The Hidden Melody That Made “Don’t Know Why” A Hit
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Do you want to level up your piano accompaniment?
Most students accompany by “chording”.
Chunk, chunk, chunk.
It’s like listening to someone chew gum…
After a while, you just wanna reach in there and pull that thing out!
Well, I’m not going to do that to you.
But I can help you make your accompaniment much more beautiful.
You see, pro musicians don’t accompany with chords.
They accompany with melodies.
Because every chord is just a melody with its own harmonies.
An incredible example of an artist who uses this technique is Norah Jones.
In her infectious tune, “Don’t Know Why”, she shows us how one simple inner-melody can become the DNA of the song.
And if you want my honest opinion, I think this melody is the very thing that makes this song so incredible.
In this video, I break down her technique so that you too can create unforgettable accompaniments.
Inner-melodies are melodies that occur underneath your main melody.
And they are incredible because they add a rich layer to your accompaniment.
Most students don’t realize that the human ear is drawn much more to melodies than chords.
Therefore, if you want your chords to be interesting, you need to find ways to bridge them with melodies.
That is my challenge for you this week.
When you accompany a song, think of every chord as containing its own melody.
I don’t care if the chord is 3 notes, 5 notes, or 8 notes.
Find one note in the chord, and make it move to one of the notes in the next chord.
You can usually do this with half steps and whole steps.
What you’ll discover is that these “mini melodies” make a huge difference in your accompaniment.
Writer
Jonny May
Jonathan May is a pianist from Southern California who specializes in many styles of piano. At age eighteen, Jonny became the youngest pianist to perform at Disneyland. Each week he entertained thousands of guests with his arrangements of American classics and Disney songs. Jonny has also performed with the Youtube...
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