I find the sounds of two guitar melodies blending to be most satisfying.
If you are intrigued by how this works then this lesson will hopefully get you harmonising with confidence.
The loop pedal is a great tool for this work.
The most common harmonies are the diatonic 3rds and 5ths, made famous in bands with two lead guitarists like The Allman Brothers and Thin Lizzy. These harmonies are immediately pleasing to the average ear.
Diatonic means from the same scale.
I chose Em for this video. Em = E F# G A B C D
Harmonising in 3rds means all notes you choose are either three notes above or below the original line, as they appear in the scale e.g. G is the 3rd above E, B is the 5th.
I chose the upper version for the 3rds and then 5ths.
Here are the parts from the video in turn, starting with the initial line:
With a fretboard diagram handy you can confirm that all the notes are from Em = E F# G A B C D , and then if you compare the harmony lines note for note:
E C B D G F# with thirds above G E D F# B A
E C B D G F# with 5ths above B G F# A D C
Less common, but worth exploring are lines whose intervals are not synchronised, the most well known of which is contra-motion, where the melodies go in different directions, like the last example:
E C B D G F# with this above G F# G E G A
To reveal their different trajectories in more clarity to the ear, I finally introduced some techniques to the upper line.
You can explore 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, 7ths - above and below.
Also try doubling the octaves for greater separation.
A useful tool to help generate options and test harmonies is to use modal/inverison shapes. This way you can find the matching harmonies by simply working out the formula of the first line and applying it to each mode.
Line 1 from E Aeolian = first note, sixth, fifth, seventh, third, second.
Now move into G Ionian and B Phrygian apply.
To make it even easier, use modal shapes which conform to the same strings as the original:
The non-diatonic version of this would be where you use notes from outside the scale e.g. if you simply replicate the shape of the original line from the 5th, you will get the parallel fifth harmony. As it happens, in this case that would mean that the only note different from the diatonic version is the C#
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In the studio the number of harmony lines is not restricted, so players can stack them up, but then only play one live, or use a harmony pedal to get a simulacrum of the layers.
