Workshop 70 — From Lead Sheet to Full Solo-Piano Arrangement: Melody First, Bass Second, Inner Voices Third, Chord Symbols Last

Workshop 69 ended with an important idea:

A complete solo-piano arrangement does not have to begin by choosing a chord symbol for every melody note.

That is exactly what we will do now.

This workshop is a synthesis of almost everything we have learned so far:

• melody hierarchy
• harmonic function
• bass-line design
• guide tones
• harmonic rhythm
• chord-melody voicing
• drop-2
• inner counterpoint
• reharmonization
• texture
• groove
• register
• form

But the order matters.

Today we deliberately use this workflow:

Melody → structural notes → bass → guide-tone lines → middle voices → harmonic labels → texture → reharmonization → form.

The chord symbol comes surprisingly late.

The central lesson is:

An arrangement should sound like several musical lines cooperating, not like a melody sitting on top of a spreadsheet of chord symbols.