Trouble With Harmonizing.

[icedogs41]

Hey guys, recently ive been wanting to learn how to harmonize notes by 3rds. I read an article on UG and it said to take the scale you using, which is E Harmonic Minor in Drop B, and it said to move the note that you want to harmonize up 3 notes in the scale, and that should be your harmonization. Well Recently ive recorded some scratch tracks of the riff that i want to harmonize and i harmonized it using the method stated above. And when i listened after, the harmonizations dont sound right.

So am I doing it wrong? Please Help.

 

[13point9]

Maj or Min 3rd?

did you actually go up 3 notes or 3 frets? as they are different things... if you play a note on the 1st fret the Min 3rd is on the 4th fret and Maj 3rd on the 5th fret

also 3rds aren't the the most consonant interval so sometimes is sounds off regardless

 

[xiphoscesar]

Maj or Min 3rd?

did you actually go up 3 notes or 3 frets? as they are different things...

also 3rds aren't the the most consonant interval so sometimes is sounds off regardless

try 5ths

 

[Dirtdog]

Well sometimes thirds do not go well sometimes you have to put forths in their to smooth it out but basically if your in E harmonic minor the thirds would be E-G, F#-A, G-B, A-C, B-D#, C-E, D#-F#. Basically playing diads made of Minor and Major thirds

 

[icedogs41]

I would probably say minor third. How do i go about harmonizing minor 3rds?

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

First, make sure you have the right notes. Does it sound like this?:

e-
b-
G-0-2-4-5-8-9--11-12
D-2-4-5-7-9-10-13-14
A-
E-

What notes sound wrong? There could be a number of explanations for your problem.

 

[icedogs41]

that sounds like a major harmonization, How would i harmonize maj 3rds?

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

What do you mean? If you harmonize something diatonically, it's going to have both major and minor thirds.

E harmonic minor: E F# G A B C D#
E-G: minor third
F#-A: minor third
G-B: major third
A-C: minor third
B-D#: major third
C-E: major third
D#-F#: minor third

That's how you harmonize a harmonic minor scale in thirds. If you harmonize every note of the scale with a major third or minor third, then you end up with a bitonal texture rather than a diatonic one. If you want to try that, then play G harmonic minor (for harmonization on the minor third) parallel to E harmonic minor, or G# harmonic minor (for the major third) parallel to E harmonic minor. It's not going to sound like a normal harmonized scale, though.