Learning How to Create Melodies by Picking out Notes in Guitar

Learning how to create melodies by picking out notes in guitar chords is one of the easiest ways to create repetitive melodies to go along with natural chord progressions and scale movements. Modern guitarists tend to only be interested in mastering chord changes and strumming patterns, yet ignore other functions of chords. Guitar strum patterns typically consist of variations of up or down strumming, yet ‘up or down’ is not the only way the progression of notes within a chord can go. 

You will find that, with repetition, you can pick out notes within chords (wherever they may be), and form a beautiful melody regardless of the relative position (up or down) of the notes within the chord. Although you are using chords, this is no longer called ‘strumming’. When playing the notes one after another, in order, your progressions will be considered arpeggios; when playing the notes within chords in a mixed order, your progressions will be considered broken chords.

The advantages of using this technique are endless. For one, figuring out melodies to go along with acoustic songs is drastically simplified. 
You no longer need to look to, say, a G major scale if you want to create a melody for a G C D chord progression. Instead you can use the G major chord (whatever fret position it may be in) to develop your melody. 

Being able to use this technique is like having all the benefits of having learned all the major guitar scales, without doing a fraction of the work, which would mostly consist of boring guitar scale memorization.

Now let’s get started!

But before we get into any actual guitar playing, I want to go over a very simple concept of mine called the RCC method. Whenever I get stuck trying to do something on the guitar, I turn to this method to help me diagnose and fix the problem. RCC stands for repetition, confidence and concentration. You can always ask yourself which one of these areas you may be falling short in.

Repetition – Every guitar man’s secret 

The first thing you need to understand about this technique is that it requires a lot of patience. Moving up and down between different strings without looking (which is what we will learn to do), is a difficult thing to train your brain to do. 

Think of your brain as a physics processor. Your brain needs to be able to calculate the exact distance between each string, and it has to be able to skip over multiple strings to produce the kind of sounds you want. Luckily for you, your brain is a physics processor! However, the kind of science you are learning cannot be learned by classical methods (such as deep studying and memorization); the kind of science you are learning must be learned by trial and error and constant repetitive practice, over and over and over again. 

This is how your brain produces the sounds that you want, by working from past scenarios. If no past scenarios exist, you are bound to make errors.

Confidence – your closest ally 

In the world of music, your attitude is transparent through your interpretation of a piece. This simply means that you cannot expect a good rendition if your heart is not in it. 

Even experts, who never make blatant mistakes, exhibit a lack of creativity and spirit when they don’t apply this concept. Confidence is key. In music you can move mountains if you truly believe you can do. Having little confidence in yourself will affect your ability to play music -- so be weary of this! Many musicians look to the great works of others for inspiration before tackling a piece. 
Look up some of your favorite songs on YouTube if you are having difficulty with a lesson. This will give you both motivation and inspiration to keep on going.

Concentration -- one thing you can control 

Before every lesson, make sure you put yourself in a quiet room with absolutely zero distractions. Lock the door and close the blinds, make sure there are no other sounds entering the room like the sound of a television, running faucet or the kitchen radio. These are factors you can control, and your practice sessions will be much more time efficient if you don’t constantly stop as a result of an outside distraction.

OK, now that we have set some grounds, let’s discuss some things that we already know. If you don’t already know them, then prepare to be enlightened!

Chords are compilations of notes within the same scale that are played simultaneously. What are scales you ask? Think of them simply as notes that go together or sound good together. When you play a series of notes in a song, you are really playing a variation of a particular scale. 
But you don’t know scales, do you? You only know chords, and you want to play melodies from them? You’re in the right place! Let’s start out by examining the G major chord:

This diagram tells us that the second finger (the middle finger) goes on the top E string, 3rd fret; the 1st finger (the index finger) goes on the A string, second fret; the third finger (ring finger) goes on the B string, third fret and the 4th finger (pinky) goes on the bottom E string, third fret.

An important thing to understand about guitars is that each fret signifies a change in what’s called a ‘half step’. A half step is just that, a half step between two keys. 

To get from A to B, you first need to get to A#. That distance is called a half step. Each fret represents one of those. So if you are starting from the A string (second string from the top), you are playing an E when you hit the chord. 

When you place your finger over the first fret, you are holding down on an A#, and the sound that the string makes is an A# (providing your instrument is properly tuned of course). To get from one key to another (A to B or E to F), you need to move a whole step, or, two half steps. Now a couple things to note regarding this:

• Flats (‘b’s in musical notation) represent steps in between keys as well. But while sharps represent a half step up from a key, flats represent a half step down in a key. So an A# is the same thing as a Bb, because an A# is one half step above A, but is also one half step below B.
• There is no half step between E and F; B and C.

Every guitarist should understand these concepts regardless of whether or not they are necessary to play a cool song.

Read Next: Proven Guitar Method in EXERCISE 1