Understand Chord use and the English Concertina

[StephenTx]

I am getting pretty good and being able to play the melodic lines even with two notes on each side BUT I am have a hard time understanding how chords are used when you are playing? For example if I have the melody how and when do I know what chord to play if the music is just written as the melody? Any illumination will be appreciated.

[Geoff Wooff]

As I interpret your question, you want the very first steps towards making a chordal accompaniment ? If this is so then I am sure you can find proper explainations and even books on the subject elsewhere, but here goes my "baby steps" suggestion.

 

First decide what key your melody is in. Then the first of your chords will be that key. Then take the chord of the key that is one key sharper, than your melody key,and make that the "Seventh"... then take the chord of the key that is one key flatter , than your melody key.

 

So you should end up with something like this; Key of melody C. Simple chords for a major scale tune= C, G7 and F.

C Major chord = C-E-G. G7 = G-B-D-F. F Major = F-A-C . These chords are all made up of the notes in the C major scale.

 

Guitarists call this a "three chord trick". The next stage is to try to apply these chords to your melody, so, take a major scale and as you play it (ascending) add the chords in this very basic way;

 

Chord of the scale key; play it with the keynote, the third and fifth notes of the scale.

 

The seventh chord; play it with the second and seventh of the scale.

 

The other chord will go with the fouth and sixth notes.

 

These simple rules are, like all rules, made to be broken and you will need to decide, by ear, which notes of a chord, and thus which chord will best fit the phrase of a tune

 

This is very simplistic but it is somewhere to start. I hope this is what you were asking for.

 

From this point on you can add chords or, more likely on the EC, parts of chords underneath your melody line and let your ear guide you as to what is correct or nice.

 

PS; I recently obtained a CD re-issue of the record made of the playing of Gordon Cutty. I have had the Vinyl since it came out in the '70's but now I can play the CD in my workshop during the day and study more closely what the man is doing. Ok he was working from sheet music but it is well worth the time to listen in depth to his chordal interpretations on the EC.

This can be purchased from www.free-reed.co.uk along with many other Concertina recordings.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Geoff Wooff

[Anglo-Irishman]

Stephen,

 

This question takes us past playing and into arranging. This is a different skill, and you have to learn it separately. However, as Geoff said, you can learn it step by step.

 

I'd suggest trying it in one key for a start - say C major, so you'll know that all the chords will lie on the middle rows of your EC.

 

First, learn the "3-chord trick", as Geoff suggests. The magic numbers are 1, 4 and 5 (Bluegrassers and Folkies, being educated people, usually use Roman numerals: I, IV and V). The notes of the scale of the major scale are numbered from 1 to 7, so in C major, 1 = C, 4 = F and 5 = G (as you already know). So to harmonise a tune in C major, you need the major chords of C, F and G for a start. Identify which triangle of buttons on your EC gives you each of these chords. Practice changing from one to the other, in the sequence C - F - G - C.

 

When you've got your fingers round that, my advice is to get a song-book with the chord symbols for guitarists printed above the melody. Pick a familiar tune in C major, and just play the chords as indicated along with the melody. When you're comfortable with that, try another tune in C. The sequence of chords will be different, but they will be the same chords.

After a few more tunes, you should begin to develop an ear for what chord comes next. This doesn't only depend on what note appears in the melody - it also depends on where the melody line is coming from, and where it's going to. But you only have three possibilities, so trial and error doesn't take too long.

 

In some C major songs, you'll find the chord symbols Am, Em or even Dm. These are the minor chords that can be built using the notes of the C major scale. Identify these on your EC, practise these more sophisticated tunes from the song-book, and you'll get there.

 

Theory, pragmatism and practice are the three elements you need!

 

When you've got the feel of when a I, IV or V chord is coming up in the key of C, arm yourself for the key of G. You'll only need one new major and one new minor chord: D major and B minor. Now G is your I chord, C is your IV chord and D is your V chord.

If you're planning on harmonising by ear on the fly some time, it's a good idea to think I, IV, V, and assign them to named chords when you see the key signature of the piece (or are told what key we're playing it in). If it's A major, for instance, your I-IV-V will be A - D - E.

 

Notice that I've ignored Geoff's G7 chord ( in Latin, V7) in the key of C. This is a "dominant seventh", and has an F natural in it. Although I use dominant 7ths heavily on the autoharp, I find that I seldom need them on the Duet concertina, because the extra note is often present in the melody at that point. (On the autoharp, the melody note has to be in the chord, otherwise it would be damped out.)

 

As you progress, you will probably find that you sometimes have to add a note to a V chord to make it into a V7, otherwise it sounds dull. And you will notice that playing 3-note chords plus the melody can sound a bit heavy-handed, so you can try leaving out some of the notes of a chord.

In short, finding the right chords by ear is a bit more complex than finding the notes of a known melody, but the theory of music eliminates most of the wrong alternatives, and practice does the rest!

Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and there's no silver bullet.

 

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

John

 

One wor

[Leonard]

And see the great diagrams by William Meredith for where to find the chords on your concertina:

(Click to enlarge)

For further elucidation see WM's article at "the other side" of C.net: http://www.concertin...ish_chords.html

[PhilEdwards]

And see the great diagrams by William Meredith for where to find the chords on your concertina:

 

That's a terrific diagram, which (to my mind) shows just how well designed the 48-key layout is. Is there anything similar for a 30-key EC?

[StephenTx]

Wow Geoff, John and Leonard, Thank you all so much. It is just utterly amazing the willingness each of you have shown to share your knowledge. Geoff and John, it took awhile just to type the explanation you provided. Now to let it all sink and and start utilizing. I am going to read over the material carefully...do some Internet searching and if you all don't mind ask some follow up question. It is a great start guys ...thank you from Texas. Stephen

[shelly0312]

...another tutor you might want to look at is "Concertina Workshop--Tutor for the English Concertina" by Alistair Anderson. I must have printed this from somewhere here in c.net, but I do not know where. I am just going into this tutor, it has some terrific sycopated/dotted swing-y tunes and discussions of chords and alternate fingerings.

good luck in your fun Michelle

[Leonard]

...another tutor you might want to look at is "Concertina Workshop--Tutor for the English Concertina" by Alistair Anderson. I must have printed this from somewhere here in c.net, but I do not know where. I am just going into this tutor, it has some terrific sycopated/dotted swing-y tunes and discussions of chords and alternate fingerings.

good luck in your fun Michelle

 

It's available as a PDF download on free-reed.co.uk: http://www.free-reed...tinaworkhop.pdf

[StephenTx]

Wrapping my head around Chords further. What I can't get through my thick (non musical theory) head is the relationship of chords to the melodic line. For example I am playing a melodic line of a piece of music---how do the chords fit in? Does each note in the melodic line have a different chord associated with it depending on the melodic note. This is where my mind is getting boggled, I just don't understand the relationship of the chords and the melodic line. I have been reading everthing I can find on the Internet and I'm still confused. Thank ya'all or as we say in Texas thank all Ya'all. :-) you have all been so generous with your knowledge. Stephen the Texas but Hawaii native

Edited October 2, 2011 by StephenTx

[Rod]

Wrapping my head around Chords further. What I can't get through my thick (non musical theory) head is the relationship of chords to the melodic line. For example I am playing a melodic line of a piece of music---how do the chords fit in? Does each note in the melodic line have a different chord associated with it depending on the melodic note. This is where my mind is getting boggled, I just don't understand the relationship of the chords and the melodic line. I have been reading everthing I can find on the Internet and I'm still confused. Thank ya'all or as we say in Texas thank all Ya'all. :-) you have all been so generous with your knowledge. Stephen the Texas but Hawaii native

 

Stephen. I play Anglo solely by ear with a lot of chord work. I discovered all the chords I ever need, and more besides, by simple trial and error. You might find the same approach worth trying on your English. If you know in your head the harmony you are after, your ear will, or should, tell you when you have found the correct combination of notes. Perhaps my approach is more suited to the Anglo although I would have thought that you might have greater button choice with the English system ?

[hjcjones]

how do the chords fit in? Does each note in the melodic line have a different chord associated with it depending on the melodic note.

 

It would be unusual (and difficult, unless you were playing a very slow tune) to change chords with every note. You can expect to play a bar, and perhaps several bars, without changing chords, although there may be times when you need to change chords within a bar. It's true that complex arrangements by proficient players will use more chords, as well as runs of notes to get from one chord to another, but ignore this for now and keep it simple.

 

You need to learn to think harmonically - if you're primarily a melody player this may not come naturally. Try listening to some tunes with a simple accompaniment on an instrument such as guitar. Listen out for when they change chords. Try to get a feel for how the chords support the melody and why they change when they do. If you can get hold of a tune or song book for guitarists these will usually show the chord names above the notes of the melody.

Edited October 2, 2011 by hjcjones

[Anglo-Irishman]

Stephen. I play Anglo solely by ear with a lot of chord work. I discovered all the chords I ever need, and more besides, by simple trial and error. You might find the same approach worth trying on your English. If you know in your head the harmony you are after, your ear will, or should, tell you when you have found the correct combination of notes. Perhaps my approach is more suited to the Anglo although I would have thought that you might have greater button choice with the English system ?

 

This is, in fact, a very Anglo-ish way of doing it!

 

Remember that, when playing in one row of an Anglo, each note of the melody is on either the press or the draw, so logically, only the chords that can be formed in the same bellows direction are available. And when you reverse the belows direction to get the adjacent note in the scale, the chord changes, too, even if you leave your accompanying fingers on the same buttons.

This is a great help in deciding which chord goes with which note, and it's what makes the Anglo so easy to play in a simple chordal style ("3-chord trick"). However, Stephen, just to reassure you that you haven't chosen the wrong system, it must be said that more sophisticated chords on the Anglo can get pretty complex, involving alternate fingerings that EC and other chromatic players don't have to worry about.

 

But let's look at the implications of the diatonic layout. Take the key of C on a C/G Anglo as an example.

 

The notes of the C major scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The bellows movements are press, draw, press, draw, press, draw, draw, press.

 

So the notes on the press are C, E, G, C. That is, the chord of C major.

 

And the notes on the draw are D, F, A, B. These give us a partial F major chord: F-A-©, with the missing C on the draw in the G-row; and a partial G or G7 chord: (G)-B-D or (G)-B-D-F, with the missing G on the draw at the bass end of the C-row.

 

So we can say as a rule of thumb (for the key of C major) that, if you harmonise:

- the notes C, E, and G with a C major chord

- the notes B and D with a G major chord

- the note A with an F major chord

- the note F with either an F major or a G7 chord,

You're doing what comes naturally on an Anglo!

 

This is the analytical approach to chording. Sometimes it will sound wrong, and you'll have to try something else - Dm instead of F, or Am instead of C, or something. But you can use this note-chord allocation as a starting point.

 

I personally learned chording (on guitar and banjo) by reading off the chord symbols in song-books or cheat-sheets until my ear could hear the chord changes coming in advance. Once you've got that, you can arrange on the fly on any instrument for which you know the chord shapes.

I must add that the Anglo concertina and the autoharp, both of which limit the choice of chords you can play under a particular melody note, helped greatly.

 

Cheers,

John

[Anglo-Irishman]

Does each note in the melodic line have a different chord associated with it depending on the melodic note.

 

Stephen,

I'm a but late with this, because I've spent little time in the Forum lately, but better late than never!

 

I agree with hjcjones - chord changes are much less frequent than melody notes!

 

On this point, I would repeat a suggestion I made earlier: get a song-book with tunes that are familiar to you, that has chord symbols for guitarists printed over the stave. The point in the song at which each new chord symbol is printed is the point where you change the chords. To make it easier to concentrate on the chords, just sing, hum or whistle the song, using the EC only for the chords. This will give you the feel of "doing it right", and hopefully, sooner or later, you will learn to anticipate what chord is coming up next.

 

BTW, "doing it right" in the context of fitting chords to a tune means "taking one of the several alternatives that make sense musically." No more, no less. Identifying all the possible alternatives and choosing the optimal one is advanced arranging. At the start, it's best to stick to the chords somebody else has thought out.

 

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

John

[jggunn]

I think that I can see what Tx is asking here, and it has long puzzled me also. What exactly does it mean to play the chords beneath the melody, and exactly where does one play the chord? It would help tremendously helpful if someone put on a simple song with notes and demonstrated exactly what this would look like. The three cord trick is simple but how and when chords function when one is not simply changing chords as if strumming a guitar is where the matter becomes foggy. I have consulted many books on this -- such as that by Dick Miles but the exact criteria is never clear -- apart from that old standby "you will get a feel for when and how." There must be a principle behind the feel. Thanks

[Anglo-Irishman]

I have consulted many books on this -- such as that by Dick Miles but the exact criteria is never clear -- apart from that old standby "you will get a feel for when and how." There must be a principle behind the feel. Thanks

 

Hi, jggunn,

 

you're perfectly right, of course! There is a principle behind it all. In fact, there's masses of theory about it.

 

But take my tip, an an old, chord-along folkie: unless you've got an unusually analytical mind, it's quicker to wait for "that feel" to come than to wade through all that theory!

The best thing is, as always, the middle way. Start by using the chords in the song-book, fake book or cheat sheet that somebody else has worked out, and just get used to playing these sequences of chords. If a question arises, like "Why does it say G here, and G7 in a similar phrase later on in the tune?" just ask someone. (If you don't know anyone who's into music theory, ask here!) This way, your knowledge of the theory will develop along with you practical skills, and complement them.

 

Note that the chords in songbooks are used by players of all chord-capable instruments: guitars, banjos, Bluegrass mandolins, autoharps, bouzoukis, accordions, keyboards and pianos, even MIDI generators. And, of course, concertinas. The chord symbol really says what notes the arranger of the piece would like you to play along with the next notes of the melody, up to the next chord symbol.

 

HOW you play them is instrument-specific. Guitarists and autoharpers have their different picking patterns for different rhythms and tempi, banjosts have their licks and rolls. That is, they "hold down" the chord shown with their left hand, and pluck the strings selectively, to make the notes in them sound one after the other in various sequences, or all together, or only a few of them. With the concertina, of course, the notes sound as soon as you press the buttons, so you have to form a chord (unlike a guitarist with his left hand) OVER the appropriate buttons, and then press them selectively (which is equivalent to the guitarist's right-hand picking pattern).

 

Just mashing down all the notes of the indicated chord can be nice, but not always! The simplest concertina "picking pattern" is to play the lowest note and the higher notes of the chord alternately. This is called "oom-pah." You adapt this to the time signature, e.g. in 3/4 time, you play "oom-pah-pah" and in 4/4 time you play "oom-pah-pah-pah" or "oom-pah, oom-pah". The next easiest is the "arpeggio": simply play the notes in the chord one after the other from bottom to top, one note on each beat of the bar.

 

I may be biased, but for someone who's exploring chords, I would recommend trying the autoharp. This is THE chording instrument par excellence. You can get away with just pressing the right button and strumming the right rhythm, and you don't have to worry about what notes are in what chord, and the chords you need for a given key are all close together. Just see to it that the label on the chord bar matches the chord symbol in the songbook. I play several other chording instruments (5-string banjo, guitar, ukulele, Anglo and Crane duet), but I often use the autoharp to work out the chords for a new arrangement. And a used autoharp is about the cheapest musical instrument of acceptable quality that eBay has to offer! (I hope I don't get banned from the Forum for advocating something other than a concertina - but at least an autoharp is not a melodeon... )

 

To sum up: learn your chord shapes on the concertina, and follow the songbook for a start. You may learn by doing quicker than you think!

 

BTW, do you know the difference between theory and practice? Theory is when everyone knows everything, and nothing works. Practice is when everything works, and nobody knows why!

 

Cheers,

John

[jggunn]

Hi, thanks Anglo-Irish, but I guess I really have trouble articulating what I am getting at. It is not that I am unfamiliar with chords and how they feature in music (guitar, banjo. mandolin, autoharp, etc.) What I cannot get a hold on is how English concertina players, play a melody and integrate an accompanying harmony. I can certainly add harmony notes such as third, sixth, etc. along the way, but it seems that they are doing is more than that, not unlike the manner in which a skilled guitar player plays a melody surrounded by chordal harmony. Or maybe I am somehow misperceiving what I think I hear when people like Townsend or Ratface are playing. It seems that there is a separate harmonic structure that goes along with the melody.

[Anglo-Irishman]

I can certainly add harmony notes such as third, sixth, etc. along the way, but it seems that they are doing is more than that, not unlike the manner in which a skilled guitar player plays a melody surrounded by chordal harmony. Or maybe I am somehow misperceiving what I think I hear when people like Townsend or Ratface are playing. It seems that there is a separate harmonic structure that goes along with the melody.

 

jggunn,

 

Now I see what you're getting at! This is, in fact, EC-specific, so I'm not really qualified, as my concertinas are the Anglo and the Crane duet.

 

This is just my feeling, and I wouldn't argue with any EC players who see it differently, but it seems to me that the EC is not really a "chording machine", like the Anglo is. That's why the Duets were devised. They make harmonies easier by concentrating the higher octaves on one hand and the low octaves on the other, rather than tying up both hands to play a simple melody, as the EC does. It seems to me that the EC requires a mindset where you're basically playing a melody with occasional harmonising notes - much like double-stopping on the violin. The violin, due to its bridge geometry, can only sound two notes together at most; however, Bach's solo partitas show how harmonically satisfying the violin can be - in expert hands!

 

So perhaps this is the way for you to go. Don't think so much about what chord goes with what melody note, but rather what counter-melody would fit your melody. This is easier said than done, of couse. An important part of my musical development was choir singing. I sang bass in mixed choirs, and as a baritone, I had to sing the alto line in male-voice settings. After years of doing this from the score, I was eventually able to improvise a bass or alto line to simple melodies, e.g. hymns at church. There are certain rules of thumb, like always ending the bass line on the tonic note, but a lot of it is just getting that "feel".

 

So I'd suggest the same learning principle for sparse EC harmonisation as for full chording on a Duet concertina or guitar: play other people's arrangements for a start. You will eventually recognise situations where one would add this note, and oher situations where one would add that note.

 

What you might try is using your EC in two distinct roles, depending on who you're playing with: either melody-only (e.g. with a guitarist) or chords-only (e.g. with a fiddler or singer). It seems to me that the EC "chord triangles" are pretty manageable, it's just when you want to play the melody at the same time that it gets difficult. Which is why we have Duet concertinas!

 

I must enphasise that playing and arranging/composing are two completely different skills. The vast majority of classical musicians just play what's set in front of them, and never arrange. Good folk guitarists blur this distinction - or appear to do so - when they pick up their guitars and chord along to an unfamiliar song. But remember that they started out playing the chords someone else had worked out, until they had enough experience to recognise familiar situations and remember what Eric Clapton did in a similar situation in a different song.

 

Like I said before: music is a complex blend of art and science; Rome wasn't built in a day; and there's no silver bullet. Music is fun, but it's also hard work, and there are a lot of theoretical and practical lessons to learn before you really feel competent. You think you'll never get there - but you will. (Think about something you now do well - and then try to remember how difficult it seemed when you first attempted it! )

 

Cheers,

John

[Randy Stein]

John wrote: "but it seems to me that the EC is not really a "chording machine", like the Anglo "

I chord and play counter melodies all the time. In our arrangement of Django Reinhart's Nuages I chord a D7 with flatted 9th or a sustaining D with pass through chording of D7(+9) to Augmented A with the 7th.

But you did say the EC players may see it differently.

rss

Edited November 10, 2011 by Randy Stein