I decided to attempt to repeat the success of "Twinkle Twinkle Jazzy Star" with an arrangement of "Ode to Joy" which most people are familiar with as a tune used by Beethoven in his ninth symphony. My setting is in the same style I used for Twinkle Twinkle; mainly block chords using four part harmony for the most part in a jazz style. Again the idea was to place a different harmony under each note of the melody using as many different chord types as possible within the bounds of functional harmony. I also tried to keep the voice-leading as smooth as possible.
It's fascinating to me how many different ways there are to harmonize a melody, especially when it comes to using jazz harmony. The notes of the melody can be any chord tone including harmonic extensions (6, 7, 9, 11, or 13) as well as an altered tone of a dominant harmony (b5, #5, b9, #9).
I hope I have succeeded in making an interesting harmonic study as well as something enjoyable to play. It's not easy but should be worth the effort. Thanks for your support!
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