1. How to create an accompaniment
A step – by – step guide

2. What is an accompaniment?
Once you have composed a melody you need to create an accompaniment
An accompaniment is the equivalent of a backing track- ask
yourself ‘What is
happening in the
background of your
melody?’
Descant
A simple, high pitch melody. Often long sustained notes. Decorates the main melody.
Melody
The main tune. Catchy and memorable.
A second melody which sits underneath the main melody. It decorates and thickens the texture.
The easiest way to start creating an accompaniment is by adding some chords to your melody
Countermelody
Chords
Provides the harmony. Can be arranged in a variety of ways e.g. arpeggios, broken chords, block chords.
The lowest part, supports the harmony in the chords and can provide interest e.g. a riff, ostinato or pedal note
Bass Line

3. C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
Here is an original four-bar melody
Try playing your melody experimenting with different chords
In the key of C major these are the basic chords available
The most popular chords are chord I, IV and V
Almost every melody will fit these chords- but to get higher marks for your coursework you will need to use more unusual chords than just I, IV and V. However, using these three chords are a good starting point for composing
C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C

4. C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
Here is an original four-bar melody
Try playing your melody experimenting with different chords
In the key of C major these are the basic chords available
The most popular chords are chord I, IV and V
Almost every melody will fit these chords- but to get higher marks for your coursework you will need to use more unusual chords than just I, IV and V. However, using these three chords are a good starting point for composing
C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C C A F D B G G E C

5. C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
Here is an original four-bar melody
Try playing your melody experimenting with different chords
In the key of C major these are the basic chords available
The most popular chords are chord I, IV and V
Almost every melody will fit these chords- but to get higher marks for your coursework you will need to use more unusual chords than just I, IV and V. However, using these three chords are a good starting point for composing
C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C G E C A F D B

6. C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
Adding chords
Now that the basic chords are labelled it will be very simple to add the chords and vary them to make them more interesting
Chord C
(chord I in
C major)
Chord G
(chord V in
C major)
Chord F
(chord IV in
C major)
Chord G7
(G with an
added F)
C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C

7. C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
Basic Chords
Here are the chords added to the melody
C G A GF C C G A GF G F A G C DC BAB E C G AGF C
C chord =
C E G
C chord =
C E G
G chord =
G B D
F chord =
F A C
G chord =
G B D
F chord =
F A C
G7 chord =
G B D F
C chord =
C E G

8. Your Task 1
Copy your original four bar melody into a new file. Keep the instrument the same as it was before.
Add an instrument that can play chords (piano, keyboard, guitar, organ, harp)
Label all the notes in your melody (click on the note and press Ctrl+L then type the letters in)
Work out which of the primary and secondary chords will fit and add them underneath the melody (one chord per bar) G E C A F D B

9. Developing the basic chords
Once you have worked out the basic chords there are many ways of changing them to make them more interesting

10. C E GC C E G C C G E C G B D G F C A F G B D G F AG D C
Broken Chords
Break up the chords so that the notes are played one at a time instead of all at once
Try breaking them up in different directions- ascending and descending
C E GC C E G C C G E C G B D G F C A F G B D G F AG D C
Ascending
Descending

11. Your Task 2
Add four new bars at the end of your music and copy your original four bar melody and basic chords them.
Change the way the chords are played by using broken chords instead of block chords
Listen to your music to check it fits
Save your work
Block chords
Broken chords
like this!

12. Chord Inversions
If you like the sound of block chords try varying the order of the notes to make them more interesting G E C E C G C G E E C G G E C E C G D B G G D B C A F F C A D B G G D B C A F F D B G E C G

13. Your Task 3
Add four new bars at the end of your music and copy your original four bar melody and basic chords them.
Change the way the chords are played by using chord inversions
Listen to your music to check it fits
Save your work
Block chords
Chord inversions
like this!

14. Varying the Rhythm
Dotted rhythms make the accompaniment more interesting
Because the rhythm of the melody is different to the rhythm of the accompaniment we call this a cross-rhythm

15. Mixing rhythms
Try mixing long sustained notes with a shorter rhythm

16. Pedal Note A long, low, sustained note is called a pedal note
Try adding a pedal note underneath the chords

17. Arranging chords and a pedal note on one stave
Condensing the pedal note onto the same stave as the chords look like this

18. Altering the rhythm
Try changing the rhythm of the accompaniment to triplets
This creates more cross-rhythms

19. Changing the broken chords
If you change the broken chords to semiquaver (quarter) notes the accompaniment sounds much busier and more detail can be added to them
Try varying the direction of the notes
(ascending, descending, mixed)
Mixed
Ascending
Descending

20. Semiquaver Accompaniment
Here is an example of a semiquaver accompaniment using ascending, descending and mixed patterns

21. Putting it all together
All these ideas, and more, can be used, altered and mixed together to make a piece of music that is of a good standard
Here is a summary of the ideas that have been used. They have been put into one final piece of music
Can you spot all the different ideas and techniques?