[distressed_romeo]

Does anyone have any besides the obvious 'harmonizing in thirds'?

One I was play with just now, is to have one guitar play a straight power chord, and the other harmonize it with an octave that adds a 'colour tone'. For example, one guitar would play an A5 chord (x577xxx) and the other would play a D octave (xxx5x5xx) to create an Asus4 chord. Sounds very cool if you use contrasting tones and a bit of stereo panning.

Any others?

[sakeido]

Harmonize but keep changing the interval... usually I'll do a riff mostly in perfect fifths because we are playing too fast to just play the power chords on our own, but occasionally we will mix it up and play the thirds to get a different sound and then almost toggle between the thirds and the octaves for a "!!!!" effect on some notes. I got the idea from the Light That Blinds by Shadows Fall, even though my ear training sucks and they might just be playing thirds the whole time for that one.

[WarriorOfMetal]

i like doing contrapuntal stuff between 2 guitars and the bass.....basically taking your typical harmonies to the extreme.....contrary motion, sometimes contrasting rhythms, etc. think like what they did on the first two Opeth albums.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by WarriorOfMetal

i like doing contrapuntal stuff between 2 guitars and the bass.....basically taking your typical harmonies to the extreme.....contrary motion, sometimes contrasting rhythms, etc. think like what they did on the first two Opeth albums.

That's an effect you don't hear enough in rock and metal, even the progressive stuff.

[Loomer]

Originally Posted by distressed_romeo

That's an effect you don't hear enough in rock and metal, even the progressive stuff.

Also an effect that Anata use in an extremely awesome way.

[Naren]

One thing I really really like to do with twin guitars that I very very very very rarely hear any band's do (but I do in songs that I write for my band) is have contrasting rhythm parts. For example, in one of my band's songs, I'm riffing just one chord somewhat fast with slight variations in how the higher parts of it are being played, while the other guitar is slowly playing other chords over it that create a melodic and disonant contrast (for example, melodic when the other guitar is playing the same chord as me or a fourth or fifth above me, but disonant when playing a half step above me or a flatted fifth above me). And, we'll be doing that, but then play the exact same lead line together, me playing one of the notes an octave lower than the other guitarist and the other few notes at the exact same pitch.

I also like to play the same thing as the other guitarist but at a different interval distance (an octave, a fifth, a fourth, a minor third, etc.)

[All_¥our_Bass]

How about figuring out some fairly big, odd, and cool chords on the piano and have each guitar play half of it.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by Naren

One thing I really really like to do with twin guitars that I very very very very rarely hear any band's do (but I do in songs that I write for my band) is have contrasting rhythm parts. For example, in one of my band's songs, I'm riffing just one chord somewhat fast with slight variations in how the higher parts of it are being played, while the other guitar is slowly playing other chords over it that create a melodic and disonant contrast (for example, melodic when the other guitar is playing the same chord as me or a fourth or fifth above me, but disonant when playing a half step above me or a flatted fifth above me). And, we'll be doing that, but then play the exact same lead line together, me playing one of the notes an octave lower than the other guitarist and the other few notes at the exact same pitch.

I also like to play the same thing as the other guitarist but at a different interval distance (an octave, a fifth, a fourth, a minor third, etc.)

Sikth do stuff like that. You might like them. To a lesser extreme extent, so do Queensryche, although the guitars are frequently so well woven together, it's not immediately obvious.

Originally Posted by All_¥our_Bass

How about figuring out some fairly big, odd, and cool chords on the piano and have each guitar play half of it.

Also fun! Have you heard Holdsworth's 'Igginbottom's Wrench' album? He's playing with another guitarist on that one (who's name escapes me at the moment), and they do a lot of chords in that way.

[Naren]

Originally Posted by distressed_romeo

Sikth do stuff like that. You might like them. To a lesser extreme extent, so do Queensryche, although the guitars are frequently so well woven together, it's not immediately obvious.

I really like the way the guitars in Sikth sound. (Not a big fan of that one guy's vocals, though. The other guy's vocals are kind of cool... don't know their names. ) I don't think I've ever heard Queensryche before. I've heard lots of bands that were referred to as having "a heavy Queensryche influence" or stuff like that. I can imagine how the guitars sound, but I've never actually heard them before, so I don't know. One thing I always press like crazy on the other guitarists in the bands I've been in is, "I don't want to play the same thing as you" or "I don't want you to play the same thing as me here" and it usually gives birth to some interesting ideas. There was one song that the other guitarist for my band made and he gave me a CD with the song (for one guitar). I thought it was kind of boring, so, without changing his guitar at all, I added lots of interesting stuff following what he was doing, except an octave higher and with lots of cool techniques. After that, I thought the combination of the two guitars made the non-vocal aspects of the song really interesting.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by Naren

I really like the way the guitars in Sikth sound. (Not a big fan of that one guy's vocals, though. The other guy's vocals are kind of cool... don't know their names. ) I don't think I've ever heard Queensryche before. I've heard lots of bands that were referred to as having "a heavy Queensryche influence" or stuff like that. I can imagine how the guitars sound, but I've never actually heard them before, so I don't know. One thing I always press like crazy on the other guitarists in the bands I've been in is, "I don't want to play the same thing as you" or "I don't want you to play the same thing as me here" and it usually gives birth to some interesting ideas. There was one song that the other guitarist for my band made and he gave me a CD with the song (for one guitar). I thought it was kind of boring, so, without changing his guitar at all, I added lots of interesting stuff following what he was doing, except an octave higher and with lots of cool techniques. After that, I thought the combination of the two guitars made the non-vocal aspects of the song really interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx4YLGLXFYA

Some classic Queensryche! This is the single coolest song ever for twin-guitar stuff!