Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

[Jumanji]

Hi there guys, hope all is well.

I need some advise on how Thin Lizzy or Brian May play guitar harmonies.

How does it work say for example I play the A Major Scale:
A B C# D E F# G#

C# is the 3rd, but if some one play a lick A C# D E D C# A
How would that be played in thirds as a harmony?

Thanks, I think I am just confusing myself.

[super rad stuff]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

well if you just want basic thirds, play a line with each note in the harmony a 3rd above the original note played(for A major it'd be something like A-C#, D-F#, B-D, etc)

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

Look at the C major scale: the 3rds are two notes above (C to A, D to B, etc...). Some thirds are minor and some thirds are major and the harmony would have change accordingly for it to sound "right".

It should be noted that other intervals also work properly: the 6th (which is also a 3rd in a way - A to C), the 8th...

Brian May used to harmonize a lot of guitars together and sometimes played different things at once. Building a harmony of thirds is cool but it works better for Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy then it works for Queen.


Good luck - it was a lot of fun to do when we had two electric guitars in our band.

[DankStar]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

if the 3rds don't sound right, you can intermix 5ths & 7ths. I like 3rds though. you'll need to know what key you're in and what scale you're dealing with, and be very much in tune on both gits.

[GoDrex]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

don't forget octaves -they sound nice too.

just remember if you're doing 3rds or any other interval, it sounds better if you stay within the scale. If you don't it can sound sort of artificial, like a old harmonizer. Though that can be an effect you can use in some situations.

I've done a bunch of harmony lines in my recordings. It fun when you work it out and it sounds right.

[Metalman_666]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

Probably the most familiar harmony I have in my head is the Boys Are Back in Town. I could be wrong but in my limited experience that's what I tend to associate with them. So, going along with the lick you posted, I would say try out a 4th at the end in addition to 3rds. What I mean is this:

Gtr 1 A C# D E D C# A
Gtr 2 C# E F# A F# E C#

Hopefully that jives with what you had in mind.

[Jumanji]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

Thanks so much for your help much appreciated

[Ocifer]

Re: Thin Lizzy/Brian May Guitar Harmonies

Look at the C major scale: the 3rds are two notes above (C to A, D to B, etc...). Some thirds are minor and some thirds are major and the harmony would have change accordingly for it to sound "right".

It should be noted that other intervals also work properly: the 6th (which is also a 3rd in a way - A to C), the 8th...

Brian May used to harmonize a lot of guitars together and sometimes played different things at once. Building a harmony of thirds is cool but it works better for Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy then it works for Queen.


Good luck - it was a lot of fun to do when we had two electric guitars in our band.

+1

Make sure you know the difference in sound between a minor and major 3rd or 6th.

Much of Brian May's harmonized guitar work is really counterpoint melodies, which can be a bit tricky to pull off let alone write. You won't really get the Brian May harmonies unless you mix up the intervals you're harmonizing.

When recording harmonized lines, I found that using the same guitar and retuning between tracks help to make them sound tight. If the song lacks a strong drum part, use a metronome while recording and get rid of the tick later.

If you want it to sound a bit looser, don't nitpick with tuning between each voice, and add a bit of vibrato on certain tracks.

Other than that, have fun with it. You can make harmonized guitars sound huge and in your face, or very ambient. I recomend messing around with any recording program that lets you multi track; get a backing track off the net and practice laying little fills over the track and then harmonizing them. Keep the licks simple at first so you can harmonize them easily and hear the difference between different kinds of intervals. Mix it up between deliberate writing and improv so that you are comfortable hearing melodies work against each other in your head.