Writing Accompaniment to a Melody

I can give you some practical suggestions:

- Look for the best bass line that sounds good with the melody (a bit like writing for 2 parts)

- Look for a good counterpoint and, where possible, make the instrument playing the melody dialogue with the accompanying ensemble

- Develop the chords, in the case of piano accompaniment, perhaps by choosing an accompaniment pattern and developing it.

I haven't used any specific theoretical texts; I relied on collections of melodies... and my teacher's teachings. Others will be more precise

AbateFaria wrote:

i relied on collections of melodies

A good collection is that of Naples, second volume. It also contains didactic themes for romance.

The 32 practical lessons on the harmonization of given singing by A. Longo, dedicated to the subject, can be useful....but as the good Abbot Faria suggests between the lines, the master often adds his own touch to transmit this art to the pupil.

It wouldn't hurt to also get the Gorini Falco-Jorio, a book dedicated to the romanza but which in the first part provides a deep dive into sentence construction and helps a lot in acquiring certain formal aspects.

Thanks for the suggestions and reports, no matter how you look at it, the figure of a teacher seems indispensable... it's fine that you have to work, but still...

If you asked, it means you feel the need for guidance, guidance that for now you have found for free ... so it's okay to work, but we have extended the suggestions to you.

... it would then be necessary to see what you can produce from the indicated material

Ok, I didn't want to be offensive ...it's just that every time someone asks for something, the master always pops up... for someone who can't afford it, in the long run, it becomes detrimental

I suggest to you, speaking of "specific texts," taking about twenty Schubert lieder, as many by Brahms, as many by Schumann, and why not some by Hugo Wolf, and performing a thorough analysis, which means observing not only the harmonic treatment of the melody, but also trying to "classify" the piano writing used: you will see that you identify constants for each author. Writing the accompaniment for a given song consists of two absolutely fundamental things: harmonizing it (in the same way as if it were the melody of a chorale, i.e., finding a "natural" harmony for every phrase of the melody) and then giving that harmony a credible piano texture. The study of the great masters is, in my opinion, an indispensable path. It is not certain that it is simpler than studying a text where the author has already done the classification I mentioned above, but in my view, it is more fun and, all things considered, it is a type of work that settles better.

As I was explaining to Opeth in the other topic, I find it very useful to analyze the repertoire... but at the same time, I find it difficult for someone to create a manual for themselves or identify all the stylistic traits.

You can do it, but at least supported by a guide; the risk is mistaking one thing for another... then there are those who are particularly gifted and can succeed on their own... but how does someone do it alone to discover it?

Books, teachers, repertoire are all supports... the more one uses, the greater the chance of grasping the essence of things.

Thank you Carlos