chordmelody

Chordmelody, often written with a hyphen as chord-melody, is a style of arranging or playing in which a single instrument presents both the melody and the accompanying harmony at the same time. On guitar and other chordal instruments, players craft voicings that support the tune’s melodic line while implying the chord progression. The technique is most associated with jazz, where soloists can perform standard tunes without additional accompanists, but it also appears in other genres and on piano, where pianists voice the melody with chordal accompaniment around it.

In practice, chord-melody involves selecting voicings that place or imply the melody note within a chord, using voice-leading to connect chords smoothly. Common approaches include drop-2 or drop-3 voicings, close-position and open-position chords, and bass-line embellishments. Players often alternate between single-note lines and chordal blocks, or weave the melody through arpeggios and rootless voicings. Right-hand technique is used to articulate the melody while the left hand sustains or moves the harmony, sometimes using thumb or fingerstyle to play bass notes concurrently.

Arranging standards for chord-melody requires analyzing the changes, preserving the tune’s identity, and choosing voicings that let the melody ring. Typical harmony includes ii–V–I progressions and secondary dominants, with occasional reharmonization or altered tensions. Repertoire examples span jazz standards and pop tunes.

Notable practitioners include jazz guitarists such as Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, George Van Eps, and Jim Hall, who demonstrated the approach’s possibilities. The concept also informs pedagogy for chordal instruments and improvisation, emphasizing voice leading, cohesion, and melodic clarity.