By: Anthony Krueger
Guitar harmonies are a great way to thicken up a solo or achieve a heavy, crunching rhythmic part. Harmonies are also a way that guitarists have been playing together for years. You can think of harmonies similar to moving chords. However, they are not complete chords; instead, they are just intervals. So, first we will cover a bit about intervals.
An interval is the distance between two notes. There are flat, perfect, and sharp intervals. Arpeggios can be thought of as a handful of intervals plunked together to make something sweet–sounding to the ear. Now, let’s rest our eyes on some intervals. In this article, we are going to work with the Bb scale.
Perfect Intervals
In the interval below, measure one contains a perfect 2nd interval Bb to C. Measure two is a more pleasant sounding perfect 3rd. Measure four is the interval of the ever–so–popular power chord, a perfect fifth. And finally, the 7th measure contains an octave or 8va. Insert
Flat and Sharp Intervals
Flat intervals are also sometimes referred to as “diminished.” If you begin with the perfect fifth interval and decrease it by a semitone, you receive a flat 5th interval, or a diminished interval.
The opposite of “flat” and “diminished” intervals are “sharp” and “augmented.” A sharp interval is increased by augmented intervals. We’ll use a Bbm (B flat minor) scale.
Notice how we have a few intervals that are changed, while some stay the same. Measure one keeps the same interval. In measure two we have a b3rd interval. It is different than a major 3rd because it is narrowed by a semitone. Measure 5 is an augmented 5th interval. Insert
Augmentation and diminution can both be applied to chords and rhythms as well. Chords that have a raised or lowered fifth are also called augmented or diminished. This is based on whether or not the fifth is raised or lowered. To diminish a rhythm, you make it shorter, or cut the value of all of the notes in half. To augment a rhythm, you lengthen the rhythm, or double the value of the notes. Triads are simply the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the scale, or the basic notes of major and minor chords. Below are a few examples of diminished and augmented triads.
Measure 1 is an Amaj triad. Measure 2 is an Amaj augmented or Aaug. Measure 3 is an Amaj diminished chord, or Adim. Augmented and diminished can be shown as a plus or minus as well. A– is diminished and A+ is augmented. Insert
