Chord melody is an incredibly rewarding guitar technique. It’s like having the power of a full band in your hands, allowing you to play solo guitar arrangements that are rich and complete. While the masters like Joe Pass and Ted Greene might seem to possess almost magical abilities, the truth is, chord melody is accessible to anyone willing to learn. And what better song to start with than the timeless classic, Autumn Leaves?
In this guide, we’ll break down how to create a beautiful chord melody arrangement of Autumn Leaves, starting with simple foundations and gradually adding layers of sophistication. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can transform this iconic tune into a stunning solo guitar piece.
#1 Building a Solid Foundation with Basic Chords
The first step in creating a chord melody arrangement is to establish a clear harmonic foundation. We begin by playing the melody of Autumn Leaves and harmonizing it simply: placing a chord on the first beat of each measure. This straightforward approach is crucial for grasping the underlying harmony and ensuring the melody remains prominent.
Alt text: Basic Autumn Leaves guitar chords melody arrangement, sheet music showing melody notes with chord symbols above each measure, demonstrating a simple harmonic foundation for guitarists.
As you can see in the example above, this foundational version is quite playable. The melodic motif of Autumn Leaves, descending stepwise, makes it naturally suited for guitar. Remember, even though it’s called “chord melody,” prioritize the melody. It’s a common beginner mistake to let the chords overshadow the tune. Make sure you know the melody intimately so it sings clearly, even as you add chords.
For chord melody, and jazz guitar in general, shell voicings are your best starting point. Autumn Leaves is in Gm, so let’s familiarize ourselves with Gm shell voicings. There are two primary sets, one with the root on the 5th string:
Alt text: Guitar chord diagrams illustrating Gm shell voicings with the root note on the 5th string, essential jazz guitar chords for playing Autumn Leaves.
and another with the root on the 6th string:
The majority of chords you’ll use in this arrangement, and in many jazz standards, are derived from these shell voicings. We’ll be adding notes to enrich them and sometimes omit the root for smoother transitions and voicings.
Alt text: Guitar tab example showing variations of shell voicings for Autumn Leaves chords, demonstrating how to expand basic chords with added notes for a richer sound.
Now, let’s inject some rhythmic interest into our arrangement!
#2 Adding Jazz Rhythm to Your Chord Melody
Playing chords strictly on the beat can sound a bit static. Jazz is all about rhythm and groove. The melodic phrases in Autumn Leaves, with their motivic structure, lend themselves beautifully to incorporating rhythm and call-and-response techniques, which are quintessential elements of jazz phrasing.
Alt text: Sheet music example of a rhythmic Autumn Leaves guitar chord melody arrangement, showcasing syncopated chords and call-response phrasing for a jazzier feel.
In this example, we use the same chords as in the first version. The key difference is the introduction of rhythm to the chords. Instead of just hitting chords on every beat, we play them in between the melody phrases, creating a more dynamic and conversational musical texture. You can immediately hear how much more engaging this rhythmic approach is.
Alt text: Musical notation illustrating rhythmic variation in an Autumn Leaves chord melody guitar arrangement, emphasizing the use of syncopation and off-beat chord placements.
You could certainly perform the entire song with this rhythmic approach, and it would sound great. However, let’s explore adding some chromaticism to our chords to further enhance the jazz flavor. It’s easier than you might think!
#3 Easy Jazz Chord Tricks: Adding Chromatic Color
Even with simple 3-note chords, you can introduce sophisticated chromatic color and movement to your arrangement. Passing chords, often demystified by complex theory, can be approached very intuitively. Think of them simply as chords that bridge between two target chords, often just a fret away.
For the opening bars of Autumn Leaves, let’s add a passing note leading to the F7 chord. Similarly, for the Ebmaj7, we can use an E7 as a tritone substitution, but notice it’s essentially just moving a couple of notes down a fret to arrive at Ebmaj7.
Alt text: Guitar tab showing chromatic passing chords used in an Autumn Leaves arrangement, demonstrating smooth transitions between chords with subtle chromatic movements.
The same principle applies in reverse. Moving up a fret can create a passing chord leading to D7. While theoretical analysis can become intricate, the ear is your best guide. Listen to how these chromatic movements create smoother voice leading and add color.
And on the Gm6 chord:
Alt text: Guitar chord diagram focusing on Gm6 chord movement within the Autumn Leaves progression, highlighting a melodic approach to chord changes.
Instead of adding another chord, we can create movement within the Gm6 by shifting from the 5th to the 6th, like this:
Alt text: Guitar notation showing how to create melodic movement within a Gm6 chord in an Autumn Leaves chord melody arrangement, adding interest without changing chords.
Experimentation is key! There are countless possibilities. Choose what resonates with your ear and musical taste. Before we delve into more advanced concepts, let’s listen to how the entire song sounds with these basic yet effective techniques, keeping things relatively simple. You’ll notice adjustments in chord placement in certain sections to better align with the melody, remembering that melody is paramount.
For instance, at the beginning of the B-part, the Aø chord is intentionally omitted for most of the bar, letting the melody breathe before inserting the chord just before the D7 change. Another adjustment is in the faster-moving chord section towards the end.
Alt text: Guitar chord chart illustrating a Drop 3 Gm7 chord used in an Autumn Leaves arrangement, providing a fuller voicing and melodic top note.
While shell voicings could work here, using a Drop3 Gm7 voicing allows the melody to sit beautifully as the top note over the Gm7 chord.
Alt text: Musical example demonstrating the use of Drop 3 voicings in Autumn Leaves guitar chords, showing how it enhances melody and harmonic richness.
And the complete chorus with these techniques sounds like this:
Alt text: Sheet music excerpt of the first part of a full chorus Autumn Leaves guitar chord melody arrangement, showcasing the combined techniques discussed.
Alt text: Sheet music excerpt of the second part of a full chorus Autumn Leaves guitar chord melody arrangement, continuing the demonstration of combined techniques.
Alt text: Sheet music excerpt of the third part of a full chorus Autumn Leaves guitar chord melody arrangement, concluding the example with a complete musical phrase.
(Remember to download the PDF for the full arrangement on my website – link in the video description!). Now, let’s elevate our chord vocabulary and explore more advanced chord techniques. Ironically, we’ll circle back to the simplicity of our initial version.
#4 Exploring Advanced Chord Voicings
Shell voicings are fantastic for their ease of play, clarity, and inclusion of the bass note. However, combining them with rootless voicings opens up even greater harmonic possibilities, offering more flexibility in terms of color and melodic potential within your chord melody arrangements.
Shell Voicings:
- Easy To Play
- 3-Note Chords
- Clear
- Fundamental
For the first bars, if you use the basic shell voicing under the melody on the Cm7, you create space within the measure to add more interesting fills and embellishments.
This approach gives you room to explore richer chord voicings like drop 2 and drop 3 variations:
Alt text: Guitar chord diagrams illustrating Drop 2 and Drop 3 chord voicings suitable for an Autumn Leaves arrangement, offering richer and more complex harmonic options.
And consider using a tritone substitution as a passing chord in the minor II-V-I progression to transition from Aø to D7. Think of it as a D7 chord moved up a fret:
Alt text: Guitar tab example showing a tritone substitution in the Autumn Leaves chord progression, specifically in the minor II-V-I, adding harmonic interest.
Incorporating these advanced voicings into the song yields an even more sophisticated sound:
Alt text: Sheet music excerpt of an advanced Autumn Leaves chord melody guitar arrangement, demonstrating the use of Drop voicings and tritone substitutions for a richer sound.
But the real power of chord melody lies in the ability to not just voice chords differently, but to change them altogether. This brings us to the exciting realm of transposition and reharmonization.
#5 Transposition and Reharmonization: Adding Your Personal Touch
When creating instrumental versions of songs originally written with lyrics, you encounter a unique challenge. Melodies often have repetitions, and lyrics are what typically maintain listener interest through those repeats. Autumn Leaves exemplifies this, with the first 8 bars being nearly identical to the second 8.
Alt text: Sheet music example highlighting melody repetition in Autumn Leaves, pointing out the challenge in instrumental arrangements to maintain interest during repeated melodic phrases.
Several techniques can address this. One effective method, particularly well-suited to Autumn Leaves, is transposing the melody up an octave for the repeat.
Here’s an example of how to achieve this, reusing some of the simpler chord concepts we’ve already covered:
Alt text: Musical notation showing melody transposition in an Autumn Leaves guitar arrangement, demonstrating how to raise the melody an octave for variation in repeated sections.
Beyond transposition, you can dramatically alter the character of repeated sections by reharmonizing the chords. Surprising chord changes can be incredibly effective since the listener already has an expectation of how the music should sound from the initial hearing.
Reharmonization is a vast topic, but even a few well-placed tritone substitutions can significantly impact Autumn Leaves. Here, we use tritone substitutions for Cm7 and Bbmaj7.
Alt text: Guitar chord examples demonstrating tritone substitutions for Cm7 and Bbmaj7 chords in Autumn Leaves, showcasing harmonic alterations for reharmonization.
Perhaps the most striking reharmonization in this example is the Db7(13) substituted for Gm6. This not only adds a unique color but also serves as a beautiful transition back to Cm7:
Alt text: Guitar chord diagram and notation illustrating a Db7(13) substitution for Gm6 in an Autumn Leaves chord melody arrangement, emphasizing its unique sound and transitional quality.
Exploring reharmonization opens up a world of sonic possibilities. To develop a more systematic approach to creating chord melody arrangements from jazz standards, and to hear the story of my first ever chord melody arrangement (a song I wasn’t even particularly fond of!), check out this video:
How Chord Melody Will Help You Master Important Skills
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