Easy Way To Write Vocal Harmony (Vocal Harmonies Tutorial)
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- Easy Way To Write Vocal Harmony - This “How I Produce” video is a part of a Vocal Production mini series and is all about how to write vocal harmonies. We go through both simple and slightly more advanced (but still accessible!) techniques for vocal harmonisation that will allow you to create some great sounding harmonies for your track!
Harmony can be a huge and confusing topic - many people study it for years! But there are some simple techniques that we can use to write vocal harmonies without needing a vast and in-depth knowledge of music theory. This video is aimed at beginner and intermediate musicians, audio engineers and home producers.
Topics and Timings:
1. Intro (0:00 - 1:12)
2. Do We Need Music Theory? (1:12 - 2:18)
Is music theory really essential when writing vocal harmonies?
3. Simple Harmonies (2:18 - 2:30)
Simple harmonic devices we can use that require no music theory
4. Octave Doubling (2:30 - 5:38)
What is octave doubling and how can we create octave doubles?
5. Repeated/Pedal Notes (5:38 - 6:57)
Creating a harmony line out of one repeated note
6. Chord Notes (6:57 - 8:23)
Creating a harmony line using the chord progression of the song
7. Intermediate Harmonies (8:23 - 11:11)
Some more adventurous harmonic techniques we can use and what genres they’re commonly heard in
8. 3rds (11:11 - 11:36)
Creating a harmony line out of 3rds
9. 4ths (11:36 - 12:00)
Creating a harmony line out of 4ths
10. 5ths (12:00 - 12:40)
Creating a harmony line out of 5ths
11. Final Thoughts (12:40 - 13:51)
The vocal example used is “Happy Birthday”. The background music was written and produced by George Agombar.
Thank you so much for watching this video, I hope you found it useful! Please let me know what you thought in the comments and if there are any videos you would like to see.
Follow me:
Facebook - thirdfretltd
Instagram - @thirdfretltd
Soundcloud - / georgeagombar
Website - www.thirdfretltd.com
george@thirdfretltd.com
Please continue teaching harmony ...very useful and helpful ! ...Thank you !
I have just now found this video. It is truly excellent. Very many thanks for your very clear explanation of a topic which was a mystery to me prior to now. Brian
Fantastic ! I don't write nor read music notes because I do not have time to go into deep music theory. This younger lady is way talented than most of the people on CZcams talking about vocal harmony tutorials. She has one of the most pleasing female voices out there.
You're amazing!! Please do make another video with advanced harmonies please! I love your teaching style: simple, clear and effective!! Thank you so much!
The content is mega, clear and simple. And listening to you speaking is a pleasure. So eloquent, clear accent, polite. Just lovely
Finally a clear and accessible video about harmonies. Thank you!
Too good and simple explanation!! ❤
A video on more advanced harmonies? YES PLEASE!!! Thank you so much for this video ❤
Great video!! Thank you, it was super helpful!
Hi George , your videos were great , simple but concise . Please continue with your good work on writing vocal harmony . Thank you .
Clearly explained. Thank you!
Thank you, please create advanced harmonies video
Wow! What a great, great lesson👍🏻
Very clear and easy to understand. Thank you!
Great video!! Thanks
Fantastic and clear way to understand harmonies, thank you
So simple and complete tutorial. Glad I found you!! 😄
thank you very much, very clear and informative .
Awesome explanation!
So helpful! Used these techniques recording vocals with my band.
Thank you. So useful!
best video. Exactly what I was looking for
Lovely stuff, very clearly explained.
That was great!
Wonderful,thanks,will give it a try soon.very clear and concise .
Thank you. Very straightforward explanations and demonstrations
That was great. You left out trying to stay within the 3rd and 5ths and not being afraid of making a mistake, but I'm sure you have helped a lot of people sing.
Thankyou! This was such a great tutorial! I would really love another more in-depth look at how to make much more complex harmonies as well.
I loved the video. I would like to see more advanced techniques please ♥
Great, thanks
Great video George!. Just a heads up - usually with 4ths, melodies are harmonized a 4th down (this way you get the 5th of the key). Harmonizing a melody a 4th up will get you some pretty wild and dissonant results - so it's pretty rarely found in popular music!
I would like a crash course on every single thing to consider when finding the harmonies of any new song at all I come across
Thank you for theaching me today.
I love you.
Thanks for the clear explanation and ideas. Hadn't really thought of the pedal point one but it goes well. SM
Thanks for the video appreciated
Thank you so much for watching!
Lovely
This was very useful , thank you ! Regards from India !!!!
Wow! I absolutely love your voice, and thank you so much for these wonderful tips on harmonizing!
I couldn’t help but to sing along to each of your pieces. I really, really love your voice!
I couldn’t help but give a notice to how-when I sang with your demonstrations, the harmony gave me goosebumps lol.
Maybe we could do a collaboration sometime…
:-)
Excellent video - clear and direct. Any chance of something on writing jazz harmony? I am trying to put together a few arrangements of some famous tracks such as All of Me and others to take to a choir rehearsal...
Thanks for the video! Really helpful :) Could I suggest next time you could use a different colour on the sheet music for the original melody and the harmony notes so it's clearer to see which is which? It's difficult when they're both white!
Have you ever tried the 3rd or 5th but an octave below? Many soul duets and gospel singers do it. "Endless love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie is a great example. I've even heard several ac/dc songs where the harmony was the 5th note of the scale but the 5th note was an octave down.
Octave harmonies are not that common i think. But I really like them. Especially if a chest voice is doubled an octave higher in falsetto.
I will try this :D tnx
In classical at least you shouldn’t use 5ths or octaves as they are known as bad voicing 3rds and 6ths are always good tho
Of course you can smooth out the sound of those 4th and 5th harmonisations by making sure all your notes fit the chord or at least resolve. That would take a little music theory knowledge. I have four rules for pop harmony. 1) use mainly 3rds and 6ths, 2) you can use any other interval if you resolve to a 3rd or 6th, 3) the harmony part should be smooth and easy to sing. 4) If a note doesn't sound good, change it.
Nice Video
I'd love for you to do a lesson on writing close harmonies heard in songs of the Swing Era. An example would be that of the Andrews Sisters.
Great ... make a complex harmony video ...
❣️🙏🇮🇳
I'd really like you to go further with the harmonies tutorial.Thanks
thanks for the video. did you use audition on a macbook ?
This was helpful.
It would be interesting to examine the harmonies used by the Beatles, The Eagles, and some of the other groups that are known for their vocal harmonies.
Could you analyze the masters of pop and 'rock' vocal harmony e.g. The Byrds, The Beach Boys and The Beatles?
Please could you demonstrate the harmonies in “Seven Bridges Road” by The Eagles?
I often create two harmonies if I only have one vocal but want harmonies in a vocal. Should that be done with one on the third and the other on the fifth? I'd like to see a video on how to make double or even triple harmonies.
Thanks for another cool video, would definitely like to hear your advice on more advanced harmony. I’m not so familiar with country, are the 4ths used in county usually sung over regular major chords as a deliberate added 4th or is the chord voiced as a sus4 chord underneath the sung 4th? Or is it common to use different voicings so the 3rd and 4th aren’t a semitone away? Like an add11 instead of a add4?
Hi, it has been awhile since this Third Fret video was made, and there is some good basic advice in it. You may have already found some answers, but maybe this will address a couple of your questions (which were very good, by the way). An example of some vocal harmony 4ths in country music would be in The Judds' song, "Mama He's Crazy." I'd encourage you to listen to the high harmonies near the beginning of each chorus -- particularly the phrase, "crazy over me." Another spot is the tag toward the end of the song, when they repeat, "Mama, he's crazy." Granted, the high harmonies do contain a mix of passing intervals (mostly 3rds that stay with the melody and still maintain the current triad), but it's likely you'll be able to identify the prevalent 4ths in the main harmony structure. This is in keeping with the fact that these 4ths tend to occur when the underlying chord in that portion of the song is also a 4 (subdominant in relation to the tonic chord.) Hope this helps!
@@ximenalindsey5075 Thank you for taking the time to reply and for the example. I hadn’t figured out the answer to my question so I really appreciate it. I will have a look into it and analyse your example. Thanks again.
What app are you using for the vocal doubling?
What about a 3 or 4 part harmony? wanna learn that!
Cool 🎉🙂👌🏻 Can anybody say, what song it is, that's playing in the intro? `And things will never be the same when I hear your name since you kissed me in the rain.. '
Question about 3rds (4ths, 5ths, etc.)... if I'm harmonizing in 3rd in say C... does that mean say a D is harmonized by an F (3rd in key) or F# (Major 3rd)... I guess I'm asking "Are parallel thirds always a major or minor third... or does it change between major and minor thirds as we move around the scale?"
So, is the Intro song a full song?
Thank you. What would adding a 7th do? I believe that 2nd doesn't usually work but we also get some 6th chords - what does that do?
Thank you for watching! Both using a 6th and a 7th will cause a slightly clashing sound as they are suspensions, this is because the 6th and 7ths aren't "chord notes". Adding a 7th tends to work when you're wanting to lead back to your tonic (the root chord). We normally use them at the end of a chord progression, for example, C-F-G7-C. The G7 makes the listener expect to hear the C chord again so is really effective and gives a nice resolved sound. To me, 6ths sound very blusey and warm, so can be a really nice suspension to use when writing harmonies. Hope this helped! I'm planning to do a more advanced harmonies videos when we'll look more at these and how to use them :)
@@ThirdFret Thank you. Any thoughts on harmonising when using a pentatonic scale?
3rd and 6th.
What song is being played before every chapter of your video i like that ..
It one of my own songs called "Fool For You". It's not been released yet, but I plan to release it after my next single!
@@ThirdFret it would be awesome then.🌝🌝
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Barber shop, quartet harmonies how is that done?
Hi Georgina! It is an awesome video, thank you first of all. I have a question: is it okay to use 3rd for a couple of words and 4th or 5th for others? Can we mix it up basically
Do what sounds cool to you.
I want vocal harmony tutorials through FL Studio. Please watch the tutorials on your channel soon. I will watch your video all the time. Please keep my request. Thank you.
Does anyone know some good way of practicing vocal harmonies to achieve them more instinctively?
Nice vídeo btw
Personally, I find that it's really helped me to listen to a song and try and sing along to the main harmony line rather than singing the melody line. It's definitely something that comes with time and practice but you'll get there! :)
Same question as Gregory…
This setting would be very useful if you could show it through FL Studio
Happy birthday Dear Doo Doo? 😂 🎂 💩
I like to sing Acapella Without The Music from BandLab.
Just a personal opinion but as someone who has learned to sing harmonies "instinctively" (it took a lifetime!) the sound of a fourth sounds discordant to my ears. Putting a third and fifth on top of the tune work well for me (I am male) and sometimes a pedal harmony as well but a fourth really doesn´t work for me. I´ve used Melodyne but anything more than a fifth up starts to sound too "chipmunky" although I can, on some of my songs reach those notes. A pedal harmony an octave down is usually within my reach but going for an octave higher harmony requires clamping the capo to the singer rather than the guitar!
"Happy Birthday Dear Doo-Doo" 💩
Am I the only person wondering who dear Doo Doo is?
This is the first of your videos that made me hesitate about how useful it is. I have some knowledge of music theory, so I admit that this video is not intended for me. I am just wondering how much a non-academical musician will understand. The fact that you use quite radical examples (all-thirds, all-fourths and all-fifths) is quite limiting in my opinion, and in fact the almost-robotic results might scare away a viewer that might be considering taking music lessons. Or perhaps "Happy birthday" was not the best choice to makes harmony examples, I don't know.
I guess I was expecting that at the end you would have encouraged the viewer to combine these intervals along the song lines, to give harmonic variation, which is what happens in most compositions. But maybe you are planning to follow up in future videos, so please don't take this as harsh criticism, at all. You probably spoiled me with the other videos, where I found everything perfect. ;)
I had to stop watching when she sang "Happy Birthday dear Doo-Doo"...
would you marry me?
those harmonies were terrible. i don't mean you singing but they really clashed.
I agree that the 4ths were a very clashing harmony. This is because there were multiple 4th harmonies in a row in the example I used so that I could clearly show what a 4th sounded like. In the real world, you wouldn't use as many consecutive suspensions (the 4ths are suspended as they're not a chord note), you'd use one or two in passing to add that emotion :) I also mixed the harmonies a lot louder in the examples so that they could be clearly heard, when mixed properly, the harmonies should sound as you'd expect them to :)
@@ThirdFret i know exactly what you did but it sounded horrible, lol
ken.. thats what harmonies are.