Melodies are Made of This:.. (AutoharpMelodyPlaying)

CathyBritell,POBox99767,Seattle,WA,http://larkpoint.com© 2019 Larkpoint Music, Seattle, WA 98139

Note: This is written out for teaching purposes in workshops given by Cathy Britell only. Not to be copied, sold, or otherwise distributed physically or on-line.

Thereareacoupleofcomponentstomelodypicking.First,youhavetopushdownthe right chordbarbuttonwithyour lefthand. Andsecond,youhave topluckasmallnumberofstringsattherightpartofthestringbed.Melodyplayingcan beapproachedintwoways. First,you can just strumthe progressionof chords that themelodyof the tune suggests,thendevelopa"pinch"with yourlong fingeraimingat the note you want andyourthumbpickingup two or three harmonynotes below. Thenyou cangradually refineyour"aim"tohitthecorrectnote of thechord to producethemelody.Try thiswith"OdetoJoy":

You can pinch out the melody to “Twinkle” just by following the written chordnames andplaying on the right part of the ‘harp. Sounds recognizable. Musical?Hmmm…..

If youreallywanttoplaymelodieswell it’sprobablynecessarytoplayscalesandarpeggios.Thereasonforthis,isthatmostmelodiesaremadeupofmajorormonorscalesandarpeggios(we'll illustratethatlater).Onceyourecognizetheseinsongsortunes,itbecomesobviouswhatchordbarbuttonstopushtogetamelodynotetoplay.Andonceyoucanplayscalespreciselyandcleanly,findingtherightstringstopluckforamelodybecomesmuch,mucheasier.C-ScalewithMelodychords:

Do-Re-Mi-Re-Dowithfourpluckspernote:

TheentireCscalewithfourpluckspernote:

TheentireCscalewithtwopluckspernote:

TheCscalewithonepluckpernote:

TheCscalewithonepinchpernote:

Carpeggio Farpeggio:

Garpeggio:

TheCscale-arpeggioexercise.

REMEMBER…fiftytimesadayforaweek!!!Now,here’s“Cathy’sSecretExercise”.Yes,IdopromisethatifyouplaythisACCURATELY50timesadayEVERYDAYforaweek(ittakes10-15minutes),youwillreachanewlevelofmelodyplayingexertise

Youwillfindfreevideostoreviewthisathttp://autoharpteacher.comunder“minilessons”

Playing Melodies by Ear. Thus far, we've talked only about finding the right accompaniment chord. The key to playing melodies by ear is...SCALES! Yes, being able to play major and minor scales autoharpmatically will give you the tools to play melodies. Here's why. Here's a C Scale with the chords necessary to sound that note under each note:

Play the scale while singing do-re-mi-etc. Now, consider the tune “Frere Jacques” This tune starts: do-re-mi-do, do-re-mi-do. Pretty easy to hear. And if you know how to play a scale autoharpmatically, you can play that in any key. Give it a try. And the tune goes on: mi-fa-sol, mi-fa-sol. That's pretty easy. And then : sol-la-sol-fa-mi-do, sol-la-sol-fa-mi-do. A little harder, but just up and down the scale. And lastly: do-sol-do, do-sol-do. Piece of cake. So if you can play and sing the scale with ease, you can play many simple tunes autoharpmatically. Children's songs are often quite easy to do this with. Try: Row, Row Row Your Boat. Three Blind Mice Mary Had A Little Lamb Go Tell Aunt Rhody etc. If you do this for a bit whenever you sit down to play, pretty soon you'll be able to pick out simple melodies with ease. Then work on some minor key songs. And…ahem!...Modal songs and tunes are a good way to get

into minor songs There are a number of different scales. The “do-re-mi” scale that we all know well is called the Ionian scale. There are some older scales, called “modal” scales. This workshop explores two of these modal scales -- dorian and mixolydian, and some of the tunes that use them.

Below is the A minor Dorian Scale on the autoharp. Note that the key signature has one sharp! So, the key signature would belong to the G scale. But if you start on the second not of the scale and make it a minor, you’ll get the Am Dorian scale, with the same key signature. Here’s how you play it:

"Scarborough Faire" is a great tune to mix melody picking and rhythmic accompaniment. Note that it has mostly two chords: Am and G except for the D for the two capitalized syllables "rose-ma-RY AND thyme". You can pinch and pluck out the melody, and add gently rhythmic strums and brushes as you please. Also, here's a nice little ornamentation for this tune. If you do some pinches alternating between the Am and G chords starting from the low strings and going up, you'll have a lovely little run with which to fill some quiet spots.

Another Dorian tune: Wondrous Love. This is a shape not song, from “Southern Harmony”; again going mostly between Am and G with an occasional D. This can be a powerful tune. The hymn version is often sung at Easter. (first verse below) For accompaniment, you can play a “modal” rhythm all the way through on A-E, produced by holding down the Am and A or A7 bars simultaneously. I did this the last time through at: http://autoharps.home.comcast.net/WondrousLoveGDorian.mp3

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

Playing melodies is often a matter of playing “by ear” and “by heart”. When you have some basic “by ear” skills, it’s a lot easier to memorize songs. Here are two that you simply music know how to play at the drop of a hat if you play autoharp.

Note: This is written out for teaching purposes in workshops given by Cathy Britell only. Not to be copied, sold, or otherwise distributed physically or on-line.

Note: This is written out for teaching purposes in workshops given by Cathy Britell only. Not to be copied, sold, or otherwise distributed physically or on-line.

Note: This is written out for teaching purposes in workshops given by Cathy Britell only. Not to be copied, sold, or otherwise distributed physically or on-line.