If you're singing in groups in your setting, you're probably using harmonies when you sing.
Harmonies add colour and texture and depth to any song, but it also makes sense to know
how to use them and how not to clash with other singers, how to make the best of that
skill.
We're going to be talking about harmonies in terms of where the melody goes and how
harmonies match with that, so lines of harmony, lines of melody.
You don't need to be able to read music to do this, you just need to be able to imagine
where the song is going.
Does the melody line go up, does it go down, does it go in jumps, does it go in steps,
how is it working and how can your harmony fit better with that?
This is going to be demonstrated on the screen so you can see exactly what we're talking
about.
We want to make sure that as singers we're not always saying, this is what I always sing,
take it or leave it, I always do the low harmony, I always do the high harmony, I want you to
be more versatile than that, to be able to see where the harmonies are going and to be
able to maybe jump in and out, to be able to sing the melody for a while and then go
for a harmony after that, it would be much better to be versatile than to be stuck in
what you have always sung.
Before we get to talking about the lines of harmony, we're going to be doing some pitch
exercises.
Now this is Ben, he's joined us today because we're also going to be looking how more than
one harmony joins together.
So to start with, let's do some pitch exercises.
So Ben, can you play me a C and I'm going to sing a third above that, la.
Now we're going to do that same thing again, except this time I'm going to sing a third
above and Deborah's going to sing a fifth above.
Okay, now let's try that with a different note, could you play us an A?
Now you try that, can we have the A again?
So hopefully you sang either the third or the fifth and this is what the whole chord
sounds like.
Right, let's try that once more, let's have a D this time, la.
Now you try singing either the third or the fifth above that D.
And here's how the whole chord sounds, great.
We're going to use the song What A Friend I Found to demonstrate how these lines of
harmony work.
So to start with, I'm just going to sing the melody through and you can see on the screen
how this is working in terms of its line, okay, thanks Ben.
So, I'm going to sing the melody through and you can see on the screen how this is
working in terms of how these lines of harmony work in terms of how these lines of harmony
work.
So hopefully you could see how that worked with the line of the melody.
When I was going up a step, the line went up, when I was going down a step, the line
went down.
And it's quite an easy way to see what's happening without being able to write it out
in note form.
Now we're going to sing that song again, but Deborah is going to add a low harmony and
as far as possible, her harmony is going to follow the melody line.
She's not going to start suddenly singing high and if she needs to, she can join the
melody line, but it's going to be about the same pattern.
So, I'm going to sing that song again, but it's going to be about the same pattern.
So, I'm going to sing that song again, but it's going to be about the same pattern.
Now we're going to add another harmony, the harmony that Deborah was doing was quite low
for most girls, you may be able to reach it, but we're going to add a harmony, so Ben's
going to be seeing the melody and I'm going to be singing a high harmony.
Now once again, I'm going to try as far as possible to follow the line of the melody.
So Ben will be singing what you've already seen on screen and now we're adding another
one, so it's three-part harmony now, one melody and two harmonies.
Now we're going to add another harmony, the harmony that Deborah was doing was quite low for most girls.
Jesus, Jesus, friend forever.
If you've got a male singing the lead and you've got women only singing the backing,
that's sort of what you'll be aiming for.
As you probably heard, the high harmony that I was doing cuts through, so if you're singing high as a girl,
you need to make sure that you're not powering over everybody else and that you're just pulling back slightly on that
so it doesn't overpower the melody.
So now Ben and I are going to swap parts, I'm going to sing the melody and he's going to sing the high harmony
and Deborah's going to stay on the low harmony where she was before.
And as you'll be able to see on the graphics, the lines still more or less match each other
and neither Ben or Deborah are swapping over into each other's parts.
They're making really sure that they're singing different parts and so they're not clashing.
Okay.
Jesus, Jesus, friend forever.
Now we're going to sing the whole song all the way through.
I'm going to stick with the melody which is what I was singing before.
And for verse one and chorus one, I'm going to sing by myself so you can have a chance to practice your harmonies along with me.
Then for verse two and chorus two, Ben and Deborah are going to join in again
and you can either sing with them or sing your own harmony.
Just try to make sure that your harmony line matches the melody line as far as possible and doesn't cross over into another line.
Okay, thanks.
Jesus, Jesus, friend forever.
What a hope I've found.
More faithful than a mother.
It would break my heart to ever lose each other.
Jesus, Jesus, friend forever.
