289. IMPROVISATION SYSTEM WITH THE SIMPLICIAL SUB-MELODY OF THE COUNTER-MELODY (THUS SIMPLICIAL COUNTER-MELODY) OF A SONG.

(This post has not being written yet completely)

See also post  102, 111, 138, 275 , 280 , 287, 102, 256, 257, 118, 128, 197, 183, 271, 290



Learning to improvise by singing over  any chord progression of a song.

The ability of this is after we have mastered improvisation as in post 288.

 Generally speaking at least 50% of the time the notes of the improvisation should belong to the underlying  chord.

Of course a more strict improvisation would be to require that 50% of the time the notes are notes of the underlying  chord and the rest of the time, notes between them, thus in the vector-chord or closure inside the diatonic scale, of the underlying chord. (e.g. if the underlying chord is  c-e-g, then the closure of the chord or the vector chord is  the c-d-e-f-g. Alternatively we may usea chord and one at chromatic relation to it as external notes, e.g. S major and d minor or C major and B diminsihed)

In this, we start with a song with its chord-grogression.  We use again the rule that that 50% of the time the notes are notes of the underlying chord and the rest of the time, notes between them thus in the vector-chord or closure inside the diatonic scale, of the underlying chord, or more generally notes of the diatonic scale that donot belong to the underlying chord.

The simplest idea is to go up or down in a linear pitch order of the notes of a diatonic scale, spending more time each time in the closure of the underlying chord and at least 50% on the notes of the underlying chord. Initially there is no need for waving and embelishments. Only a linear sequence that goes up or down from chord-closure to chord-closure depending on the underlying chord. We do not even need to know the chords of the chord-progression, as we will find them by shifting up or down and staying more time when the results is more harmonic. If it is a song, with its chord progression this actually would be a kind of simplicial submelody of a counter melody of the melody of the song. We may conceive it as a kind of  simplicial countermelody,  in the sense that it consists during  each underlying chord mainly from a single notes of the underlying chord,  thus certainly fitting harmonically to the melody of the song. Still another way to conceive this parallel improvisational melody is to think of it as simultaneously 1st 2nd and 3rd voice, but changing if  it is 1st 2nd or 3rd voice and mainly with hysteresis (counterpoint) following the underlying chords and their changes rather than the changes of the notes of the main melody.

See also posts 118, 128, 197, 183,  102, which contain more  ideas.
We remind the reader that two melodies sounding simulteneosuly may be assumed as fitting harmonically, if the duration of inervals of 3rd and 5th (and inversions) are more than 50%  at a first basic  ranking and more than 80% at a more demanding  ranking , of the total time compared to the duration of the interavals of 2nds. And the same with  a melody and a chord sounding sumulteneosuly. Or more generally we may defone counterpoint of k-melodies sounding simulteneously, if and only if the simulteneous intervals of all pairs of melodies that are of 3rds and 5ths (or inversions) have total duration more than 50%  at a first basic  ranking and more than 80% at a more demanding  ranking ,  compared to those by intervals of 2nds.

That is why when turning the singing improvisation to a melody of a musical instrument, it is more convenient to do so with, an harp, or a panflute, or an harmonica , then in general a diatonic instrument etc.

Of course as we excersise more, we learn to create small melodic themes instead of only one note, and then translate them or invert them chromatically, melodically or harmonically.

A practice that would implement the above in  easier way is

(See also post 271 about learning many instruments simulteneously utilizing simplicial submelody improvisation system and post 275 about whistling)

1) Download the song as an mp3 file , then open it in Audacity, and utilize its function of finding the chords.  
2) We look at the chord progression and try to identify the main  diatonic scale , from which it may deviate chtomatically. 
3) Then we choose the appropriate instrument that may diatonic at this scale or even chromatic. It may be a wind instrument like harmonica, flute, panflute, clariphone sax etc or it may be a bowed instrument like violin , metric-lyra celo-lyra (see post 264) or other stings instruments like cuatro, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, etc. 
4) At first we whistle the simplicial counter-melody while the song is  playing paying attention mainly not the the melody but the underlying chord progression.
5)We may also record the whistling in the computer, while we listen in one only earphone and in one ear, the parallel song from the mobile or another computer. This may create an entereily new song and new melody and even different chord progression inspired and stimulated by the initial parallel song.  That is why a more likable way of the whistling melody should not be considred as a "mistake" but as a more likable melody of a new song, inspired from the initial.
6) Then we repeat the whistling simplicial counter-melody with the chosen instrument
7) If we are multi-intrument player, we rotate the instruments from the easiest to the more demanding (e.g. harmonica, then celtic harp, then chinese panflute, then marked scale cuatro, then fretted-lyra , then straight flute,  then clariphone or sax etc)  playing similar simplicial counter-melodies for this song. If we do that we try to identify ourself  with the simplicial counter-melody and consider that we actually we are player of a simplicial counter-melody for this song rather than aninstrument player that we learn  the particular instrument that we play). See also post 271.

A METHOD TO CREATE THEORETICALLY BUT ALSO PRACTICALLY SIMPLICIAL COUNTER-MELODIES:

 IMPROVISATION METHOD BASED ON  A SET OF CHORDS AND MELODIC LINES BRIDGING THE HIGHEST NOTES OF EACH OF THEM. APPLICATION WITH STRUMMING WITH CUATRO, CAVAQUINHO, UKULELE , HARMONICA VIOLIN, WINDS ETC

The application idea is that when the chord is realized with a voicing on the highest 4 (or all 4) strings , we create melodic lines on the highest string bridging the highest notes of two succesive chords. Because of a inherent phenomenon of the human sound perception , when we are strumming and chaning the chords with in-between such melodic lines, the musical perception clearaly heres a melody, which is that of the highest notes. If it was not the highest notes the melodic lines would be more often lost in listening in the strumming.
Such chord-bridging melodic lines use a last small part of the previous chord duration and a small initial part of the new chord duration. During the rest ofthe time there is strumming of the chord or a achord arpeggio or variations of small melodic themes inside the chord by intervals of 3rd or 4th/5th. Thus melodic-harmonic variations. While when bridging two succesive chords there may be melodic themes variations by intervals of 2nd 3rd or 4th/5th (thus chromatic-melodic-harmonic).
This technique utilizes the simplicity of the information of the set of chords and translates it it to a simple information about the partition of the types of variations of simple melodic themes with the time placement and duration of the chords.
With this technique we may create simplicial counter-melodies parallel to melody.

It applies verty easily when utilizing a chromatic harmonica (see post 274), but also a violin (especially marked at a particular diatonic scale, so that we can identify chord-triad  shapes on it after a convenient tuning) and finally also on a diatonic wind.