Stackapella Open the app

Unit 1 · Swing and settle

A calm, straight line

Hold a calm, straight "oo" for four, six, then eight seconds, light and easy, never a held throat: the straight tone that makes a chord ring. Free.

Sing this lesson

Free in the app: sing one lesson of each course with no account; a free account opens the course unit by unit.

More in Swing and settle

What it teaches

A straight tone is how chords ring. It's light and calm, never a held throat.

Start from the easy note. The same sigh, the same ease

Keep the line flat. No wave, like a calm horizon

Stay light. If your throat tightens, let the wave back in

What you sing

  1. Hold a calm, straight "oo" for 4 seconds.
  2. Now 6 seconds, still light.
  3. And 8 seconds. Breathe whenever you need to.

Singing safely

Never force a wave or shake it from your jaw or throat: vibrato grows by itself from an easy note, sung softly.

Free tools by Stackapella

All of these are free, and so is every course.

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.
Start the beginner course Open the app How Stackapella works

More free tools

No account, no ads. Each one keeps working offline once you've opened it.

See all 17 tools