Hellooooo! Due to many requests, me, Melody, will try to teach you what I know about harmonizing. I have never taken vocal lessons so I apologize if this is not 100% correct. But it is based on what I've read or was told by my friends who were in choir before. I hope this will help you understand harmonies better. :D Click on each titles to listen to the audio with examples.

 

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A harmony is when you combine several musical notes together to create a pleasing sound. It is not when multiple people sing the exact same tone and melody, because that would take the point of harmonizing away. Harmonizing is when you sing along to the main melody, but at a slightly higher or lower pitch. If you have recording softwares such as Audacity, GarageBand, or Adobe Audition, you are able to record multiple clips of your own vocal and harmonize with yourself.

 

Let’s get over the different type of harmonies, and I will use my Word Up cover as an example.

 

Can sing it at high octave or low octave.

Though many people say that singing at different octave doesn’t count as a harmony, I’d like to believe it does, because it sounds different and add another depth to your song.

 

If this was a sandwich, the high octave would be like the upper bun, and the low octave is the bun at the bottom. Now we need to find the meat, lettuce and cheese in the middle to complete it.    

 

Sing at high or low octave, IF your range is comfortable.

 

Sounds completely different from the first and second voice melody.

 

Now when you combine everything together, you get a nice harmonized acapella.

 

Check out these covers/collab to get a better understanding on harmonies.

 

 

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I have found a trick that at least helps you a little to start out with harmonies, and this might get a little technical. Harmonizing is simply singing notes that are known as ‘triads.’  It is when you sing the 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th note of a scale.

 

2^nd = Re

4^th = Fa

6^th = La

7^th = Ti

So singing the 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th note, means you sing a Do Mi Sol.

 

This works for any notes. You need to know what the first note is, and you create the triad based on that.

1^st = A

3^rd = C# (Going to C instead of C# makes it sound different and sadder)

5^th = E

 

You don’t need to know all these technical terms or theories to be able to harmonize. Develop a sense in your head that tells you whenever a pitch is wrong or right. This way, you can practice to develop these triad notes in your head to find the right harmonies even without a piano as guide.

 

This method is perfect for singing the background vocals and harmonies, because it usually just stays on one note longer. Harmonizin for an actual song, it will be trickier, because the notes keep changing everytime. At least you know the first note for the high or low harmony, you can find the rest of it based on that.

 

It truly does rely on feeling actually and there is no exact method I know that can teach you exactly how, because it differs per song. Keep listening to songs with harmonies and keep practicing. Practice. Practice. Practice. Eventually you’ll get the hang of it, and will be able to develop your own sense of harmonies. It took me 6 years guys, you’re all still young, so don’t lose hope! It is never too late to start! You can do it! Hwaitingggg!