Single Note Melody Part 1: Making The Melody Sing

A Mike’s Masterclass subscriber requested a class on single note melody playing, specifically how to make a melody truly sing like the human voice or a horn. I was happy to put this class together as I feel this is a nice addition to my multi-part class on jazz phrasing.

Many considerations go into achieving a horn-like phrasing on the guitar and with this class we will examine the topic using four tunes as examples. The ballads Over The Rainbow and Embraceable You, as well as two tunes often played at medium swing tempos, Gone With The Wind and East Of The Sun.

There is a PDF sheet included, filled with concepts to consider and employ to help improve one’s single note expressiveness. Fingerstyle, pickstyle and thumb-style techniques are demonstrated in the video.

This is part one of a two part class. Part 2 will deal with the theory involved in choosing intervals to add below a single note melody.