Singing Teacher Guelph, Ontario

Quite often friends enjoy singing together and they’d like to learn how to sing harmony. I’ll try to break this down into steps to follow in the easiest way I can.

1. Learn the Melody first. By that I mean what the lead Singer is singing. If you know the melody in your head you know if it is moving up down or staying on the same note.
2. Pick a note below the melody that sound good with it and is not too far away so there is a nice blend. How to find that note? Play the chord and figure out which note in the chord the melody is singing. Let’s use the third so you the Harmony Singer would sing the Root. For example if the Chord is a C chord then the Root is a C the third is an E and the 5th is a G. Start at C and count up the Alphabet to G. CDEFG 12345.
3. A little bit of theory will go along way when trying to figure out which note to sing.
4. For an experiment drone on that low C note while the melody is singing and when it doesn’t sound good to stay on that note any more move either up or down. You will have to move, when the chord changes, to a note that is in that chord. Use your ears and listen you will be able to hear when it works and sounds good and when it doesn’t.
5. If the melody makes a big jump down and lands on the note you are singing and you can’t sing any lower step up a few notes above the melody until the melody moves up again and you can move back down below the melody. That can be referred to as a cross over.
6. Another friend has arrived and she wants to sing harmony as well. When there is more than one Background Singer you can sing the lyrics if you match up your words exactly or sing ooh’s and Ah’s and if you are just starting out that might be easier.
7. What note does she sing? If she has a really high voice then she will probably have to find a note above the melody. If she has a low voice she can pick a note below yours. Using the example above she would sing the G or the 5th either above or below depending on her range.
8. Three parts are much trickier but they sound amazing. Take one line at a time and find the best blend. You may have to switch parts to get the best blend. Again use your ears and listen!
9. Try not to land on each other’s notes, try not to sing Octaves: the same note an Octave apart. An Octave is 8 letter names above CDEFGABC or below. by the way the Musical Alphabet stops after G and starts all over again at A. There is no HIJKLMNOP……
10. Singing UNISON means singing the same notes and you can do that for a special effect instead of singing Harmony.

Gayle