Lesson Two: Two-Note "Chords"*

If the melody isn't too fast, you can sometimes play two notes at once. We've already talked about how to choose what chord note to add. Now, you need to decide when to add it.

By ear: Start by adding a chord note at the beginning of every phrase. If you're having trouble dividing the tune into phrases, try walking or nodding or clapping to the tune. Add a chord note whenever you step or nod or clap. You may decide to leave out some chord notes, or add some more, depending on what you think sounds best.

Sheet music: Start by adding a chord note at the beginning of every measure or half-measure. You may decide that some phrases don't need a new chord. Or you might decide that some phrases need two or more chords. If your music lists chords, you can use that as a guide -- in general, add a chord note whenever the chord changes. If you don't, you may feel that something has been left hanging, or else the lingering sustain from the previous chord may sound dissonant with the new phrase.

Either way: As you work, it's important to keep the melody prominent in your ear. Choose a tune you know really well. Then work one phrase at a time. If you get lost, play through the bare melody a few times. Pay attention to what the melody is saying; add chord notes wherever they help the music tell its story, don't add them where they're distracting.

More options: As you get more familiar with this technique, you might decide to add chord notes in other places -- e.g. on an accented note in the middle of a measure, or even on an unaccented note to add syncopation. You might also experiment with ordering the chord notes to form a bassline or harmony part.

*Two-note "Chords": It takes three notes to determine a chord. Two notes together can only suggest a chord; hence the quotation marks.

Lesson Three: Fills

Filler notes are chord notes played between melody notes.

Drones: One of the simplest ways to use filler notes is to choose a chord note and play it between all or most of the melody notes. The drone note can be below or above the melody notes. Work measure by measure -- or phrase by phrase -- to select drone notes that fit.

Moving Fills: Instead of droning on one note, pick different chord notes as the melody moves around.

Arpeggios and Runs: Some melody notes are long enough that you can play more than one filler note between them. An arpeggio is a succession of notes from one chord, such as D(low), F#, A, D(high). Arpeggios can proceed from low to high, high to low, or even out of order. A run is a succession of consecutive notes, up or down. Sometimes a run might skip one or two notes in the succession, such as G, A, B, D.

There are two kinds of runs, diatonic and chromatic. Notes on the dulcimer fit a diatonic pattern. That is, you have all the notes for the key of G in one area, all the notes for the key of D in another, and so on. Whatever sharps or flats you need for that key are located right there in that area. However, with some challenging hammering patterns, you can sometimes work out a fully chromatic run, like G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D. The G, A, B, C, and D will be located in the key of G area, but you'll need to reach around for the sharps.

Basslines: You can create a bassline by choosing chord notes that descend, ascend, or otherwise form their own melodic line.

This page: Two-Note "Chords" | Fills
Home | Intro | Chord Rolls and Flams | "Ash Grove" Examples