Now let’s look at our track, but be sure to watch the video for a full breakdown.

The track kicks off with a Wishbone Ash inspired harmony riff that is based around diatonic 4th’s and 5ths in the Key of A Dorian. We then shift to A natural minor for our main verse and here we have a harmony melody line inspired by Thin Lizzy, which makes use of diatonic 3rds from A Aeolian. Be careful with the space between the phrases, you want to be sure that any harmonies played are spot on together. Also take care with the fast ascending figure that leads to the chorus section.

The chorus modulates to the IV chord of the parent key of C major, the chord of F major, giving us a strong uplifting Lydian sound. We kick things off in this section with a descending line that makes use of a very euphoric Brian May-esque three part harmony using 3rd’s and 5th’s. After a simple blues fill to catch our breath we play an arpeggio figure with a triplet rhythm that is harmonizes a diatonic 3rd higher. This is followed by some Brian May style major scale runs using a 3rd harmony, plus more three part harmony lines. The solo concludes with a Harmonic minor feel over a B/D# chord, using Diminished 7th arpeggios performed a minor 3rd apart. The track concludes with our intro harmony riff.

As you can see there is a lot crammed in this track, everything from singing classic Rock lines, to fast scale runs, uplifting three part harmonies, to harmony shred arpeggios. Just pay attention to the transcription and video, and as always practise things slowly to start with and speed them up once you are confident and have the lines clean under your fingers.

Good Luck!

Harmony guitar parts always have the ability to uplift a track and over the course of rock history there have been many pioneers and revered guitarists associated with harmony parts, not to mention a number of classic songs that feature harmony melodies and lines. Such artists as Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Steve Vai, The Eagles, Iron Maiden and Brian May are famous for their use of harmony as a creative tool. Listen to such classic tracks as ‘Boys are Back in Town’, ‘Waiting for an Alibi’, ‘The Trooper’, ‘Blue Powder’, ‘Killer Queen’ or ‘Hotel California’ to hear harmony guitar at its best. Obviously there are dozens of other examples, but from my short list you can see the different genres of Rock that use harmony guitar, whether to create euphoric majestic uplifting lines, or create more sinister and haunting melodies and riffs.