How To Harmonise Melody Using Quartal Chords On Guitar

by Simon Candy

In this video, you learn how to harmonise melodies on guitar using quartal harmony.

Playing both the chords and melody of a song at the same time on one guitar is a great way to play the instrument.

Add the magical concept of quartal harmony into the mix and you can easily transform any melody into something fresh and unique.

In this lesson, I sit down with Music Theory Specialist Tommaso Zillio to discuss and demonstrate creative ways to harmonise songs using quartal harmony on guitar.

You learn how to:

• Harmonise songs on guitar using quartal harmony for surprising and unpredictable sounds that will leave your audience doing a musical “double take”, wondering what it is they just heard

• Create a variety of moods on guitar using quartal harmony without needing a backing track or someone else to play along with you

• Easily create beautiful ambient music in a variety of styles using quartal harmony

Watch the video below to learn more:

Harmonising Melody With Quartal Chords

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The following is the melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star harmonised using quartal chords in the key of G: (watch the video for a detailed breakdown and demonstration)

• Star Wars

The following is an excerpt of the melody from Star Wars harmonised using quartal chords in the key of G: (watch the video for a detailed breakdown and demonstration)

Quartal Harmony And Droning Open Strings

The following are some examples of creating an atmospheric mood via modes using quartal harmony and droning open strings.

• E Aeolian

This first example is creating an E Aeolian mood using the drone of the low open E string with quartal chords from G Major, the parent key of E Aeolian:

• A Dorian

The second example is creating an A Dorian mood using the drone of the low open A string with quartal chords from G Major, the parent key of A Dorian:

For both examples above, simply drone the appropriate open string intermittently as you improvise with the quartal chords on top to create the mood (watch the video for a detailed breakdown and demonstration)

Learn more ways to create great music using chords on acoustic guitar