A Ballad for Chromatic

 

This month, I’d like to share a ballad I wrote for guitar.  It translates well to the harmonica too, and gives one a chance to do some real exploration.  The structure of the tune is fairly simple:

 

Gsus  /  /  /  |  /  /  /  /  | EbMaj7 /  /  /  |  Fm7  /  DbMaj7  /  |:

(C root)

 

In 4/4 time that’s 8 beats for Gsus, 4 beats for EbMaj7, 2 beats for Fm7 and 2 beats for DbMaj7.  You may want to try it on guitar or piano first to get a feel for it then go to your chromatic.  As I don’t yet have a program for written music, here’s the chromatic map version.  Each chord is shown on the chromatic within its parent scale. ( CMaj, EbMaj, Fmin, DbMaj ).  This will help with further creativity! 

 

Gsus: G, D, C    (C is used as a root note here )

 

C	E	G	C	C	E	G	C	C	E	G	C
D	F	A	B	D	F	A	B	D	F	A	B

 

EbMaj7: Eb, G, D, Bb

 

C	F<	G/Ab	C	C	F<	G/Ab	C	C	F<	G/Ab	C
D/Eb	F	Bb	C<	D/Eb	F	Bb	C<	D/Eb	F	Bb	C<

 

 

Fm7: F, Ab, C, Eb

 

C/Db	F<	G/Ab	C	C/Db	F<	G/Ab	C	C/Db	F<	G/Ab	C
Eb	F	Bb	C<	Eb	F	Bb	C<	Eb	F	Bb	C<

 

 

DbMaj7: Db, F, Ab, C

 

Db	F<	Ab	C/Db	Db	F<	Ab	C/Db	Db	F<	Ab	C/Db
Eb	F/Gb	Bb	C<	Eb	F/Gb	Bb	C<	Eb	F/Gb	Bb	C<

 

 

This, as well as being a pretty ballad, will help you become more familiar with your chromatic.  The bold notes are only a starting point. There are many options to play with.  Experiment with each chord separately, then work on merging them together, seeing which leading tones to use etc.  

 

The C minor scale sound good over these chords! 

 

Have fun.

 

 

God’s blessings to all,

 

Bill Eaton                     

 

Welcoming your thoughts and input at  [email protected]