Best Harmonizer Pedal in 2023

Chances are, you don’t need a harmony pedal to have an effective sound. However, they can be a valuable addition to any pedalboard regardless of the type of music you’re playing.

For those who are unaware of just what it is a harmony pedal does – it takes any given note/notes you play and processes it/them, creating harmonies on the fly. You can typically configure how you blend the note with the harmonized one, select your desired key signature, and choose from a variety of harmonies.

This helps on many levels – you can not only add color to your solos, but train your ear to hear intervals more naturally. For example, if you have your pedal set to a third, you will train your ears to hear thirds naturally through repetition.

Why use Harmony effects, anyway?

Harmonizer effects allow you to broaden the way you play. A good way to think about it is through a painting metaphor. You typically can paint with just one color at a time, being limited to the amount that can fit onto one brush. Playing intervals or chords is similar to using multiple colors at once with two brushes, but you’re still manually moving two brushes at a time.

With a harmonizer product, the work of moving the second brush is already taken care of, meaning that you don’t have to worry about holding another note. You can also blend notes into each other, an effect that is very much like blending colors through watercolor.

If you are somebody who wants to add density to your sound, using your harmonizer product while playing chords can give you some really cool textures. This works especially well when combined with a looper pedal, as you can easily create gorgeous, overlapping textures. For an interesting experience, try running this alongside a fuzz box.

Are There Any Disadvantages?

There are no disadvantages to harmonizer pedals really, but there is a learning curve required to get used to them, as it helps to know a bit of music theory. Because of this, it helps to understand the concept of harmonization so you know where to effectively apply your pedal. For example, if you have the harmonizer set to a third and you strum a G major chord, the result will be a B major chord. This is not ideal as it is incredibly dissonant with G major.

That being said, you don’t need to be familiar with music theory – you’ll have a bit of a steeper learning curve.

If you want to learn about the basics of harmonizing, this video is particularly helpful. It centers around singing and vocal effects, but the exact principles can be applied to guitar playing as well.

Who Might Use one?

Harmonizer pedals can have a wide variety of different uses spanning different genres. One of my personal favorite uses is by the guitarist Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) in the intro to their song “My Iron Lung”. In this song, the harmonizer effects help carry the melody quite well, giving a beautiful digital effect.

A different use can be found at the beginning of the Alex G song “After Ur Gone”, where he achieves the really intense effects by strumming aggressively. This is a really interesting instance of a harmony effects pedal being used in a creative way, showing you how the possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

Things To Look For/Attributes That Differentiate These Products

Harmonizer pedals all perform similar functions, but have different ways of getting there. This is why you should be looking for the different modes any given pedal has to see if it is right for you. For example, some products will only offer pitch shifting in octaves, while others will have detuning available as well.

Though all products will harmonize your notes, it’s important to know how much nuance you will have over the harmonization. Some products will allow you to distinguish major or minor when choosing an interval, while others will just assume major regardless of what you choose. There are also other products that will allows you to choose the speed of the harmonizing effect!

Of course, when deciding between products, the most important thing to look out for is the quality of the sound. Some effects products will process sounds more efficiently than others, leading to glitches and other types of disorienting sounds in the less impressive models. Harmonizer products are like this too, so be aware that—though they all do the same thing—some products are more efficient than others.

Some products will also offer stereo and mono input and outputs, allowing you to further customize the way the harmonies are applied to your sound. For those who are interested in having a technically “pure” sound, you should also be on the lookout for whether or not your desired product has true bypass capability. If you’re interested in learning about what true bypass means, here is a helpful introductory article.