Singing harmony

[ChordGirl]

I've started doing this lately and have to say it really helps. Just being able to listen for and pick out the harmonies is the first step. Then mimic them, then put them into a spot where they aren't but "should be."

 

Yes, it helps a lot. Funny, last night a Madonna song came on the radio and I started singing along with it in the car. About half-way through I realized I was doing a low harmony to it and had listen to find the actual melody. I thought I was just singing the main line there for a second.

[DunedinDoug]

 

It's weird, isn't it? I can't imagine how others don't hear it. It's just...there.

 

 

My dearest friend is a fantastic drummer who occasionally sings lead. I cannot change the key we play one of his songs in without losing him completely. He can only sing the key he has playing in his head. PERIOD. He knows I sing harmony yet doesn't have a clue. On the other hand, playing drums is a complete and alien mystery to me. I sit down behind his kit and look for the on/off switch. He looks at me like I'm an idiot. I am.

 

I can appreciate a great painter but cannot draw a straight line. I can sing harmony as easily as falling down. Nonething to it. I couldn't play drums to save my life and, believe, me. I've TRIED!

 

There MUST be a genetic component!

[MusicalSchizo]

SOMETIMES it works. The Byrds covered Dylan. On the other hand, adding a third part to an Everly Brothers tune might sound...weird. It's still good practice, though!

 

I agree completely - it is excellent practice. Definitely teaches you how to hear complementary parts.

 

But it should, in almost all cases, stay at practice.

Brian V.

[flemtone]

 

My dearest friend is a fantastic drummer who occasionally sings lead. I cannot change the key we play one of his songs in without losing him completely. He can only sing the key he has playing in his head. PERIOD. He knows I sing harmony yet doesn't have a clue. On the other hand, playing drums is a complete and alien mystery to me. I sit down behind his kit and look for the on/off switch. He looks at me like I'm an idiot. I am. I can appreciate a great painter but cannot draw a straight line. I can sing harmony as easily as falling down. Nonething to it. I couldn't play drums to save my life and, believe, me. I've TRIED! There MUST be a genetic component!

 

 

 

I used to be a drummer. Had all the gear, had been drumming for several years. Got into a band as a drummer...then gave up drumming. Why? I couldn't sing while playing.

 

I don't know how guys like Levon Helm do it! I went from drumming to picking up the bass and have stayed with bass since then (early 70s) because 1) I've gotten okay at it after all these years, and 2) I can sing while I play.

 

To paraphrase Gene Kelly in 'Singin' in the Rain' - "Gotta sing!"

 

You sound like another one of us - those that can just naturally 'hear' the harmony. It's so cool, eh?

 

My band was working on a cover of Louis Prima's "Jump Jive and Wail" (covered a few years ago by the Brian Setzer Orchestra) last night. I'm singing lead and Billy (guitarist/vocalist) tossed in a high harmony. It sounded good, but it needed a small change, so I pointed it out to him. Andy (our other guitarist/vocalist) wanted to throw in a harmony as well, so I sang a part lower than the melody line for him. We put them all together and it sounded great. Meanwhile, I'm thinking "If we had another two voices, they could go here and here - this one down a step from that one, and this other one up a step from this one over here...". I'm hearing the harmonies in my head, seeing the chording and intervals. I tried to explain the other harmonies to the rest of the band...

 

They looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

 

I get that a lot.

[Taylor Davis]

In my olde band we would need harmonies and doubling in various parts. so whatever the lead singer did the harmony vocalist would just go lower or higher as the song dictated.

sometimes doubling in the same note works well.

a lot of times my bassist would (steal)sing my part(lead) so I without blinking an eye I would just do the harmony note whether lower or higher and the song remains the same.

as a lead and harmony vocalist my job is simply to listen and accentuate the jams.

I do it almost without thinking about it .

thanks for lettin me share

TD

[DunedinDoug]

 

I used to be a drummer. Had all the gear, had been drumming for several years. Got into a band as a drummer...then gave up drumming. Why? I couldn't sing while playing. I don't know how guys like Levon Helm do it! I went from drumming to picking up the bass and have stayed with bass since then (early 70s) because 1) I've gotten okay at it after all these years, and 2) I can sing while I play. To paraphrase Gene Kelly in 'Singin' in the Rain' - "Gotta sing!" You sound like another one of us - those that can just naturally 'hear' the harmony. It's so cool, eh?

 

 

I'm a big Poco fan. Their drummer, George Grantham, sang harmony while playing, usually the part ABOVE the harmony part that Timothy B. Schmit sang. So he was singing up in the rafters somewhere while holding down the rhythm section. I can 'hear' the parts he's singing and get a sore throat just thinking about 'em.

[flemtone]

yah, Grantham was great. To hit a high part above Schmidt is :phil:, but doing it while drumming is

[Surrealistic]

I have to say that, for me, I've never had to think about harmony. From a very young age I just naturally seemed to be able to harmonise without knowing anything about what I was doing. I remember a music teacher at school talking with admiration of how she'd heard some singers in some remote country (sorry it was a long time ago and I don't remember where!) who seemed to be able to ad-lib harmonies at will, and I remember thinking along the lines of "So what? I do that all the time".

 

I don't profess to have a great voice but that part of singing does come naturally to me. I do have to think about it when there are some strange chord changes but mostly I "just do it".