Ford Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 I'm listening to one of Alex's songs from his website (Alone in a Crowd), and it was wondering how the (and sorry for the term) cheezy, tokin 80's guitar harmonies were done. Are they playing a 3rd appart or something like that? Diatonic, or a fixed interval? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 sounds like he wants to know if you have duplicate guitar parts played in harmonies.....but i really don't consider that technique to be an 80s thing.or cheesey.it's a valid musical technique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy McFeely Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 it is a jazz thing. metal players addopted it and made it more exciting. eric johnson does this allot. you can do it with one guitar part if you have the reach, and you nailed it with the 5th's comment, this is how it is used in jazz. you should pick up a jazz improv book, and assimilate it into your style, and you will be harmonizing with yourself in no time at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 ***??? What the heck are you all talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 i don't recall any harmonies in alex's songs. okay alex.harmonies are what metallica,among others,used extensively on and justice for all...for example,the root note plays g while the 5th plays d,but 2 seperate guitar parts played at the same time...i know you know what it is,but the language barrier may be getting in the way. you know what i mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 speedy,you can do it with one part on a clean guitar,but add gain and you won't get the same effect,as chords distort more than single notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Posted October 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 Jazz technique? Really? Huh... Yeah, every time I hear it its in some song from the 80's >shrugs< I think it sounds funny! And neat... Neat and funny. Hey Speedy, when playing 5ths, would you play the diatonic flat 5th, or ignore it and make everything perfect 5ths? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 i know you said speedy,but i should mention that most musicians don't stick to just the 5ths.....basically it makes for a boring harmony....mix it up with some 3rds,whatever...noting says it has to be the same harmony. listen to "mandatory suicide"by slayer...it is a perfect example of what can be done.....also testament's "green house effect" and of course "to live is to die"by metallica. joe satriani,steve vai....the list is long.basically almost every guitarist employs harmonies in their playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushead Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 Yeah Wes, I don't see many harmony parts done exclusively done in 5ths. If you've overlistened to Metallica stuff your whole life (like me), you can see that most of their harmony stuff is done in thirds. The clean harmony part of To Live is to Die (right before the lines are spoken) is actually played in 3 parts (4 if you count the bass) which basically plays the rythm chord progression in single note parts. So they play the 5th of the root note as the lowest note, a 4th up from that (or the octave of the root if you prefer), and another Major or minor 3rd up from THAT (flavor of the 3rd is dictated by the key). Orion (again the softer part) is played in similar fashion, but the "cooler" (IMO) harmony part is all done in thirds. very quick Orion example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roli Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 I'm gonna be nasty now: play clean and you'll be able to play all those beefy chords, major 7's, 13's, 6/9's... mmmhh, jazzy colors I mean. No, not needed; everything you play is you, whatever you play. I got used to these jazz kinda barre thingies, that may fit together with EVERY style of music from moody pop to blues (remember those dominant 9's that Stevie Ray used?). I just wanted to say, it's boring to listen those power chords all the time, though they do have their own function and they could be exciting when they're not overused. (Some little thingies I played.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy McFeely Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 like wes said, most don't stick to 5th's. my favorite is a F#9 9th harmony. again like wes said it's kind of a clean guitar thing, jazz. i really like the way metal guitar players use harmonies, i have studied jazz and classical, and learned metal on my own, and believe it or not there are allot of similarities in the styles. another good plus to learning those wacky jazz chords, is the fact that you have to reach so far for some of them that you can gain reach. i have a much better understanding of the fretboard also. in referance to you question about the flat 5th, or perfect 5ths, to me it depends on the piece, sometimes it will work well in a C, or sometimes i a minor f#. music is feel, not science, soul not mathmatics. if you can find it pick up Alex Skolnik trios "standards for a new generation" he covers old metal songs in jazz style. he really reproduces those two guitar harmonies well with on guitar as i mentioned above. happy playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Posted October 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 Thanks guys, and I'll look into that book, it sounds interesting. Probably the best (and most usefull so far) thing that I learned was learning Maj7, Min7, and Dom7 chords and all their inversions up the neck. I like melodic chord progressions a lot, and its definately made studying jazz a lot easier. The second inversion of a Maj7 with its bass note on the 6th string is a handfull: Dmaj7/A e:x B:3 G:6 D:4 A:x E:5 I like playing it and asking other musicians what they thought it was. It puts the 1st and the 7th degrees right next to eachother, and the semi-tone relationship sounds really dissonant. "Ew! That must have been some nasty diminished chord, right?", "Erm, no, just a major chord, sorry!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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