Harmonise

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HootsmonHootsmon Frets: 15924

so I have, say a repeated  4 note motif going across the strings in 3 or 4 different positions (frets) how do I set about harmonising these fellas?

anyone?

..and thanks in advance :)

tae be or not tae be
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Comments

  • davewwdaveww Frets: 165
    Not quite sure what you mean but if they're scale notes you could play them with their major or minor thirds etc.
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  • What is it?  Can you write it oot?  What kind of harmony are you looking for?
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • davewwdaveww Frets: 165
    If you wanted to continue this you could play them with 5th, and their major or flat 7ths etc.
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  • HootsmonHootsmon Frets: 15924

    just lookin' tae have some fun Mr Teh Clap........just bought one of those DITTO gizmos and I am just about ready tae unwrap the bugger and set about it

    wonderin' how tae harmonise any given set of notes......I'm thinkin'..

    see what scale "fits" the bunch of notes and harmonise in 3rds or 5ths or whatever

    best try it oot methinks :)

    tae be or not tae be
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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    edited September 2014
    Well octave and 5th are obviously the simplest, the 4ths.  But you can try some 3rds and 6ths and if you aren't sure of your scale just go by the rule that if it sounds like Dave Mustaine and Kirk Hammett plotting a supergroup then you've done gone wrong.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • HootsmonHootsmon Frets: 15924

    well I've got a little 7 note run....G string 2nd fret. B,E,B, then B,E,G#,E

    so it looks like the scale of B maj  b, c# d# e f# g# a# b

    so my "harmony" line in 3rds looks like this D#, G#, D#, then D#, G#, B, G#

    the original pattern is across the G B and E strings and the new harmony pattern just shift up 4 frets and has the same shape save for ONE note....is this correct O' great ones?

    if it is correct I'm off to a good start! 

    tae be or not tae be
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  • hootsmon said:


    if it is correct I'm off to a good start!   Actually, just experiment, if it sounds right, it is right.  Of course basing your choices on sound theory knowledge is advisable but sometimes just going for it works even better.  If you hit a wrong note, no one gets hurt.


    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700

    Although E G# and B spell the Emaj triad, so I'd be more tempted to use the E major scal rather than B maj........

     

    Simplified to harmonise (I'll use Cmajor) then first the scale is

    C D E F G A B C

    2nd

    D E F G A B C D

    3rd

    E F G A B C D E

    Etc

    To find the chords it's 1-3-5, so 

    C (d) E (f) G  Cmajor is C-E-G

    Make sense? 

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • Just use your ears - let them guide you to the harmony you seek.
    Once you can command your guitar to make the sounds you hear in your head, then you can study why and how those notes work.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    I agree with Mikey, the b e g# sounds to me like the 5th, tonic and the major 3rd in E major. Not the tonic, the 4th and the 6th in B major. Particularly as the run ends on an E. It's more likely to be the former, rather like the beginning of Charge of the Light Brigade. But that's your choice - you're writing the music!

    If the former, then it's very unusual to harmonise that by sticking religously to the 3rd above, because the first note, the B, is the dominant (the V note of the scale), so if you go a 3rd above it you'd be playing the VII, and the music would be wanting to pull that note onto the VIII. So it would sound unsatisfactory.

    So above that V I V, V I III I; you'd be more likely to harmonise with I III I, I III V III.

    You say you're starting on the 2nd fret of the G string, I assume you mean the 4th fret? So you're doing the notes xxx454? So the harmonisation would be xxx997.

    Of course there are loads of other things you could do, but that's the mirrored harmony above your lick.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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