whats a good way in going about writing a piano part to a song that only has a guitar part?

Answer 1

It should not be hard to write a piano part for it. Just write the melody line and then put the guitar chords at the top. Then spell out the chords below the melody. Or you could move the melody to the alto, tenor or bass line . or switch the melody to different parts. There are rules to follow . I found some sites that list the rules.
Checklist for four-part writing:

I. Chord construction issues.

· Check key signature, identify key, leading tone (7), and 7th of V7 (4).

· Is spacing between S and A, A and T ok? < 8ve for S/A, A/T in chorale style; < 8ve for all three upper voices in keyboard style. B/T up to two 8ves apart in chorale style.

· Is the range of each voice ok?

· Is the doubling ok?

a) if the chord is incomplete, is the 5th the only thing missing? For incomplete triad: triple the root, leave out the 5th. For incomplete root-position 7th chord, double the root and leave out the 5th. Inverted 7th chords are always complete.

b) be sure neither the LT nor the chord's 7th is doubled.

c) in a diminished triad, double the third (the only element not involved in the dissonance). 5th is also possible.

· If chorale style is used, make sure that soprano and alto occupy treble staff and tenor and bass occupy bass staff; soprano and tenor stems go up, alto and bass stems go down.

· If keyboard style is used, make sure that the top three voices occupy the treble staff and the bass occupies the bass staff. Bass should follow normal stemming conventions, while top three voices have two options: stem them all together, with the stem following the direction of the majority of notes; or stem top voice up, lower two voices together and down.




II. Voice leading issues.

· Is the melodic behavior of each voice, particularly the soprano, appropriate and pleasing? Are leaps approached and left properly, recovered by step, or by as small an interval as possible?

· RLT(7)­­BS (resolve LT up by step) in S or B (soprano or bass).

· R7th(4)¯BS in any voice.

· Are there any illegal dissonant skips in any voice, such as any augmented skip?

· Check each pair of voices for forbidden parallel 1s, 5s, and 8s: SA, ST, SB, AT, AB, TB (6 pairs of voices to check!).

· Check for bad hidden 5ths and 8ves -- that is, between outer voices, with the soprano leaping. If soprano steps, or if the hidden 5th or 8ve involves an inner voice, don't worry about it.

· Check for voice crossing.

http://cnx.org/content/m12746/latest/

http://www.musicianuniversity.com/courses/piano_keyboard_music_theory.html

Answer 2

You would have to learn about harmonizing chords.

You could try playing the relative major or minor the guitar is in. If the guitar is playing in C major, play in A minor, this gives a very cool effect if used correctly.

Or you could use chords that directly complement his. If he is using triads use the same triad or slightly altered triad with a different rhythms, or the other way around. Say, the guitar is playing a Cadd9, you could play a regular C maj. The list is endless, just look up some lessons on harmonizing and experiement.

Answer 3

Every key has 8 chords that can blend in just about any pattern. For example; E, F#m, Abm, A, B, C#m, D, Ebdim. Just pick a few you like.

Answer 4

Just make sure that you follow the chord patter, have fun, and feel it.