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[Roland OBrien]

Thanks to the help received here (Beginners' Chord Charts thread) I've got  to grips with playing chords in the (major) scales that crop up in an acoustic jam I go to. It's such fun now! But I've reached another hurdle and would like some more advice please.

I've advanced to what's called "melody corner", consisting of myself and the fiddle player (other instruments are guitars, a mandolin, a banjo and a ukelele). The fiddler & I do some "breaks" in a few songs in D, which I can just about manage. I've also been attentively listening to the fiddler who is brilliant at adding light-touch melodic runs & fill-ins that complement whatever's being sung or played (I don't know what the technical term is for doing this, if there is one).

I'm trying to figure out how to make progress in "melody corner". Firstly, is it feasible to do breaks on a DG melodeon in songs in keys other than D & G (a song in E came up yesterday but I shook my head and said I couldn't do it) - and is the best way I can prepare for that to practise scales (so I get to know where the relevant notes are - currently I don't instinctively know whereabouts on the keyboard I should be, in a particular key)?

Secondly, those little melodic runs the fiddle player does...does that involve a similar process (i.e. playing around with notes in the same scale as the tune), or is it much more complex (e.g. using related scales). I will ask the fiddle player, of course, but I thought I'd throw in the question here anyway.

Many thanks.

[Stiamh]

Hi Roland,

I'm no expert in this department but having the chord progression of the tune or song down will be a great help. Knowing the notes that make up those chords will also help, since that will tell you what notes (in most circumstances) you can safely start and end your runs and fills on, and touch on along the way (other notes can be used in passing of course).

This is a pretty laborious and academic way to approach the issue, though, and you have to steer clear of the temptation to mindlessly play arpeggios all the time.

More gifted musicians than I simply hear what is required and then just play it. I am extremely envious of such people. Occasionally I venture into this intuitive territory, but most of the time I keep the chords in mind as I go fishing.

The best advice I can give is jump in and experiment - especially in private until you're a little more sure of yourself. Record the songs you play with your fiddler and take them apart at home.

[Roland OBrien]

Thanks Steve, those are really helpful suggestions.

I hadn't realised that the notes which make up the chords should provide a safe place to start and end runs etc. so that is a very useful pointer. I sometimes have an idea of what I want to do for a melodic run, but am defeated (in the heat of the jam) by not knowing where it would start.

Recording the tunes so I can get to grips with them in my own time should be a great help, too.

I'm looking forward to the experimentation.

[rees]

A major and F# minor are really easy (mostly on the pull) - you'll have to put up with a few blue notes but that's rock 'n' roll.

C major and A minor are OK too, but a bit wimpy.

[Chris Ryall]

Agree with Rees. Just to add .. you have a complete F# "Blues" scale running on the "pull" between the D and G rows.

   F# A  B  C   C# E   F# A   B  C   C# E  F#  (attached)

Rees is frankly one of Britain's best exponents of it - he calls it F# minor - but the C is in there as the "sharp 4th" passing note so it is true "classic blues"*

1. Don't play left hand at all - just "break"
2. Play the scale in groups of 3 buttons [ F# A  B]   [C   C# E]   [F# A   B]  [C   C# E]   [F#] using index middle and ring fingers only
3. Practice practice .. must become automatic
4. Use it in breaks only or when the tune gets "hot"
5. Use the "C" sparingly - most of its power comes from being pentatonic
6.        .. and then clash B/C/C# to show you are a true BB King heir 

Works for

  Tunes in F#m  - obviously
  Tunes in F# major! - that's the magic of Blues scale 
  Tunes in A major - start middle finger A and you get major pentatonic ..
  Tunes in D major or D minor - play Blues over the A7 "dominant" chord
  Tunes in Bminor -  different feel - the C/C#/D act as b9,9,#9 - more "jazz"
  Tunes in E major - here a "Scottish" feel to it 

That's to get you started.  You also have E Blues scale on there - E  G  A⁴ -Bb^#4 -B⁵ ..  but then have to rock the D/E inner row button for its last 2 notes (that minor 7th "D" is very cool, very important)!   It's incomplete, has only 1½ octave span, and no longer "symmetrical" but nevertheless very handy when "in a jam"   

.. and when that guitarist puts his capo onto fret 1 and plays his "easy E" chords ... you can ambush him 

... I've also been attentively listening to the fiddler who is brilliant at adding light-touch melodic runs & fill-ins that complement whatever's being sung or played (I don't know what the technical term is for doing this, if there is one) ...

.. Secondly, those little melodic runs the fiddle player does...does that involve a similar process (i.e. playing around with notes in the same scale as the tune), or is it much more complex (e.g. using related scales). I will ask the fiddle player, of course, but I thought I'd throw in the question here anyway.

It would be "ornamentation" if the main tune is in play and, apart from the odd "passing note" it's best to play "in" the key of the tune.  If someone's doing a break it's "improvisation" and anything goes.  Actually the more you do it the more you might play "out". British folk sessions rarely offer space for breaks, and usually won't play the tune chords against you if you do this. Your own group might see it differently and very different in continental Europe (ditto South Island New Zealand)!  I'm off to Ghent next week - a few Belgian beers and we'll make that Cafe rock

[Roland OBrien]

Thanks Rees and Chris for the pointers and advice. I'm determined to put that into practice ...practice...practice ... A long journey ahead but it looks as if there will be some delightful discoveries along the way!

Many thanks.

[rees]

Hey Chris, that diagram of the F# blues scale is excellent. Hope you don't mind if I steal it for my students
Really easy to follow unlike some of your essays 

[Roland OBrien]

I agree the diagram is really useful. I've been playing around with the scale this evening. It opens up a whole lot of really cool opportunities and I've been having a hoot of time exploring it.

[rees]

If you're running out of air, use A and F# push to get the bellows back in smartish like.

[Chris Ryall]

Hey Chris, that diagram of the F# blues scale is excellent. Hope you don't mind if I steal it for my students  Really easy to follow unlike some of your essays 

Of course - putting it here makes it public domain. The base graphic came from here anyway, and a picture does speak a thousand words ...

Echo the above .. Bluesy stuff on a D/G is all on the pull.  Take, even plan your opportunities to hit some push notes/chords/ideally both together and collapse those belllows (though shoulders can be "relocated")    Keeping the notes staccato on a break saves air, and to many people's ear also sounds better