Best Guitar Harmonies: Magical Riffs with 3rd and 5ths
Two guitars are better than one
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Best Guitar Harmonies: Magical Riffs with 3rd and 5ths · Source: Alamy Stock Photo / Lavagna (GE) Liguria - Itay
These guitar harmonies come from a bygone era of rock and metal music. Showcasing the beautiful relationship between two guitars, let’s check out these elevated tracks.
List of 3rds and 5ths:
Key Information About Guitar Harmonies
- Guitar harmonies are created by playing a minimum of two notes at the same time, or in parallel. Using notes with intervals of 3rds or 5ths is most common and yields the nicest sounds.
- A musical interval refers to the distance that one note is from the starting point. You start from your root and work up the scale.
- Famous guitar harmonies are played with two guitarists, where each guitarist plays a different interval of the same melody line. Overall, this creates a wider and more dramatic sound compared to a single line.
Intros that have you hooked
As a musician and guitarist, you’ve probably heard the term harmonies tossed around. Plus, we’ve all heard them in various songs, and we may not have even realised what we were listening to.
Essentially, a musical harmony is how we describe the relationship between two or more notes. If you were to have one layer of notes accompanied by another similar layer of notes, this is our harmony.
Here, we’re going to check out some legendary intros to songs that utilise this wonderful musical technique. Sure, there are a lot of guitar solos that use harmonies, but it’s the start of the song that grabs your attention. The harmonies can always help with that.
Ventura Highway – America
Kicking us off in our quest for the best guitar harmonies, we’ve got this stunningly beautiful entry from America. Released at the start of the decade in 1972, Ventura Highway features a calming guitar intro utilising three guitars.
Three guitars? Allow me to explain. The main hook is an alternating phrase in the key of A major. There are two guitar lines, one of which is playing the main melody line, and the other plays in another position on the fretboard as major 3rds.
To fully achieve this sound, your third guitar plays G major and Dmaj7 with an upeat 8th note strumming pattern. Therefore, the third guitar accompanies the lead harmony line. Overall, this combination created a soft rock classic. All played on a combination of six and twelve-string acoustic guitars.
Don’t Believe A Word – Thin Lizzy
When looking at guitar harmonies, Thin Lizzy is one of the bands that do it most frequently. As a result, they’re one of the best. With Garry Moore laying down the bulk of this riff, you know you’re in good hands.
From acoustic beauty to the distorted clarity. This riff works really well because you start with a regular heavy riff, which then develops with the welcome addition of the guitar harmony. However, there is another version of this song performed live that is much slower, and actually misses out this wonderful harmony!
Another notable Thin Lizzy track with effortless harmonies is the solo from The Boys Are Back In Town. Although this rendition features a three-part harmony. Whereby there are three guitars playing at once, essentially playing an entire chord together. The result? One massive memorable sound.
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
This 1967 hit is slightly different from the other tracks that we’ve looked at so far. Despite the rapid genre change, this example of guitar harmonies can be played by one guitarist.
All of our other examples have required two guitarists to pull off the full sound. This time, the main riff features a series of what we call dyads. Dyads are two notes played simultaneously. In the instance of Brown Eyed Girl, these are a series of major 3rds.
Overall, the melody is simple and joins an even easier chord progression. However, the challenge arises when you try to play both guitar parts at the same time. It is perfectly achievable, but finger placement is vital for getting it right.
The Trooper – Iron Maiden
Something a little heavier now. Arguably, Iron Maiden kick-started guitar harmonies for metal bands. Artists such as Metallica and System Of A Down are among many that use harmonies for their riffs and solos.
However, back in 1983, this furious descending riff in Em welcomes the addition of minor 6ths. Instead of the jolly 3rds that we’ve seen before, the 6ths add a dark, heavy and emotional sound.
Perfect 5ths will always fit, minor 3rds will sound sad; however, 6ths are in that sweet spot that just sounds mean. There’s a lot that can be learnt from The Trooper. Whether it’s the guitar harmonies or just the iconic power chord chugs.
Jessica – Allman Brothers Band
Concluding our look at the best guitar harmonies, we have another intro from the 1970s. Most widely associated with BBC’s Top Gear, Jessica is in the hearts of many.
What’s so good about the guitar riffs in Jessica? A few subtle bars on an A chord hides what’s to come. With this song being an instrumental track, the harmonies add a depth that benefits the song massively. However, there’s a great B section that features a unison climb, giving our ears a break.
Combined, this is the most complex harmony line in this list. As the main melody is so fiddly, the harmony line on the 2nd guitar works around 3rds, 4ths, 5ths and unison notes. Sometimes, you need to have the same note playing at the same time. Usually in octaves.
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4 responses to “Best Guitar Harmonies: Magical Riffs with 3rd and 5ths”
With so many memorable guitar harmonies to choose from, it was cool to see Thin Lizzy made the cut.
Of course! Some of the best…
A 5th is 7 half steps away.
So it is…