Chord Melody Masterclass
Anchor Chord Forms/Smile Insights and Tips on Harmony
“This is the a very nice lesson in harmony and chord melody. Deceptively simple it is unlocking a lot of doors. Recommended.”
About this masterclass
Genil Castro opens his Insights and Tips on Harmony series with a study of what he calls anchor chord forms — chord shapes you hold in place while melodic movement happens around them. He demonstrates the idea with a chord melody arrangement of Charlie Chaplin's Smile in F, then works backward step by step to explain how the forms are built and how they function.
What's covered
- Harmonizing the F major scale with 1-5-7-3 seventh-chord voicings and with triads
- Building anchor forms with the third in the bass — and the melodies available on top of each shape
- How one anchor shape plays multiple roles: a major chord with the third in the bass becomes a minor 9 with the fifth in the bass
- Diminished forms as auxiliary dominants, why they invert every minor third, and how to uncover a 7♭9 chord's real root
- A fingering tip Genil picked up from Pat Martino: finger your open strings so shapes slide anywhere on the neck
- Applying anchor forms to comping, chord soloing, and chord melody — including their use in Brazilian music
By the end you'll have the complete chord melody of Smile under your fingers, along with a flexible set of shapes you can reuse in any key and any tune.
Lessons in this masterclass
Lessons
- 1Anchor Chord Forms/Smile Insights and Tips on Harmony Full Class32m 14s
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Ray Bartlet
"Quick wins"
This is the a very nice lesson in harmony and chord melody. Deceptively simple it is unlocking a lot of doors. Recommended.
Related Courses
About the instructor
Genil Castro →
Studies: Genil Castro started to play in 1981, he studied with the great Bossa Nova guitar player Sidney Barros ( Gamela). During the period of 1983/84 Genil enrolled Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California where he attended workshops and seminars by Lenny Breau, Howard Roberts, Mick Goodrick, Joe Diorio, Ron Eschete, Joe Pass, Tommy Tedesco, Larry Coryell and Moacir Santos. He also attended seminars by Joe Diorio in Brazil in 1985, 1989 and 1995. Licensed in music education by University of Brasília, Genil has a Masters Degree in Musicology, with the thesis: “What chord is that? Plurality: the creative process of resignification of melodic and harmonic structures” Performance: Influenced by Lenny Breau and Bill Evans Genil follows the tradition of the ‘electric lap piano” utilising artificial harmonics to expand the harmonic palette of the instrument. Genil played concerts, and/or recorded TV programs with João Donato, Hamilton de Holanda, Toninho Horta, Joe Diorio, Jeff Andrews, Don Burrows, Phil DeGreg, Lula Galvão, Nelson Faria and many others. He recorded the CD CircumAmbulation in 2009. Teaching: Genil teaches the following classes: guitar, history of the guitar and performance at CEP/EMB Escola de Música de Brasília since 1999. He gave seminars in various festivals across the country. Since 2006 he teaches online lessons to students from different continents. Genil Castro's approach to jazz is comfortable for any level of guitarist. He has a unique ability to teach difficult concepts in a simple way.