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How do you make your melody lines shine?
I struggle to play melody lines that naturally (dynamically) stand out from the chord tones. When listening to myself I hear that the melody often drowns in chord tones, particularly when the chord tones are close to the melody. Any practice tips how to shine up the melody and quiet down the chord tones?
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7 Replies
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Try and play your left hand chords softer (treat them like a shadow) and play the melody louder in your right hand.
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Many thanks! I definitely need to work on my sensitivity, and I believe your advise supports the process with a useful mindset.
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Yes completely agree with what Suzanna said! This would have been my first suggestion! Also, less in the LH, simply holding down chords will really help bring out the harmonies more, rather than playing a lot of short rhythmic comps.
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Thanks Brenden. I feel that keeping the LH as a shadow works if I really put attention to it. Developing the same skill within the RH is much more of a technical issue. I try to improve through exaggeration – just hammering down the melody with the pinky while trying to calmly support with chord tones and extensions by the other fingers. It doesn’t sound nice, but I hope that it eventually will when I start to loosen up the exaggeration.
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That sounds like you’re right on track! Ballads, slow swing and medium and up will greatly effect this process as well. I recommend starting with ballads to get the hang of it.
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You may as well try block chords à la Shearing, not necessarily all the time but when you want to give more weight to the melody.
Another approach could consist in reducing the accompaniment to the bare minimum, maybe just a simple bass line or, if you have good time feel, just a few chords but sparingly.
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