Familiarise yourself with this melody by playing it a few times

The goal is to set this melody to a new chord for each bar. We’ll start on bar two with the asterisk as the first bar is an upbeat and doesn’t need a chord.

Using the chords in the key of C major, see if you can find which suits each bar. Depending on the notes in the melody, each chord will have a dissonant and/or consonant affect against the melody.

Bar 1

Bar 2

Bar 3

Bar 4

Bar 5

Bar 6

Bar 7

Bar 8

 

Now that you’ve chosen your chords, try to play them in a variety of ways. For example a simple waltz style would involve playing the root on beat one, then the third and fifth together for beats two and three.

Another way would be to play the root on beat 1, the third on beat 2 and the fifth on beat 3.