[hli]

Hi,

i was fooling a round with a piece called wonderfull world by Louis armstrong (i think)
while playing chords and waving the melody in it, i got stuck on the part where the singing line goes" and i think to myself what a wonderfull world..." in this part there are
a couple of the same melody notes in a row, trying to fingerpick this part and be true to the melody part it sound boring because of the same notes. What to do to keep
it sounding interesting?

By the way.. i started the song at"....trees of green.." while picking a C with some melody. The part i got stuck on i was playing a Am chord with those same boring notes in a row.

Hope this makes any sense,

greetz

[si16]

If the melody isn't changing then try playing with the harmony to keep it interesting. Perhaps try a descending bass line on top of the stationary melody or jazz up the harmony by adding some extensions or changing to a suspended/diminished passing chord .

[Fretsource]

Yes, it makes sense. It's always a problem when trying to convert a vocal melody to guitar or any instrument. Voice gets away with many repeated notes because the lyrics are changing, but on guitar you have to try and avoid it sounding boring. One way is by phrasing it differently. Play with the note lengths - make some a little longer then rush the rest of them until you get to a new note. Another way is to employ some artistic licence and actually change a note. The repeated notes are '...think to my-self, what....' e.g. if 'to' is played as A instead of C. or if 'self' is played as a very quick slide from B to C it avoids the repetiveness - but may not be as good musically in other ways. So you have to decide if it's worth it. Sometimes it is. It's all part of the fun of arranging.

[Stratrat]

If you want to stick to those notes in the melody, Fretsource made a great suggestion about phrasing - varying the length of the notes. In addition to changing the phrasing, you could do things like "slide up" to the first note from below, use hammer-ons/pull-offs or string bends to vary the note a little bit, and/or use some vibrato.

[eddiez152]

hli,
Have you found any tabs or chords for "What a wonderfull world" ?
eddiez152

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by eddiez152

hli,
Have you found any tabs or chords for "What a wonderfull world" ?
eddiez152

They are pretty easy to find using google. It's a well known song. I found it in tab, power tab and guitar pro formats.

[hb]

Thanks for the input on this. I have struggled with trying to play the same note 6 times in a row and make it sound like something. I'll try this.
hb

[Stratrat]

HB - Here's a little example I threw together in one take to give an idea of what I'm talking about. It's definitely not virtuoso, but it should give you the idea.

[eddiez152]

hli,
What key are you play it in ? The original mp3. file starts out with the "F" chord.
I have looked at the tabs and from a breakdown I did, there are a few more changes than shown. I converted it starting with "G" so as not to have so many bar chords.
helps get you fingers free for string melodies
eddiez152

[hli]

hi eddiez
I'm not sure in what key i'm playing, i'm not great in theory, even in writing englisch, so it's all pretty difficult for me. But i'll start the song as follow (for now i leave the intro out);

--------0-----------3--------5-----------3------
--------1-----------1--------6-----------1------
-0--2---0-----------0--------5-----------0-----
--------2-----------2--------------------2------
--------3-----------3--------------------3------
------------------------------------------------
i see trees...... green... red roses to.......


at where the lyrics go "and i think to myself.." i wind up in the Am chord and that's where those same notes are.

I'm not putting the melody notes on yust the basic chords, because playing by ear i play it every time slightly differtent, but most of the melody notes are in the chords.

Thankz everybody for your reply's

[Fretsource]

Here's a few bars as another example of what we mean, Hli, including Simon's advice of changing some chords to keep it interesting, along with some of Stratrats suggestions to add in some grace notes (hammer ons etc.).
Using the same key as you (C major) I've changed your second chord C for Em and Ab instead of Am. Those chords sound more interesting because they're unexpected but they work because they contain the melody notes.
I don't have the original to hand but I think the Ab is also used in the original (except as Eddiez says it's in the key of F so that would be Db at that point).
But the beauty of making your own arrangements is that you're the boss - you can change anything you want. Of course, you don't want to stray too far from the original or no-one will recognise it.

C is probably a good key for a guitar arrangement of it - more open strings to take advantage of.

[eddiez152]

Fretsource,

That was nicely done. I wish I could explained as well.

eddiez152

[hli]

Hi Fretsource,

That was sounding great, and certenly no boring sounding notes at the part where i got stuck on!
"this could be one of Kirk's weekly lessons"
Is it possible to send a tab file of it!

Many thanks!

hli

[Fretsource]

Sorry, I don't have a tab version - I just made those first few bars for you as a demo. But anyway, a tab version would defeat the purpose. Better to use those pointers we've given you to make your own arrangement. It's far more rewarding.

[zappa]

the chords should be allowed to ring out as its the vox that carry the song at that point where it goes ' and i think to myself ....' !