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Hey Fiddlerman, i would like to learn how to convert guitar chords into playable notes so i can play with my youth group band
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Do you play guitar then? Standard tuning on guitar is, "E A D G B E" The bass guitar standard tuning is, "E A D G". The violin standard tuning is, "G D A E". (same as the bass guitar but backwards). Hope that helps a little to transpose your guitar chords to the fiddle? It''s all the same whole steps and half steps.
Wait, I read your post wrong...So you play violin then? Same as I said though...
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Welcome to the forum Colin,
When you play chords on the fiddle you need to play either double stops or arpeggios. Give me a few chords and we'll get you started. You can scan the beginning of something and upload it here if you want.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Yes I do play the violin, but I dont play the guitar, and sure, i'll try to upload some of the guitar chords when I get the chance
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I think I understand what you want to do.
You want to accompany and join in without playing lead or getting in the way right?
The best way is to keep the arpeggios in mind for each chord. Then you can find a good rhythm that acts as a kind of percussive role as well. You can never go wrong playing the base note in the chord, though it could be boring. Thirds, double stops always work well too.
We'll work out some cool alternatives for your chords. I just want you to give me a sample so that we can make a "template" that others can use as well as I assume this is a common need and desire.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Yes, i want to improv, and stay in sync with the guitar
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Oh yes, I have the songs, but how do i upload them to the forum?
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Just choose the image uploader icon 
above when you reply to a post. Then press this icon 
then browse to find it on your computer. Upload so it upoads to Fiddlerman.com, then browse menu above to find and choose it for yourpost.
Good luck.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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[Image Can Not Be Found][Image Can Not Be Found]heres the chords 
[Image Can Not Be Found]
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By checking out the link that you posted I can see that you found and marked the file on your computer. I don't think that you actually pressed the upload button since I can't find it on the uploads. The address that you used as a link indicates the address for the file on your own computer: users/lehm377/Documents/Colin's Music/mighty......
I'll guide you if you shout when I'm online 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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The last one is here: http://cifraclub.terra.com/con.....o-save.pdf
To be honest this one really gives me a headache to do. Looking forward to see what what you can make Pierre 
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OK, I forgot to do this. I don't know if this works for you but this is a simple way to convert the chords.
Let me know if this works.
Those are two different examples of how you can easily use all the notes from the chords. You can pretty much play them in the order you want when it comes down to it. Depends a lot on the melody. I would need to see that instead of Lyrics.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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So basically, 1-3-5-3 or 1-3-5-7?
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This is just a way to cover the notes of the chord. You can use different combinations as long as you cover the chord. Obviously you can change the rhythm, play different octaves, play 8th notes or 16th notes to cover more notes and play some of these as double stops. I did 4 bars of that piece because the progression is the same through the whole piece. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I am about to audition for my high school's rock ensemble and I need to perform Tones of Home by Blind Melon. Could you please help me convert the guitar chords to violin music? Thanks for any help you can provide.
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Hi @Violingirl :
Are you asking how to figure out how to play the melody on the violin by looking at the chords? Or are you asking how you can just play along -- playing anything that will sound good?
If it's the former, I'm not sure you can figure it out only from the chords. They'll give you an idea what key it's in (looks to me like it's in the key of D). From there, you'll have to figure it out by ear.
If it's the latter, if you know the notes that make up each of the chords, you could play those notes -- alone and in double stops -- in rhythm with the other instruments. While maybe not exactly how the original artists play it or what the composer intended, it should, nonetheless, sound OK.
That's my take on it. Others here know a lot more about music theory and jamming than I do, so someone else might have different/better advice.
-- Diane
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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here's what I think;
at the bluegrass festival I attended once they said first know what key you are in....this means if you are playing a tune in G (the most popular key for guitar music) , you need to know that scale....7 notes in the key. Those are the notes you can choose from when playing along. If you want to add double stop "chords"(since a chord is at least 3 notes traditionally) you can use the root of the guitar chord and its third. When I played the G chord progression which was G, C, and D I played the root and its third only lower than the G I was playing if that makes sense?
So it was a G (root) and a B (third) but the B was first finger on the A string and the G was the second finger on the E string. Its a super simple double stop to play too.
To play the C d.s. all you have to do is scoot your fingers over to the D and A strings and keep the same shape for your fingers. now the first finger on the D plays the E and your second finger plays the C.
To play the next d.s. in the progression the D you can then slide your fingers towards your face a step so you can play the D on the A string with your second finger and the F sharp on the D string, yup same finger position.
Super easy to do and you can quickly change between "chords" to match the ones the guitar is playing...so to sum up...you have 7 notes to choose from to ear out a melody for your solo or accent playing and you have 3 double stops to use as a progression to chuck too to accompany the guitar chords.
I hope this helps and isn't confusing.
The Key of A is the second most popular guitar key for songs and its progression is A, D, E and the finger shape of the simple double stops are the same as the key of G just make sure your second finger is on the root note ie A, D, E for each chord. Same L shape pattern as the G progression explained above.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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It is important to learn the chord tones. However:
I would not try to play all the time. Violin, because it is bowed and therefore sustains better than any other instrument in your band, can become a little overbearing even if you only play chord tones. My approach is to do fills (after a vocal line is finished, for example, and before the next one begins) and occasionally double-stops on chord tones but I try keep the notes short. Very occasionally I will play long, slow notes but I try to keep these very quiet. The fun part comes when I get a solo break.
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I don't know if anyone could see your PDF. I was not able to but could see it on edit and will post the link here for you:
https://fiddlerman.com/wp-cont.....sem355.pdf
Might just be my browser.
As far as helping you with the chords, it's important for us to know the piece for the rhythm as well. If you play quarter notes you can only get a few of the chord, arpeggio notes in whereas you get twice as many with eighth notes and more with sixteenth..... etc.It's also good to mix it all up, rhythmically speaking of course. Which means even more, that we need to know the piece in order to help you. The PDF only contains the lyrics and the chords which is fine for those who know the piece. 
A good rule if you will be playing an accompaniment is to stick mostly to the notes in the arpeggio for each chord and try to be rhythmical. Violins do comps real well with double stops too. Just remember to give a lot of consideration to the rhythm. Pretend too that you are a drummer for a bit.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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