Varying Melody

There are several reasons why we embellish the melody.

the fist is that it helps to change a song the 2nd time around so that our listeners do not get bored.

Another reason is that a simple melody, esp one that is slow moving, may sound sparse in a solo piano arrangement.

And by embellishing the melody, we can fill in dead spots, places where the melody rests and prevent the music from losing continuity.

Grace notes, trills, arpeggios and tremolos are among the devices that can provide accent and flair to melodies.

If overdone, such ornamentation can get corny sounding.

Tremolo on the sustained notes.

play melodies in octaves give stronger effect.

It is possible to fill out the sound even more by filling in the chord tones completely or partly within the octave.


One special kind of grace not is the slip note used in much country flavored music.

A slip note slips into a chord tone from a neighboring suspended note. It is struck on the beat with the other notes before it goes to its resolution.

With major chords, this device often goes from the second of the chord up to the third, or from the 6th down to the 5th,.

minor chords often have this grace note slipping from the 7th up tot he root.

The slip note can be used to embellish the melody; you can also add another chord tone on top of the melody for that real stell guitar.

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