmonic progression of Chick
Corea's piece "Spain" (the progression that is played during the solo).

Let's start now with the first series of exercises related to the major harmonic progression 2-5-1
(Ex.1-12). In practice, for the harmonic progression I started from a certain chord and I tried to
continue the progression by choosing the closest chord but taking it from the same macrogroup.
So, in Ex.1, I started from Dm7 (root on the highest string) of the first macrogroup and I chose
the other chords of the progression so that there was as little movement as possible (choosing
them, as I said before, from the same macrogroup). In Ex.2 I started from Dm7 (root on the mid-
high string), in Ex.3 I started from Dm7 (root on the lowest string) and in Ex.4 I started from Dm7
(root note on the mid-low string). Then I repeated the same exercise for the chords of the second
macro group (Ex.5-8) and for the chords of the third macro group (Ex.9-12).

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Exercise 1

Exercise 1 – Var 1
The chords I chose are always Dm7-G7-CMaj7. But no one forbids you to use other extensions
among those I presented in the previous section. In this variant of Ex.1, for example, I chose the
chords in such a way that the bass always remained the same (G) - this technique is also known
as "pedal effect".

Exercise 1 – Var 2
As I wrote above, nobody forbids you to use other extensions such as tensions. In this second
variant of Ex.2, I play G7b5 instead of the simple G7 to create greater dissonance before the
resolution on the first degree.

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Exercise 2

Exercise 3

48
Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

49
Exercise 7

Exercise 8

Exercise 9

50
Exercise 10

Exercise 11

Exercise 12

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With the same logic with which I wrote Ex.1-12, I also faced the progression Dm7b5-G7-Cm7
(Ex.13-24). Also in this case, for the harmonic progression I started from a certain chord and I
tried to continue the progression by choosing the closest chord but taking it from the same
macrogroup.

Exercise 13

Exercise 14

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Exercise 15

Exercise 16

Exercise 17

53
Exercise 18

Exercise 19

Exercise 20

54
Exercise 21

Exercise 22

Exercise 23

55
Exercise 24

For Ex.25-28 I used a different concept. Even if they are less aimed at the economy of movement,
a fundamental concept of this section, they present another way to continue with the
progression of the chords and therefore represent another excellent method for assimilating the
chords that I have exposed in the first section of the book.
I better describe what I did: for both Exercise 25 and Exercise 26 I examined the harmonic
progression 2-5-1 major and starting from a Dm7 chord of the first macrogroup I moved
upwards by selecting a chord of the second macrogroup and then, again in an ascending
direction, a chord from the third macrogroup. At that point, I repeated the 2-5-1 major
progression choosing a Dm7 chord from the third macrogroup and then I moved downwards
by selecting a chord from the second macrogroup and, finally, always in the descending direction
a chord from the first macrogroup. In total I play the 2-5-1 major progression down the fretboard
four times.

56
Exercise 25

Exercise 26

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For Exercises 27 and 28 I did the exact same thing that I described for Exercises 25 and 26 but I
examined the other harmonic progression, namely Dm7b5-G7-Cm7.

Exercise 27

Exercise 28

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Finally, as mentioned above, for exercise 29 I tried to bring the "economy of movement" concept
into a real example by taking the harmonic progression of an existing piece, namely "Spain" by
Chick Corea. Exactly as I did for the first exercises, I started from a chord (in this case GMaj7) and
continued the harmonic progression looking for the chord or its inversion or extension in the
closest position and in the same macrogroup.
For this reason, you will find Exercise 29 with all chords of the first macrogroup and two variants
of the same exercise: the first with chords made of the second macrogroup and the second with
chords made of the third macrogroup.

Last thing, in each audio file of Ex.29 I performed the progression twice: for the first progression
I followed what is written in the score you find below; during the second progression I used the
same chords of the score but I tried to give them a more interesting rhythm, immersing them
even more in a concrete and real context:
• In Exercise 29 I tried to make an exchange between bass and chord by breaking down
each chord in bass (note on the sixth string) and triad.
• In variant 1 I decided to arpeggiate the chords of the progression.
• In variant 2, on the other hand, I gave a funkier rhythm to the chosen chords. The chords
of the third macrogroup are perfect, due to their high frequencies, to be used in funky
contexts.

In the sent material, you will also find the backing track to be able to practice these
accompaniments of Exercise 29.
In all the backing tracks of the book I always wanted to keep a minimal setup by inserting only
bass and drums. This is in order to emphasize the chords as much as possible and better
understand the importance of all the topics covered within the book.

59
Exercise 29

60
Exercise 29 – Var 1

61
Exercise 29 – Var 2

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5 – FIRST BEAT.
And here we come to the crucial topic of the book: inserting the chords within the melody.

Before going into this new topic, I will say something important about chords: the highest note
of a chord is the one that will be most perceived by our ear and that will remain there for the
longest time.
For this reason, if we want to replace a note of the melody with the background chord (i.e.
the accompaniment chord) it is necessary that the highest note of the chosen chord
corresponds to the note of the melody.

For example, if the note of the melody is Ab and the accompaniment chord is Fm7, it means that
one of the chords that I will have to use for a correct substitution is the one below:

Ab is in fact the third minor degree of Fm7 chord.

If, on the contrary, the note of the melody had been C, one of the possible chords for a correct
substitution would have been the one below:

It might seem a bit complicated at first, but I assure you it is not.

Having said that, let's start applying these substitutions in a concrete way in order to join the
chords to our melody. The first exercise I propose is to replace the note of the melody found on
the first beat of the bar with the appropriate chord.
The reason for this is that, in my view, the area we need to focus on and where it is most common
to make this substitution is on the first beat of the bar.

63
To prove my thesis, I chose three pieces that are very different from each other in terms of
rhythm. The songs, in fact, are: “All the Things You Are” (song in 4/4), “My Favorite Things” (song
in 3/4) and “Take Five” (song in 5/4).

Just a note about the musical metres. The most common time signatures you will find in music
are probably 4/4 (the most frequent of all), 3/4 and 6/8. You can also find odd or compound
times such as 5/4, 7/4 and 7/8 but, still, they are much less common.
A bar in music consists of a certain number of beats. A 4/4 song has 4 beats in one bar, a 3/4
song has 3 beats in one bar.

Three exercises will then follow (Ex.30-32) in which the note of the melody found on the first
beat of each bar will be replaced with its accompanying chord. However, the accompaniment
chord was chosen on the basis of its highest note, which coincides exactly with the note of the
melody we have replaced.
Sometimes, the melody has been raised by an octave to facilitate this substitution of notes and
chords and avoid having to replace notes that are too low (for example on the fourth, fifth or
sixth string).

64
Exercise 30 – All the Things You Are

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

65
66
This is my version of the melody of “All the Things You Are” by Jerome Kern.

67
68
 ❶

❶ This chord is not reported in the section "THE CHORDS”. It is a diminished chord with a
tension, that is the fifth augmented degree (Bdim#5 or Bdimb13).

69
Exercise 31 – My Favorite Things

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

70
71
This is my version of the melody of “My Favorite Things” by Richard Rodgers.

❶ ❶

72
❷
❶

73
❶

74
❶ It is a Maj7 chord with a tension, namely the fifth degree flat. As I explained in the section
“THE CHORDS”, tensions are more easily found on 7th chords and it is difficult to find them on
Maj7 and m7 chords. Well, this is an exception that can however be found in the Jazz scene.

❷ At bar 13, in order to be able to play the note of the chord (which was on the fourth string),
I had to apply a trick. Basically, I "broke" Gmaj7 chord by eliminating the highest note, which
should have been "D". In this way the highest note became "B": exactly the note of the melody
that had to be replaced with the chord.

75
Exercise 32 – Take Five

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

76
This is my version of “Take Five” by Paul Desmond.

❶ ❶

77
 ❶

78
❶ Similar to what happened on bar 13 of the previous song “My Favorite Things”, I found myself
replacing a note of the melody located on the fourth string. In this case, instead of using a
"broken" chord trick, I used another stratagem. I used a full chord but developed on the last four
strings of the guitar. This type of chord, found on the last 4 strings of the guitar, is used but is
less common. Personally, I preferred not to include these chords within my categorization
because they give life to a too low sound which doesn't meet my tastes.

79
6 – HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY.
The exercises that follow are in a certain sense an extremization of the exercises we did in the
"FIRST BEAT" section. In this case, each note of the melody is replaced by a chord following the
same principle explained in the previous section: the note of the melody must be replaced with
the accompanying chord whose highest note coincides precisely with the note of the melody
that we replace.

This exercise is useful for: memorizing the chords we talked about and trying to quickly find the
closest chord that has the right note of the melody in the highest position.

As mentioned above, this is an exercise taken to the extreme and it is not so important to play
the piece quickly as to try hard to find the right chord and to repeat this exercise on other pieces
chosen by you.

For this reason, even if I have provided the backing track of the pieces of Exercise 33-35, do not
be discouraged if the exercise is too difficult if played in time. Play it without a metronome and
in your own time. The important thing is to understand the logic of the substitutions and better
memorize all the chords we talked about in the first section to apply all these concepts in a faster
way.

What was said in the previous section also applies here: sometimes the melody has been
transposed by an octave to facilitate the replacement of the melody notes with chords.

Let's see the songs now!

80
Exercise 33 – Autumn Leaves

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

81
This is my version of the melody of “Autumn Leaves” by Joseph Kosma.

As you can see below, if there is only one accompaniment chord for the entire duration of a
given bar, you will need to find many chords (i.e. inversions and extensions) of the same type
but always with the highest note corresponding to the melody. This is a considerable but
extremely useful effort to internalize all the varieties of chords analyzed in the section “THE
CHORDS” and to see in practice how many nuances the same chord can assume.

82
83
84
Exercise 34 – Giant Steps

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

85
This is my version of the melody of “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane.

86
87
Exercise 35 – Beautiful Love

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

88
89
This is my version of the melody of “Beautiful Love” by Victor Young.

❶ ❷
❶

❷
❷
❸
❸
❶

90
 ❶ ❷
❶

91
❶ I wanted to highlight this chord as it is a chord with a very common fingering in Jazz and it
is very versatile; now I will explain why.
In the present case it is interpreted as an Em11b5 lacking the third degree: E = 1, Bb = 5b, D =
7b and A = 11.
However, if we consider F# as the root not (yet not played), the chord can be considered
F#7/#5/#9, therefore with a double tension: E = 7b, A # = 3, D = 5 # and A = 9 #.
Finally, if we consider C as the root note (also in this case not played), the chord can be
considered a C9/13, therefore with two extensions: E = 3, Bb = 7b, D = 9 and A = 13.

❷ A9sus4 and C7sus4 are SUS chords as explained in the third section “THE CHORDS”. SUS
chords help us when the melody note that we must harmonize is a fourth degree and the
background (or accompaniment) chord is a Maj7 or a 7 chord. The simplest way to avoid playing
a Maj7 or 7 chord together with the fourth degree is to replace the chord with a SUS chord and
make it "suspended" (without major third). In section 3 “THE CHORDS” I highlighted the SUS
chords which have the fourth degree on the highest string as they are the ones that most help
us in this melody harmonization operation.

92
7 – DOUBLE STOPS.
It is not always convenient to insert a chord within your own melody, for example if the song or
a particular part of the melody is fast tempo.
However, if we still feel the need to fill the melody or a guitar riff in some way, we can take
advantage of the so-called double stops which help us without much effort to make it fuller and
more harmonious.

The double stop is nothing more than two notes played simultaneously. You can play a double
stop on adjacent strings or on non-adjacent strings (skipping a string).

Playing two notes together inevitably creates an interval, which is what ultimately gives character
and color. The possible intervals in a double stop can be at least 12: minor second, second, minor
third, third, fourth, minor fifth, fifth, minor sixth, sixth, minor seventh, seventh, octave.
The list could go on with minor ninth, ninth, etc. but it is not my interest to further go into this
topic.
On the contrary, I would like to focus on a series of intervals that I believe are particularly useful
for filling a melody: third, fourth and sixth.

The fifth interval is also quite used but, personally, I find it less pleasant and useful so I decided
not to put it in the list. Rather, I wanted to insert another interval that in reality does not add
much from a harmonic point of view but is widely used in the jazz, R&B and funky scene: the
octave interval (played very often with a downward strum with the thumb).

In the following exercises I harmonized the major scale of F, C and Ab in thirds, fourths and
sixths, concentrating only on the first 4 strings of the guitar.
Then I harmonized the major scale of Ab and Eb with an octave interval, focusing again only on
the first 4 strings of the guitar.

Finally, to put double stops in a real context and to understand the colors and shades they
manage to provide, I decided to take into consideration a melody that we all necessarily know:
"Happy Birthday".
In fact, you will find this melody harmonized in thirds, fourths, sixths and octaves. Each of these
harmonies has different colors and the message I would like to convey through this exercise is
that none of the 4 intervals is better or more correct than the others.

Personally, I find that in certain contexts one interval is preferable over another. However, there
is no real rule as this decision is dictated solely by one's personal taste. So, based on your
personal taste, you too will find the one that is the best and most suitable interval for you
depending on the context in which you are playing.
In the next section you will see better how I inserted the different types of double stops into jazz
songs.

93
I would like to add one last thing about double stops. Sometimes, I don't pay particular attention
to the interval I'm playing but I simply choose a fragment of the accompaniment chord.
I want to show you a concrete example in order to clarify this last concept.

The above is a Fm7 chord.

1 2 3

In the first case, we speak of a fifth interval. In the second case we speak of a third (minor)
interval. In the third case we speak of a fourth interval. Finally, in the fourth case we speak again
of a third (major) interval. It is therefore a Fm7 chord broken down into minimal terms:
depending on the fragment I choose I am also using a determined interval. The case in particular
was dealt with in bars 10, 11 and 12 of Wayne Shorter's song “Footprints” in the section “MIX
EVERYTHING WELL”.

Let's now proceed with the exercises on double stops.

94
Exercise 36
Harmonization of F major scale in thirds.

95
Exercise 37
Harmonization of C major scale in thirds.

96
Exercise 38
Harmonization of Ab major scale in thirds.

97
Exercise 39
Harmonization of F major scale in fourths.

98
Exercise 40
Harmonization of C major scale in fourths.

99
Exercise 41
Harmonization of Ab major scale in fourths.

100
Exercise 42
Harmonization of F major scale in sixths.

101
Exercise 43
Harmonization of C major scale in sixths.

102
Exercise 44
Harmonization of Ab major scale in sixths.

103
Exercise 45
Harmonization of Ab major scale in octaves.

104
Exercise 46
Harmonization of Eb major scale in octaves.

105
Exercise 47
“Happy Birthday” melody harmonized in thirds.

106
Exercise 48
“Happy Birthday” melody harmonized in fourths.

107
Exercise 49
“Happy Birthday” melody harmonized in sixths.

108
Exercise 50
“Happy Birthday” melody harmonized in octaves.

109
8 – MIX EVERYTHING WELL.
At this point we have all the tools to harmonize a melody arranging it in a more musical way and less
in the form of a technical exercise.

In this section, I will look at four pieces of the Jazz-Fusion tradition and harmonize the melody using
the concepts we have developed in the previous sections.

• FIRST BEAT: where possible, I will insert the necessary chord on the first beat.
• HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY: if I deem it appropriate (according to my personal musical taste)
I will also harmonize other notes of the melody that are not necessarily on the first beat.
• DOUBLE STOPS: finally, I will enrich some passages with double stops which, as we have seen in the
previous section, help to fill the melody without overloading it with a complete chord.

110
Exercise 51 – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

111
This is my version of the melody of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” by Charles Mingus.

112
 ❷

113
 ❹

❶ Eb7/b9/13 is a chord with an extension that you won’t find in the categorization shown int
the section “THE CHORDS”. I decided to use this chord because I find it in the UZEB version of
“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”: if you don’t know it, I suggest to give it a listen.

❷ This kind of chord has already been dealt with in the melody of “Beautiful Love” in the section
“HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY”. It is a chord with a very common fingering in Jazz as well as
very versatile. In this case the tonic (Bb) has been omitted and the degrees are, in ascending
order, 7b (Ab), 3 (D), 5# (F#) and 9# (C#) = Bb7/#5/#9.

❸ When there is the possibility of using open strings, I like to develop less common chord
fingerings as in this case.

❹ It is a Maj7 chord with a tension, namely the fifth degree flat. As I explained in the section
“THE CHORDS”, tensions are more easily found on 7th chords and it is difficult to find them on
Maj7 and m7 chords. Well, this is an exception that can however be found in the Jazz scene.

114
Exercise 52 – Blue in Green

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

115
This is my version of the melody of “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans.

❶ ❷ ❸

116
❶ You won’t find this chord within the categorization set out in "THE CHORDS" section. First of
all because it is a Maj7 chord with a tension (5b) which has not been intentionally inserted, as
previously explained. Secondly, it is a particular chord since there is no third (which has been
replaced by the 5th degree flat of the chord). Another Bbmaj7/b5 chord can be found at bar 5.

❷ This kind of chord has already been dealt with in the melody of “Beautiful Love” in the section
“HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY”. It is a chord with a very common fingering in Jazz as well as
very versatile. In this case the tonic (A) has been omitted and the degrees are, in ascending order,
7b (G), 3 (C#), 5# (F) and 9# (C) = A7/#5/#9.

❸ When there is the possibility of using open strings, I like to develop less common chord
fingerings as in this case.

117
Exercise 53 – Footprints
Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

118
This is my version of the melody of “Footprints” by Wayne Shorter.

119
 ❷

❶ This use of double stops is described in the “DOUBLE STOPS” section where I refer to this
example. The Fm7 chord is fragmented into different double stops (and therefore intervals) in
order to harmonize the melody of the piece.

❷ This kind of chord has already been dealt with in the melody of “Beautiful Love” in the section
“HARMONIZATION OF A MELODY”. It is a chord with a very common fingering in Jazz as well as
very versatile. In this case the tonic (D) has been omitted and the degrees are, in ascending order,
3 (F#), 7b (C), 9 (E) and 13 (B) = D13.

120
Exercise 54 – Cantaloupe Island

Since sometimes I will use different extensions chosen according to my personal taste, I prefer
first of all to display the original chord progression before tackling the exercise.

121
This is my version of the melody of “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock.

122
 ❶

Since this song is characterized by a rather rapid melody, I have concentrated almost entirely
on double stops. For this reason, you will find a large number of double stops with different
types of intervals.

❶ This passage is nothing more than a Fm7 chord (first macrogroup, tonic on the lowest string
of the chord) broken up into bass (F) and triad (Eb, Ab e C).

123
9 – CONCLUSION.
We have come to the end of this book in which I have explored some fundamental concepts in
order to better use the chords and to combine them with the melody in order to make it fuller
and more harmonious.
I hope the concepts I covered were clear and helpful. In any case, should some ideas be unclear
or should you believe that there are some errors or inaccuracies, do not hesitate to contact me
at my email cosimoroche@gmail.com or through my social channels.

Have fun and thank you for reading "Chordify your Melodies"!

124
MY GEAR

Gruv Gear
Among the various products offered by Gruv Gear, I literally fell in love with its FretWraps string
muter. Simply placed at the top of the fretboard, FretWraps is a professional string muting
accessory able to effectively cut overtones and sympathetic resonance and thus to obtain a
cleaner tone without the unwanted string noise or ringing.
The muting effect can be adjusted by tightening more or less the strap. Since I tried it, I can't do
without it anymore!

Essetipicks
These picks, made in many versions and in the most disparate materials, demonstrate Stefano
"Steve" Tommasi's incredible love and passion for music and for his work. A work aimed at
creating a real instrument for the guitarist able to add something personal to his/her sound and
not just a “simple” piece of more or less flexible plastic material.
Personally, my choice fell on the famous 5.0 mm S@PONETTA STANDARD model, an incredibly
versatile pick for both alternate picking and sweep picking and very comfortable to be held
between your fingers while fingerpicking.

125
Curt Mangan Strings
These stainless-steel strings are my favorite as they feature a particularly bright sound and offer
greater durability.
The measure with which I find myself best is certainly the 10-46 as they offer a fair compromise
between playability and resonance.

126
127
FIRST EDITION
128
2021