This approach is inspired by a quote from Lenny Breau to the effect that he mostly just used thirds and sevenths (guide tones) to harmonize melody lines. You have to have some theory and fretboard knowledge to make this work, but if you've been playing jazz changes for a while this method shouldn't be too hard for you. The way I'd been harmonizing melody lines for chord melody style felt a little clunky to me, and since I've been experimenting with this Lenny Breau system, it's really freed up my playing.
I thought I'd try doing this in a western swing setting, and I figured out some interesting things in the process.
When I was playing in more of a jazz style and using this system, I ran into some trouble when the melody note was either the third or the seventh of the chord. Doubling the melody note in the guide tones usually sounds bad to my ears, so I've tried putting other chord tones in to replace the note already in the melody. This works okay, but the obvious notes left over are the root and the fifth, and using these notes defeats the purpose somewhat of the guide tone approach. The genius of harmonizing with guide tones is that they outline the harmony while still giving you an open kind of sound. When you add roots and fifths, they add weight and density to the texture-- perfect for many musical styles, but for most kinds of jazz the result is a sluggish, cluttered feeling. When you're arranging a standard in chord melody this way, it's not a serious problem because the chord tones are not going to be thirds and sevenths all the time. Still, I couldn't wondering if there were some other options I should try.
When I started thinking in western swing terms, some interesting solutions popped up. I've noticed over the years that steel players like to use voicings that include whole step dissonance on adjacent strings. A fifth can be voiced right under a sixth, and likewise a ninth under a high third. Major sixth chords are also usually used where a jazz player might go with a major seventh. These sounds are characteristic of western swing.
When I tried voicing fifth and sixth under a third in the melody, and a ninth and third under a seventh, it worked pretty well. For dominant seventh chords, I still use guide tones as the harmony. For major type chords, I'll use thirds and sixths as my guide tones. (If the third is in the melody, I like to use sixth, root, third.)
If I'm playing jazz, I'll still run into trouble, I guess; since I usually walk a fine line between jazz and western swing, though, I'll probably start throwing in these western voicings and hope for the best.
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