Four ways to accompany: block, broken, Alberti, waltz

You know your chords. But a chord isn't an accompaniment: it's raw material. How the left hand distributes the chord's notes in time — its texture or accompaniment pattern — completely changes the character of a piece. The same melody can become a hymn, a lullaby, a Mozart sonatina or a salon waltz. In this lesson we keep one melody and change only its clothing.

The melody and its chords

Here's our four-bar melody in C major: C | G | A minor then F | G then C. We'll put it through four different textures.

1. Block chords: solemnity

All the chord's notes together, held. It's the simplest texture, ideal for a chorale, a hymn, a majestic ending — or for quickly checking your harmony. Keep the chord in the C2–C4 zone: lower and it gets muddy; higher and it gets in the melody's way.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=72
K:C
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
[V:RH] "C"e4 d2 c2 | "G"d4 B4 | "Am"c2 e2 "F"a2 f2 | "G"d4 "C"c4 |]
[V:LH] [C,E,G,]8 | [B,,D,G,]8 | [A,,C,E,]4 [A,,C,F,]4 | [B,,D,G,]4 [C,E,G,]4 |]

Notice the inversions: G major with B in the bass, F major with A in the bass. They stop the left hand jumping around and give a bass line that moves by step (C – B – A – B – C).

2. Broken chords: motion

The chord's notes are spread out in eighth notes. The music starts to flow, like a lullaby or a song accompanied on guitar. It's often the first "living" texture people learn to write.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:C
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
[V:RH] "C"e4 d2 c2 | "G"d4 B4 | "Am"c2 e2 "F"a2 f2 | "G"d4 "C"c4 |]
[V:LH] C,E,G,E, C,E,G,E, | G,,B,,D,B,, G,,B,,D,B,, | A,,C,E,C, F,,A,,C,A,, | G,,B,,D,B,, C,E,G,E, |]

3. Alberti bass: classical elegance

Named after Domenico Alberti, it's the signature of the Classical style (Mozart, Haydn, Clementi). Note order: low – high – middle – high. It's written in close position, under the hand, and gives a light, continuous pulse.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=96
K:C
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
[V:RH] "C"e4 d2 c2 | "G"d4 B4 | "Am"c2 e2 "F"a2 f2 | "G"d4 "C"c4 |]
[V:LH] C,G,E,G, C,G,E,G, | B,,G,D,G, B,,G,D,G, | A,,E,C,E, A,,F,C,F, | B,,G,D,G, C,G,E,G, |]

4. Waltz bass: "oom-pah-pah"

In 3/4: the bass on beat 1 (low), the chord on beats 2 and 3 (middle). It's the lilt of Chopin, Strauss and French musette. We adapt the melody to 3/4:

M:3/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=132
K:C
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
[V:RH] "C"e4 g2 | "G7"f4 d2 | "C"c4 e2 | "G"d6 | "C"e4 g2 | "F"a4 f2 | "G7"d4 B2 | "C"c6 |]
[V:LH] C,2 [E,G,]2 [E,G,]2 | G,,2 [F,B,]2 [F,B,]2 | C,2 [E,G,]2 [E,G,]2 | G,,2 [D,B,]2 [D,B,]2 | C,2 [E,G,]2 [E,G,]2 | F,,2 [A,C]2 [A,C]2 | G,,2 [F,B,]2 [F,B,]2 | C,2 [E,G,]2 z2 |]

The wide gap between the bass (C2 or G1) and the chord is the heart of the waltz: the left hand "jumps". It's an excellent exercise in writing… and in playing.

How to choose

Your workshop

1. Take an 8-bar melody you've already written (or the one from this lesson) and write down its chords, one or two per bar.
2. In the piano roll, write it out four times in a row (32 bars): block chords, broken chords, Alberti bass — then rewrite it in 3/4 with a waltz bass.
3. For the Alberti bass, choose inversions so the left hand stays within a sixth.
4. Listen to all four versions and give each a title describing its character ("Hymn", "Lullaby", "Sonatina", "Waltz").
5. Copy your favourite version into the ABC editor on two staves.
6. Self-check: does the melody stay clearly in the foreground in every version?