452. THE MOST CONVENIENT MUSICAL INSRTUMENTS TO IMPROVISE OR COMPOSE THE 3 LAYERS OF A MELODY.

 As we have remarked (see posts 450 447) the melody has 3 layers

1) 1st layer The 1st simplicial submelody or chord progression

2) 2nd layer The 2nd simpicial submelody or arpeggio

3) 3rd layer The chromatic ripples.

A) The 3rd layer because it is mainly waves by intervals of 3rds is improvised best or composed on the fretboard of a string instrument (including violin) but also with the slide of a trombone. With digital instruments my favorite is the digital chromatic harp Thumbjam and of course the piano keyboard.. Harmonicas with cyclic tuning are also  convenient

B) The 2nd layer, is best improvised or composed with a string instrument which plays chords (ukulele, guitar etc) and especially if it is tuned with an overtones tuning system like on Dobro guitar. For digital such string instruments my favorite is the Geoshred. But if the melody is diatonic it can be with the 2-dimensional Musix Pro.

C) The 1st layer are the bridges of the chord transitions. The most convenient instruments are again the string instruments that play  chords (ukulele, guitar etc) bass instruments, but also the digital chromatic harp and of course the piano keyboard.

451. THE 4 BASIC DIATONIC CHORD TRANSITIONS AND THEIR ORDER OF BEAUTY.

 

1) As it known the most common and most often used due to its beauty is the harmonic chord transition 5M7->1M. It is a relaxing resolution. Ii is strictly diatonic transition.

2) The 2nd best in beauty chord transition and also widely used both in classical and fol music is the melodic chord transition to the major relative chord. Thus the 1M->6M7 (or 4M->2M7, or 5M->3M7).It is not directly a diatonic transition but in the general context of chromatic diatonic transitions. It is a tired resolution. 

3) The third best chord transition is  the melodic chord transition to the lower minor relative chord, e.g.

1M->6m (or 4M->2m or 5M->3m) . It is a easy slip  to sadness

It is  directly a diatonic transition.

4) The 4th best chord transition is the chromatic chord transition e.g. 1M->2m 

450. THE 2nd SIMPLICIAL SUB-MELODY AS ARPEGGIO AND THE 3-LAYERS FULL MELODY AS EXTENSION OF IT WITH WAVING BY INTERVALS OF 2NDS (CHROMATIC)

In previous posts we have defined an at least  2 layer structure of melodies. The 1st simplicial sub-melody where  for each chord there is one note of it/ The chord relation usually are translated to intervals among the notes of the 1st simplicial sub-melody. Nevertheless if the chord sounds for many measures (bars) as e.g. in 12 bars Blues, then we may have a 3 layer structure of the melody and a 2nd simplicial sub-melody with notes inside a chord which are essentially an arpeggio of the chord To  this we add the 3rd last layer of chromatic waving mainly with intervals of 2nds (tails) . This 3-layers structure of the melodies and the corresponding 3-speeds in a melody ( harmonic, melodic (arpeggios) , chromatic(tails)) is the key to understand but also to compose beautiful melodies 

 For example for Aegean islands (Greece) improvisational folk melodies (mandinades) condylies) with violin or Lyra, the next factors prevail.

1) "Poetic meters" over the same note sometimes notes up to 8 notes. The density of the notes is high. E.g. with 4 notes per  measure-bar and a beat of 80-100 bars per minute gives a tempo of 320-400 beats-notes per minute.

2) Straight vectors ascending or descending usually of 4 or 5 notes so as to reach a new chord neighborhood.

3) Mainly waves by intervals of 2nds (chromatic) inside intervals of 3rds (melodic, either standing or ascending descending, and usually inside a chord  so as to reach the neighborhood of a new chord. The simplistic sub-melody of such a waving melody is essentially an arpeggio of the underlying chord.

4) The overtones tuning of string instruments and the way the  trombone and in general brass instruments functions are perfect matches for this general melodic -chromatic structure of the melodies in improvisations. Similarly for the melodic-chromatic 2-dimensional arrangement of notes in the Music Pro.