[CaptainTrips]

So Ive been working on learning some songs by ear. A new band Im in wants to do some covers of some Japanese hardcore bands that sound real original, and there aren't any tabs on the internet for them. So what Ive been doing is listening to it over and over and playing behind it, and I'm to the point where I think I have the melody of the song down good.

Now here is the main question. Can I harmonize a melody line, similarly to how I would harmonize a scale? And in order to do this would I have to relate the melody line to a particular scale, in order to get the right chord properties? (maj, min, dim)

Is this a good way to go about tabbing songs out by ear? I mean I am not looking for a note to note transcription, but I want to preserve the original melody of the song and then play it with my own twist.

[jackr]

You can harmonize a song any way you like. There are musical "rules" to harmonies, such as no paralell 5ths etc but that is all BS. We all know that in music rules are meant to be broken, so do whatever you think sounds good to make your own spin on it.

Also have you ever used "The Amazing Slow Downer"? It can make transcribing tunes much easier as it slows down the music without changing the pitch.