How To Sing Harmony | Train Your Ear

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Learning how to sing harmony and how to find the harmony of a song you're writing or producing can be super difficult unless it comes naturally to you. For most it doesn't, so let me know you how to find the harmony of a song and some exercises you can do to develop your ear.

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Video Sections:
0:00 - introduction
0:26 - four parts to the video
0:40 - what is harmony
1:02 - super easy music theory
3:40 - why do I need to know a bit of theory?
5:00 - finding and singing the harmony
10:06 - mind rattled, here’s a recap?
11:10 - exercises to get better at harmony
11:37 - cool hack to find the harmony

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Here are some common questions I've got in the past when people as me how to sing harmony .

🙋🏼‍♂️ What Is Harmony?
Harmony is when two or more notes are played at the same time. You've likely heard harmony if you've ever listened to music which I'm sure you have. Vocal harmony or singing harmony is something you've probably heard in a lot of music too. For example, Simon and Garfunkel were very famous for their vocal harmony or a band like Mumford and Sons are regularly singing in harmony.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Why Does Singing Harmony Sound So Good?
I honestly don't know. When I first started singing harmony it's like it set off a dopamine reaction in by brain. It actually feels good. I've heard many people say the same thing. I have no idea why, I'm not a scientist and I haven't gone down the road of looking into why. Do you know? Please share your ideas in a comment.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Can You Learn How To Sing Harmony?
Yes, you can. Although, I do believe you have some natural talent that helps. I grew up singing harmony before I really even knew what it was. I think that happens to a lot of people. If you start singing at an older age and you don't know what harmony is, it might take awhile before you get the hang of it. Think of it, do you remember learning your native language? No, you just learned by being surrounded by it. You never actually "practiced" it but now you're an expert. The same goes for music. The more you surround yourself with it, the more you will learn. Especially at a young age. Kids learn so quickly. They will pick up singing or instrument within minutes.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Is Vocal Harmony Only Used in Folk Music?
Definitely not. Harmony, in general, is a music fundamental. Every single genre has harmony. Vocal harmony, on the other hand, might be more specific in genres but I would suspect every genre has a bit of it. Even in hip hop and rap. The number of how many vocal harmonies you want to introduce in the song will also effect how "folky" it will sound. However, sometimes, adding a low octave harmony, or a low 3rd harmony, might hardly be noticeable but still add a nice character to the lead vocal.

#harmony #songwriting #musicproduction

[CharlesCleyn]

Link me to one of your tracks or demos that you've created harmony, I want to hear them ↓

[Dannykhc]

I look at singing harmony this way: pinpoint a note in the melody, then find a note to sing that sounds good with that melody note and which also sounds good with the underlying chord. In the Beatles Nowhere Man, John sings the melody line, starting with the b note, "He's...". The underlying chord is E major. This b note is the 5 note in the E major chord. The root or 1 note of E major is the e note which Paul sings. This e note is above the b note (high harmony). The 3 note of E major is g# which George sings. This g# note is below the b note (low harmony). So in this 3 part harmony, basically John, Paul and George are simply singing the notes of an inversion of the E major chord at the start of Nowhere Man.

[LaurieKeren]

When i started singing in jr high choir, I became obsessed with harmony. I began singing harmony with every song I heard, whether on the radio or at church. Before long I could hear harmony to almost any song. Its my favorite. I love love love singing harmony, and it is just second nature now. I hear harmony so easily now. (Jr High was over 40 years ago)

Whats also great is that there can be many harmonies, but only one melody. Its way more flexible. You just sing whatever note sounds good!

[MrYatesj]

This is a great video that opens the door to music theory. The chart you showed is a massive cheat sheet to understanding keys, chord structure, triads in both major and minor (flat the third) leading into modes and down the rabbit hole to more advanced concepts. Great lesson and congrats on 100K.

[juliannbacewicz]

You rock! How come harmony was never explained to me in such as an easy manner? Great teaching and talent, Charles. Thanks!

[stevenjaywalters]

I’m sure you have some good things to teach but repeatedly you stated that the triad of E was E, G sharp and A! I’m sure this is confusing many people. I understand that this was a mistake, but you really should go back and fix this.

[Crunch]

Great! Really great, nicely, simply put. Only thing, a few times at the beginning, you say E is made of e, g#, a. You meant b, or, h, as we say in Europe, not a.

[tomdrew]

I can sometimes harmonize when I sing higher, like falsetto. I would like to sing bass/ baritone harmonies, and come in under the other voices I'm singing with. And I would like to sing harmony at will, like turning on/off a light switch.

[marlo]

Great Lesson ..Thank You Very Much… Charles 🤙🏼🤙🏼❤️💯

[jackbaumun]

Fortunate that I found you via YouTube . I've always loved the harmony of Simon and Garfunkel, Lennon and McCartney etc .
Sound bite snippets of their work would help me wrap my brain around the lessons though .
You provide a great companion piece to "McCartney 3, 2, 1 " where he explains the 1, 3, 5 chord layout .
Don't know if he got into the harmony question or not .
But, I'm just learning .
I'll follow you for sure .
Thanks much for your efforts .

[christopher-xiey]

Been trying to do this for years, I just don't hear the harmony in my head when I sing with someone

[timothybradford]

E, G#, and B for the key of E Major... not E, G# and A... like you said that multiple times. lol

[dankerslauderdale]

Thanks Charles! This is very helpful. I’ve been struggling with harmonies.

[TheDTRadio]

That thing you are talking about (when you started talking about Mozart) is called an arpeggio. It's generally taught with scales.

[chibynite]

Great video! The most straightforward explanation I have ever heard.

[effthegop]

When I learned to record a few years ago I made an odd discovery. I found that I could easily and instantly harmonize with my own voice but had to work much harder mapping notes and learning parts when working with other people's voices.. I wanted to learn how to instantly harmonize with other people on the spot but I didn't get that far and have since quit playing music again.

[garudasomanna]

Loved to see the intensity in your approach to teach. GBU🙏

[caryheuchert]

Great video and tips. As for me, I always think of the melody in the verses to Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” to remember my major chord triad notes.

[musicbylammy]

Congratulations for hitting 100k buddy ❤

[msherer]

Being able to sing harmony is where you move from a make believe singer to a real singer who can sing the notes. much as a player on an instrument can play around a melody and the notes fit.