Hi I’m Vi Wickam, here with myTalentForge.com, and this is a lesson on a twin fiddle part to Faded Love.
Faded Love is a classic old-time fiddle tune. It was made popular by Bob Wills Band, and the melody was taken, at least mostly, from an old civil war tune, My Darling Nelly Gray.
Here is the harmony part. There is also a video for the melody if you would like to have the melody that matches this harmony.
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So there’s our harmony to Faded Love. One of my favorite things to do is actually to add the harmony above and below the melody. I’ll play just a section of how you can do that right now, but I’m not going to teach you how right now- just a sample.
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So that’s just an example of how you might harmonize that with the harmony above and below the melody. Now back to the lesson!….
So the melody goes […]- that’s kind of our harmonization to the melody. […2,, 0, 3, 2, 4, 3… 0, 3, 2…. 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 0, 1, 0, 3]… so that’s a G#, which would be used to harmonize an E7 chord. Not every rhythm player is going to play that, so you’re going to have to play […].
In the harmony, you’re going to have to make sure that your guitar player or your bass player, or whoever is playing with you, knows that you plan to play the E7 there, and not an E minor or just going straight to the A7.
So you notice I did a little […]. There’s a little passing tone in there that I think makes for a nice harmonization. So one more time- […].
There’s our A part, and you’ll notice that the A part can be broken up into two halves. They’re almost identical, except for the first and second endings of this section.
If you’re wanting sheet music to this, you can subscribe to the lesson on myTalentForge.com, and we have sheet music to this and all sorts of other tunes!
So onto the B-part, which here’s the cool thing- B part is the same as the A part, except it’s an octave higher. There’s minor note variation, but pretty much the same as the melody from My Darling Nelly Gray- A.K.A. the A part and the B part of Faded Love.
Here we go onto the B part- […]
What we’re doing … 1, 1, 4, 3- and that’s a C#. And then reaching up for that E harmonic… Then back to the D natural. […]
So the first time […]…
We’ve got the B to Bb… Then G# to G natural. Again make sure your rhythm players know what chords to play. Then we’ll repeat that first section […].
And that is your harmony to Faded Love. I’m not saying this is the only way to harmonize it, there are many ways you can harmonize it beautifully. But here’s my views for you, here’s a way you can do it.
If you’d like to find the other part, and how they fit together, it’s available on myTalentForge.com.
Have a wonderful day! I’ll see you next time!
Lyrics to Faded Love:
As I look at the letters that you wrote to me
It’s you that I am thinking of
As I read the lines that to me were so sweet
I remember our faded love
I miss you darling more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat I still think of you
And remember our faded love
As I think of the past and all the pleasures we had
As I watch the mating of the dove
It was in the springtime when you said goodbye
I remember our faded love
I miss you darling more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat I still think of you
And remember our faded love
jim bennett says
nice harmony, what key is the melody in that you would play to this. i have a bob wills sheet music, it is in B flat, i usually play it in either G or D, also i have recordings where bob wills modulated to a second key.
thanks for the lesson
Vi Wickam says
Hi Jim.
We play it in the key of D.