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Unit 1 · Make it ring

A chord that rings

Hear a chord ring when every voice is tuned to the others, then hold its top note, mi, straight over three voices until it hums. Headphones on. Free.

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More in Make it ring

What it teaches

A barbershop chord rings when every voice is tuned to the others, so closely it hums. Here, one note is yours.

Hear it ring. Four straight voices, tuned

Then the hole. The top note, mi, is yours

Lower than a piano. A ringing third sits 14 cents under the piano's (a cent is a hundredth of a half step)

What you sing

  1. Listen to each chord, as often as you like. Headphones on for this whole unit: through a speaker the mic hears the chord too.
  2. Try it: hold mi with the three voices, straight, and let it settle where the chord hums. This one's practice. Medium-soft and easy: stop if anything tightens or hurts, and rest when hoarse. Headphones on.
  3. Now hold mi for four beats, straight, until it rings. Headphones on.
Try one round

Singing safely

Sing straight, not squeezed, at a medium-soft volume. Wear headphones: ringing needs them. Stop if anything tightens or hurts, and rest when hoarse.

Free tools by Stackapella

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Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
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