Playing the melody vs. the chords

[speeen]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to the forum. I have watched the seminar but have a question
about when to play the notes of the melody as opposed to the chords. I
will watch the seminar again and try to listen. I can read the sheet music
but the dots confuse the heck out of me. If we are to play both hands on the
dots simultaneously, when do we play the actual melody? Hoping someone out there
can help!
Thanks,
Speeen

[David Haynes]

Hi Speeen,

The parentheses around the note to the right of the chord diagram tell you when to play the full chord (both hands), then fill in the melody to get to the next chord. Typically you’re playing a chord on beat 1 and 3, although there are exceptions. Which is the same thing you’ll do when you get to voicing on your own. The lead sheet can put that in context of the entire song but it may just be confusing at this point.

The assumption is that you know, basically, how the song goes. Might be helpful to listen to David’s recording.

If this isn’t clear just ask again and we’ll figure it out.

[David Haynes]

You can (should) use the sustain pedal to hold on to the full chord sound but try to keep a light touch on the pedal.

[karl]

I am confused on the chords issue. On the scales page it talks about the fifth, the seventh– I dont know what that means.

[David Haynes]

Hi Karl,
You might want to revisit the Weekend Seminar recordings.

The “fifth” and “seventh” identify notes along a major scale path. The fifth note on that path and the seventh note – although by convention the term “seventh” usually is understood to be the flat seventh (also called the dominant seventh). The seventh note of a major scale is spoken of as the “major seventh” to distinguish it from the dominant seventh.
It can seem confusing when you try to write about it but I think the videos on the Weekend Seminar help clarify the convention.

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