Finding chords that sound the same as a melody

Question

I’ve been writing a song with the basic melody: E, F#, C#, on electric guitar, but to write the chorus I need the same chords. I tried playing and F# chord, but it was too hard to play (I can’t play barre chords) and it didn’t sound the same. Does anyone have a tip or a chord progression?

Answer 1

You do not have to use a chord of the same name as the melody note/s. For example, on the E note, of course chord E can be used, but another chord containing an E note could be used instead. Here's some ideas.

A, Am, C, C#, C#m, Em, E7, F#7, D9, G6.

Some won't sound too good when you follow them with a second chord, but that second, if on a separate bar, will need to contain an F#.

However, without the tune itself, it's very difficult to help further.

Answer 2

I've been playing for a few years now, but when I was still wet behind the ears with my abilities, I would often use a capo to avoid having to play hard to finger chords. In this instance I would capo on the second fret and play D-E-B chord fingerings to result in a E-F#-C# chord progression. Another way might be to research and find an easier fingering for that F# that's so troublesome. I can think of a "F" chord fingering for the first four strings that can easily be moved up one fret to give you an F# chord and leave you ready to move to the C# on the same fret position.