Harmonizing

Q: I’ve been a lead singer in a band for a few years. A couple of months ago I joined another group that has 3 singers and we are doing songs with lots of harmonies. I’ve never done this before and I’m feeling a little lost. I’m having trouble finding and staying on my part and everyone keeps telling me that I’m “sticking out” too much. Any advice?

A: Singing harmonies, whether as a background vocalist or as part of a vocal ensemble is very different than singing lead. As a lead singer you are singing the melody, the vocal part that is most obvious, and your job IS to stand out. When you are harmonizing, the goal is to create a full sound with each voice blending together. Sometimes the part you are singing isn’t as easy to hear as the primary melody. Also, if one voice is standing out over the other harmony parts, you won’t get the right “blend”.

Here are a few tips for singing harmonies:

1. Listen! One important step towards being able to sing harmonies more easily depends upon your ability to HEAR harmony parts more easily. If you’ve never sung harmonies before, it’s likely that in listening to music you’ve never really listened to the harmony parts.  So pick some songs that have a lot of vocal harmonies and see if you can start tuning into the harmony parts. It can take some doing, but the more you do it, the more your ear will begin to hear them Note: An understanding of basic music theory is very helpful when learning/creating harmony parts, but it’s not required. Many singers have done just fine using their ears.


2. Now that you’re beginning to hear the harmony parts, start singing along with them. Pick a part and just do your best to stay on that part. If you play piano or guitar, try picking out the harmony part and singing along with it.
   


3. Once you’ve figured out your part, listen to how it fits in with the “whole”. When singing harmonies, many singers attempt to tune out the other vocal parts, so as to stay on their own part. I’ve actually found the opposite to be much more effective. Tune into what the other singers are doing and you’ll be able to hear and feel how your part works with theirs. You’ll notice how your part makes sense and it will be much easier to stay on it.


4. Now that you all know your part, it’s time to work on the blend. Try matching your volume, phrasing and tone with the other singers. I find standing in a circle and singing toward each other to be extremely useful. If you’re part is standing out more than the others, try backing off on the volume. Remember, you want the parts to sound like one voice! The exception to this of course, would be if you are singing background vocals for a lead singer. In this case, the lead singer should stand out above the background vocalists.