Harmonizing

[Vertigo]

Were jamming with some friend, and we play with 3 guitarists and 1 bass player...

i'd like to know how to harmonize certain riffs and licks.

does anyone know any links or suggestions?

thanks

[Azrael]

a good attempt would be a basic knowledge in music theory - especially in basic chord structure. i know alot of bands play harmonyparts with paralells, but that does sound too one-sided to me.

if you wanna aproach it differently, then try and pick any note and see what other notes are sounding good along with it (major/minor thirds, 4ths, 5ths, octaves, etc) - with 3 guitars i strongly recommend the above mentioned aspects of music theory - and if you want examples in sound, then go and find midifiles of classical music - especially quartetts written in counterpoint (4 seasons for example) - a few soundexamples are in my host-section on this site - go and check it out.

[Tele Master]

I find if maybe one person plays open chords, the other plays barre-chords, and the last can either play power chords, or do lead. This helps in getting started.

[Hootayah]

I used to have problems with harmonies when I first started... after so many years tho, you just know em by ear. Don't really know any other way to do it.

[Dr_simon]

A Digitech Whammy pedal can give you an idea of what to shoot for and also can give you an idea of what you are doing. This beast can be set to do like 2ud, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc harmonies. Once you know the interval you want, it maybe easier to work out multiple guitar parts.

[Kevin Taylor]

Another way of doing it is to use midi and voice generator. You play the chords in your sequencer, select the channel you want it to play through, then when you play notes or sing, it automatically harmonizes them for you.
You need to get a low latency sound card though.

[Azrael]

forgive me, but i´m not a big fan of those proggies... i mean.. that doesnt have anything to do with musical growth and development. where is the use of it if you dont have to use your brain to work things out?
it seems to me that everyone who has an outlet at home is automatically a composer. on the one hand we are complaining about the degenerated electronic music out there and that those dudes do not have a clue about music other than using some proggies that do it all for them, and on the other hand we are doing the same.
however.. thats only my opinnion. no offense!