singing 3 part harmony

[groove machine]

I have been singing back up & some lead but I can only sing a 3rd above the melody. I've never tried 3 part harmony until I joined a trio & keep getting asked to sing more. It's a struggle since the part I'm used to is already taken. Any advice?

[Richard H. Smith]

There are several useful approaches to harmony - what to use depends on the lead line, your range and confidence, the style of music, and what sounds good to you. If you are playing a cover song, your part may already be there, so practice it along with the recording. The simplest 3 part harmony is primarily singing intervals that are in 3rds, as with major and minor chords (Gmaj is G-B-D), but it will depend on chord structure, so a little analysis with a piano can help. If possible, record yourself singing your part while playing your bass, with or without the original recording, and with your trio. Also listen to great vocal groups, and be sure to warm up your voice with simple vocal exercises, and stay away from tobacco smoke and other irritants (like hard liquor). With a little effort, your harmony can make your trio stand out - for the better!

[5 string Mike]

This could get into an interesting discussion. Vocal harmonies can get really fun if you are and are working with strong singers.

 

It sounds like you will have to break out of your comfort zone and think a little outside the 'tight harmony' box. There are a lot of options to create some cool sounding backing vocals.

 

I've started singing more backup roles in a band I'm in, so I've been digging into a little more of it myself. I understand the situation you are in. My situation is a little different because there are 5 of us that can sing on some level, so when we do background vocals we have to be creative or we are all jumbled together. The up side is there are a lot of things we can do that really fill out a song.

 

In your situation, you may have to be exploratory- sing in more of a chord tone or a counter melody, like a baritone singer might. Or, sing in certain key parts, but emphasize vowel tones.

 

A big part of that is how strong your sense of tone and pitch are to be able to 'hear' these parts in a song independently and be able to tell if they sound good or not. So if you are kind of dependent on the lead melody line to be able to sing your part, it will be more of a challenge.

[SteveC]

I have been singing back up & some lead but I can only sing a 3rd above the melody. I've never tried 3 part harmony until I joined a trio & keep getting asked to sing more. It's a struggle since the part I'm used to is already taken. Any advice?

 

Can you ask and see if you can sing the part you are used to and maybe someone else cover the other?

 

I think 3 part vocals is a major factor in separating bands. We used to be a singer and 3 guys, then 2 singers and 2 other guys, and now we are 3 singers and the drummer. Our lead guy is a great singer, the me and the other guy are not as good, but certainly pull off harmony vocals. The tunes we do with 3 part annihilate the others. It just sounds so good.

[thabottomend]

We have four guys (lead and three backup vocalists) singing harmony most of the time. We found a unique approach. The other two backup singers sing their parts (third and fifth) above the melody line, and I sing one of those three parts an octave down. Adds a ton of fullness to the harmony.

[Eric Iverson]

Yes, that's true: baritones like me, and below, often have to sign a part an octave lower. Not that I'm often asked to sing..

 

I wouldn't mind being part of a church choir singing low harmony though... assuming it's a situation where you can actually HEAR what you're singing, LOL! To just be up there lost in the roar would defeat the purpose for me, which is ear training!

[Eric VB]

Like others have said, you need to know enough music theory to understand what notes are available to sing.

 

Look at some SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) -- or just SAT -- music scores and analyze how the parts are arranged. You'll find that they are not always in thirds. Also, the melody typically moves from one voice to another in these arrangements, so sometimes the melody is the top note in the soprano and the harmony is below.

 

IMO it's better to have the harmony parts worked out ahead of time instead of just creating them on the fly. I know singers who can harmonize easily to anything but they are truly masters of their instrument. (I've heard guys come in on someone else's note and immediately adjust to the next one higher up.) While that's not a bad thing to shoot for I'd say most people for whom voice is a second instrument are better served with worked out arrangements.

[Eric VB]

Yes, that's true: baritones like me, and below, often have to sign a part an octave lower. Not that I'm often asked to sing..

 

I wouldn't mind being part of a church choir singing low harmony though

Unfortunately most choirs are SATB or SAT only; you'd have to choose between singing harmonies with the tenors or singing bass lines with the basses.

[Eric VB]

I think 3 part vocals is a major factor in separating bands [between merely ok and really good].

+1

 

We do not sing 3 part on every song; some are not recorded that way. I constantly get comments similar to, "I like it best when all three of you are singing".

[groove machine]

Thanks for all the great advice. Sometimes the 5th above is too high but maybe an octave down might be ok. Being able to sing a counter melody & play bass at the same time is way past my level right now but that would be a goal to shoot for.

[thabottomend]

A good trick for singing lower parts is to "feel" the note you're playing on the bass. It's right there at your gut, so you can match the vibration with your voice, whether you're singing that particular note or not. Harmony notes usually "feel" like they're vibrating in sync, no matter which part is being sung. Helps you stay on pitch.

[Griffinator]

A good trick for singing lower parts is to "feel" the note you're playing on the bass. It's right there at your gut, so you can match the vibration with your voice, whether you're singing that particular note or not. Harmony notes usually "feel" like they're vibrating in sync, no matter which part is being sung. Helps you stay on pitch.

 

Careful with this, though. If the melody itself runs counter to the chord progression, you'll find yourself delivering a very sour note, even though it sounds fine with the bass.

 

If I have to "make it up", I will usually sit down with the actual melody on paper and find a counterpoint that fits comfortably into my melody range. There is such a depth that non-parallel harmonies delivers that cannot be matched by the age-old "thirds" or "sixths" (think third, octave down) most rock bands deliver.

 

I recall when I was fronting for a band that did 100% original material, in the studio when I was cutting the vox for one song that had a particularly soaring final line, my second take I could feel that I wasn't going to hit it, so I dove down instead of up. This is how it turned out (lead top, harmony bottom)

 

D-E-F--D-A-Bb....G-A-G-F--E-C#

D-C-Bb-A-A-Bb....C-D-C-Bb-A...

 

While there were some interesting parallel 5ths involved, the counter passage at the outset created enough tension that it all worked, particularly since my timbre was completely different going into head voice for those high parts and singing in normal voice for the lows.

 

Be creative. Find funky notes that enhance the tension-release component of the song's melody. Be prepared to rehearse singing your part against the music without anyone else until you have it drilled into your head, so that you don't find yourself wandering when all three voices come into play.

 

I did the whole choir thing in high school, and my teacher was a jazz freak, so I got it full in my face how the different registers can interplay in ways other than parallels.

[The Bear Jew]

You got it full in your face.

[Paul K]

OK, so listen to the song and pretend you are a saxophone or trumpet. No. Really. I mean it. What notes would you like the horn player playing behind the vocals? Practice it, then exchange the "La-La's" for the words.