12 Key Lessons in Chord Melody Playing

Make the melody stand out. If there was only one piece of advice
here, that would be it. You'll see it permeate all of the following tips.
Always, always make the melody your number one priority. And play
it like you would sing it. Don't whisper, muffle or over-ornament the
melody. Speak clearly. Respect and pay tribute to the standard song
you are working on.
Make the melody stand out. Yup. Twice, just to make sure you
get it! This time, I want to emphasize this: it is the melody we want
to hear, not all your fancy chords. What do you think people sing in
the shower? Timeless chords? So make the melody stand out,
literally. Separate the melody from the chords. Play it louder, or on a
separate string, or with heavier accents, etc. Whatever makes it come
off as theforeground of your performance; keep the chords in
thebackground.
Play in good time. Respect the form, and play the full length of the
bars in the song! Count out loud if necessary, but don't skip beats.
(That's the general tendency). I often hear students play chord
melody in 4/4 with a blend of a few bars of 3/4 here and there.
Don't. Play your chord melody rendition the same way you would
with a live band, a backing track or a metronome. 32 bars is 32 bars
is 32 bars.
Harmonize only what you can.Don't playfull chords on each
melody note. It's perfectly legal (and tasteful) to play chords only
once in a while. Having lots and lots of chords can be good for intros
and endings, but not for your final version of the chord melody.
What usually happens if there's too many chords is breaking either
above "rules" or both: too many chords distracts from the melody. Or
the chord melody will wind up so complicated that you'll have to play
it rubato (out of time).

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Concrete Version. Build a finalized version of your chord

melody.That's how John Scofield works on chord melody (allegedly,
guitar mag interview): he just messes around until he finds some
chords that fit the melody well enough. It takes time, but it's
worthwhile. Plus this it is still a "harmonizing only what you can"
type of methodology.Furthermore, this means that you will (yes),
play it more or less the same way every time. No need to learn the
melody and the harmony in all positions on the fretboard, not for
chord melody at least.
"Tell it Like it is" and Ornament later. Play at least "one pass"
of melody without adding too many ornaments. Simplystate the
melody as cleanly as possible, in chord melody style. If you play
several choruses (or a form such as AABA), keep the
ornamentations, re-harmonizations and surprises for subsequents
iterations of the melody.
Phrasing for real. How much technique do you need to play nice
chord melody? Enough to phrase standards like the horn players.
More flashy technique might just get in the way in the end.Make the
melody sing and let it breathe (silence) often. Use your ears and
judgement. Nobody cares about guitar gymnastics and other
fretboard BS if thetheme is not clearly heard. See first tip above!
Discovering theory. Working on chord melody with a good jazz
guitar teacher can make you see actual application of theory and
harmony. Not only what is there, but also what is not there. It's fine
if you know all modes, scales, arpeggios and progressions. But "Ain't
Nothing Like the Real Thing", applications! It reminds me of that
time Gary asked me to add a G7 coming from D melodic minor in the
4th bar of Beautiful Love. I had to discover on my own that the G7
was actually a G7(#11) and not coming from regular II-V such as
Dm7-G7. That's real.
Play Legato.And to the rockers in the audience, I do not mean
hammers and pulls. I mean holding notes and chords as long as
possible or needed, that is playing legato. Guitar is easy to play
staccato, like a percussion instrument. What is less natural is holding
notes to their full values, like a piano holding the sustain pedal. This
is an invaluable skill to have for chord melody. For a case in point,
listen to the great Ed Bickert.

Comping.In fact, your chord melody is nothing more than you

"comping for yourself" while you state the melody of the song. So
what is likely to happen is that you find neat new ways to play
comping for others while creating your chord melody arrangements.
Be alert for opportunities to incorporate new voicings into your
comping repertoire (and don't use these voicings only for chord
melody).
Do small things in a great way. When playing a simple melody
or chord, make it the best possible. Always give it your best shot:
make it "in the pocket" and focus on the sound, not on the fingers.
That's what distinguishes Pat Metheny playing the first four bars of
Autumn Leaves, and an average Joe jazz guitarist playing the exact
same notes. Play whatever seems musically meaningless to you in
the best possible manner: good time, good sound.
Simplicity. Less is more, you know? To use Tim Ferris' words, find
the MED (minimum effective dose). Ask yourself: howlittle can I
play and still make it a great chord melody? So, think like sculptor
and chip away at it until only a masterpiece is left.