Question about finding the melody

[Aron Odin Kristensen]

Hello!
Recently we started rehearsing for some christmas gigs, and at the rehearsal the singer decided we should play Blue Christmas. I was able to play the melody on the fly, for my solo. I was surprised that i didnt crash and burn, and it motivated me to keep mastering this skill of finding melodies on the fly.

I have some questions for the more experienced players on the forum.
Firstly, are you comfortable playing the melody of any song you know on the fly, without working it out beforehand? Secondly, do you prioritize using harmonized scales when doing so, to have a reference point? Thirdly, how did you practice this skill specifically?

I notice that i tend to use harmonized scales, and then insert phrases that i have picked up from transcribing records when the phrases match up with the melody (or match up with the position i am in in the harmonized scale, if that makes sense). The problem with this approach (since i have not played for a very long time) is that most of the time it just sounds like a harmonized melody (a little boring, maybe), and then some great Jimmy Day phrase shows up making me sound very good for a few seconds, and then it is back to the harmonized melody again.

Would love to hear the approach of someone that feels comfortable with this skill!

[Bobby D. Jones]

When it comes to playing the melody on the fly.
I find the best thing to do is, Pick out songs that have odd changes and chords in them, Then practice them. It is good training for your ear. So you can hear the change and go to the proper, Fret. Pedals, and Levers to get the sound. Without having to think about it. You get those moves in your neuro memory, So you will go right to them, Without thinking about them.
Find different places on the neck to get the same chord and notes to get better voicing.
Many times a minor chord fits better. Instead of using A pedal for a minor at 1st chord position. Move to 5th chord position, And use B and C pedal, Gives a better voicing.
Here is a few songs to get different voicing of minor chords.

Some Day Soon
Where Corn Don't Grow
Unchained Melody
Hickory Wind, John Duffey's C chord Am in song.
Don't Close Your Eyes

Good Luck and Happy Steelin.
Edited, Added John Duffey's name

[Aron Odin Kristensen]

Thanks for answering, Bobby.

[Bob Hoffnar]

I highly recommend singing a phrase , then visualizing it on the neck and then playing it. That way you train yourself to play music on the pedalsteel with your brain and heart instead of just playing with your hands.

Start with simple nursery rhymes. To get better at it make sure you know your intervals and scales a bit. And remember almost everything is "Three Blind Mice" after you break it down !

If you want to harmonize it on the fly it helps to know your basic diatonic chords in every key on one fret and also up and down the neck in all the basic grips.

[Aron Odin Kristensen]

Hello Bob! I usually do that when learning improvisational language. The comforting thing when improvising, is the fact that when the ear fails i usually can find my way back by knowing the pockets and positions on the neck, and then the ear takes over again (and since it was an improvised solo, no one would know the truth!). When playing the melody of a known tune on the fly it can be really noticeable when the ear fails, so i guess that kind of paralyzes me a bit. It is still a matter of improving my ear, so i will take your advice and keep working on it. Thanks!

[Bob Hoffnar]

Another thing that helps me and is pretty fun is to play a melody on one string only. I was working recently with an Indian singer and violin player. The way they could absolutely nail each others improvised melodic phrases was mind blowing. I could only sorta vaguely approach that sound by playing on one string only.

Oh yea also, practicing singing a phrase then visualizing it before playing really helps getting in the ball park. If I blow it the first time I try to get it closer the next.,

[Dave Grafe]

One of the great qualities of the pedal steel guitar is that if you're playing the correct chord the melody is already at hand. Some notes will not be in the current chord but WILL be in the scale of that chord. This distills the question down to what interval of the chord does the melody begin with and then following from there. If you're in the correct chord position the harmony notes are built in too.

[Erv Niehaus]

When I want to play the melody, I just look at the sheet music.

[Ron Pruter]

X mas in Latin means" tuff melody". Just kidding. I've been there. Try playing Rudolf the red nose reindeer; Tuff melody. At the same gig, we were suppose to bust into, Here comes Santa Claus, instrumentaly, whenever Santa busted through the door. We gave it a shot. It was embarrassing. Santa even said, from the stage, that was was the worst HCSC, he'd ever heard. RP

[Larry Allen]

What Erv said. Add in the Fake Books for endless melodies

[J D Sauser]

I think that since written music and tablature specifically, many instrumentalist have forgotten what it means to "know" a tune or song. One should be able to sing, hum or whistle it. We tend to try to tickle things out a bunch of strings way before we have internalized the tune.
We should also be able to know the chords (preferably in sequences like ii,V,I's etc) while the melody plays or we are humming it.
To me, applying this recognition has made everything MUCH easier.

I have also come to agree with those who come out that that they find it easier to "find things" on C6th (even when they are more inclined to E9th). I play everything (except the chords) without pedals first. A constant playfield is much easier for the brain to absorb and one thus become more natural on it.

Last but not least, EVERYWHERE you look in any instrument's teaching, musicians seem to have to reminded that even if they can wildly noodle away, soloing over what ever, being able to play the MELODY is another challenge which requires it's unique set of skills to be mastered,

I for one, can't make it thru lame lethargic melodies like Autumn Leaves without tumbling off the band wagon and finding myself "ran off into the woods". It's a discipline of it's own and I am not the only one struggling with it.

... J-D

[Erv Niehaus]

Jeff Newman had a course called "Just Play The Melody".
I guess I'm kind of an oddball, I don't play licks just melody

[Barry Anderson]

I am nowhere near as good at this as I want to be, but to me the trick seems to be being able to correctly identify intervals in the melody. To help me get better at that, I put an app on my phone called "Functional Ear Training" that basically plays an interval and asks you to identify it. I haven't noticed a huge improvement yet, but I also haven't been dedicating enough time to it. I feel like there's real potential there. And I'm convinced that if I can correctly identify the specific intervals of a melody, then I can find those (and a harmonized interval thereto) on the guitar pretty readily.

Ironically enough, intervallic ear training is what made me drop music studies in college. So boring. But I was a 19 year old rock and roller. The value of this skill has grown exponentially for me in the decades since.

[Joel Jackson]

Make friends with a fiddle player and ask them to show you

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

This won't always work of course, but my starting point is to start the melody on string 5 with string eight lowered as a harmony (6th below). For a heck of a lot of tunes. you can keep that string grip going for much of the melody, altering the 8th string to use either 1/2 step lower, 1/2 step raise, or straight, depending on what the underlying harmony is, and sometimes using the 8th string as a melody note if the contour of the melody calls for it.

For an extended example, the song "King of Broken Hearts" can be started this way.

kobh tab.jpg

Of course, not a lot of songs start with a full step-wise major scale, but this principle might be a good starting point. If you have to fish around for the next melody note, find in up or down the neck on the fifth string, and then find the version of the 8th string (straight, lowered, or raised) that fits it best.

[Tim Harr]

When I want to play the melody, I just look at the sheet music.

Exactly. You want to play the melody?..... then play the melody as it is written. I am not sure I understand the question.

[Brint Hannay]

X mas in Latin means" tuff melody". Just kidding. I've been there. Try playing Rudolf the red nose reindeer; Tuff melody. At the same gig, we were suppose to bust into, Here comes Santa Claus, instrumentaly, whenever Santa busted through the door. We gave it a shot. It was embarrassing. Santa even said, from the stage, that was was the worst HCSC, he'd ever heard. RP

Sorry about off-topic, but I can't help being reminded of a private party gig where I (on guitar) and the fiddle player and bass player had to play Christmas tunes while the lead singer went to get into his Santa suit, and start Here Comes Santa Claus after about 10 minutes for his entrance. Turned out he went out to the shed to suit up and got locked in, unbeknownst to us or anyone. We played chorus after chorus of HCSC and he didn't show, so to keep from going crazy we improvised variations, increasingly far-fetched, until we finally just gave up. It all turned out okay in the end, but that must have been a contender for worst HCSC ever (we weren't accomplished jazzers).

[J D Sauser]

Playing melody, even "simple" or "boring" melodies is a discipline by it's own. Especially in Jazz, I see everywhere (meaning in all types of instruments) it's a subject good teachers have to work on their students... because in Jazz, ones goal usually is to "improvise"... in other words making one's own "stuff". To play the MELODY, one has to LEARN the melody and evidently it is NOT about making up one's own "stuff". Melodies are typically known so there is not "gettin' by" with some "interpretation".

I think that one ought to learn first the progressions chord triads (Root, third, fifth) and organize the tune on the neck in two keys about a 5th or 4th apart so to have it spread out all along the neck. Usually, when that is done "solid", the melody, once learned (able to whistle or hum it at least) is never too far from those positions laid out. What's left is some phrasing liberties.

I must admit that I have to FORCE myself to learn to play the melody... and usually, now that I have spent over 5 years teaching myself to improvise, I most often catch myself having gone off "deedel dadle doodle be bop" before finishing the first round.

But well, there are also those who can play melodies and can't seem to let go and improvise.... as I said... "two different disciplines"


Jerry Byrd who after his Nashville times did mostly whole instrumental pieces shows the way in almost every tune that one has to be able to play in these disciplines:
- An Intro
- Melody in single note with harmony interjections
- Chord melody
- Single note and chord improvisation
- Playing in chimes
- Playing with open strings (an art which has faded among PSG players) with hammer ons and pull-offs.
- A memorable outro (he said "the last thing the audience will remember is the last thing you played", so make your outro count!)


There is a LOT of work ahead!... J-D.

[J Fletcher]

I admit that playing melodies on the fly is not a skill that I am very good at , but when I want to do it , thinking of first note in the melody helps . Do this well before you attempt the melody , then you are prepared . Often the first melody note will be the tonic , the third , the fifth , or the flat seven . Many exceptions to this of course . Hope that is helpful . Jerry

[Bob Shilling]

Playing the melody is certainly a useful skill. But, I read somewhere that Ralph Mooney, when he first started playing, had a fiddle player tell him, "Don't play the melody, just play all around it." Moon did that quite well.

[Jim Pitman]

My end goal has always been being able to "play what I hear".
Still not all the way there though.