Harmony is two or more different notes sung at the same time that sound good together. You've heard it all your life: in a choir, in a band's backing vocals, in a family singing round a table. You don't need any theory to enjoy it, and you don't need much to start singing it.
Melody and harmony
The melody is the tune: the line you'd hum if someone asked you to sing the song. It's what most people remember.
A harmony part is a different line that goes with the tune. It might sit a little below it, or above it, or hold a long low note underneath. On its own it can sound odd, even dull. Sung with the melody, it makes the song sound fuller and warmer.
When several people sing different parts at once, each part on its own is just a line. Together, they make harmony.
Chords in plain words
A chord is a handful of notes that sound good together. The most common chords have three notes: start on one note of the scale, skip the next, take the one after, skip again, take one more. In the key of C, that gives C, E and G.
In a song, the chords change every bar or so, and the melody moves through them. A harmony part usually sings a note from the chord that's underneath at that moment. So when four people sing four parts, they're often each singing one note of the same chord, and the chord moves along with the song.
Why it sounds good
Some notes blend so well that they almost seem to melt into one sound. A note and the one a fifth above it is a strong, open blend. A third is sweeter and warmer. Most of the harmony you love is built from these two.
Harmony also sounds good because it moves. A chord that feels a little restless leads to one that feels settled, like a question and an answer. At the end of a song, the parts often land on the home chord together, and you feel the song come to rest.
Moving together, or moving apart
Harmony parts move in a few simple ways:
- Parallel: the harmony follows the tune at the same distance, often a third below. When the tune goes up, so does the harmony. This is the easiest kind to learn, and it sounds sweet.
- Holding: one part stays on the same note while the others move. A bass holding a low note on "oo" is a good example.
- Contrary: the harmony goes down while the tune goes up, or the other way round. It sounds rich, and it's a little harder to hold, because your part pulls away from the tune.
Most songs mix all three. When you learn a part, it helps to notice which one is happening: "here I follow the tune", "here I hold", "here I go my own way".
You can sing it
Singing harmony isn't a gift some people have and others don't. It's a skill, and it comes from hearing your part on its own first, then holding it while the tune plays. Voices are what this is for, but if you play an instrument, the same ideas apply there too.
Try it in Stackapella
Happy Birthday is a good first song for hearing all of this at once. The soprano sings the tune, the alto follows it a third below (that's parallel harmony), the tenor fills in the chord with the words, and the bass holds the root of each chord on "oo".
- Pick the alto and Listen to it on its own, a phrase at a time, with its guide voice.
- Turn on Chords underneath to hear the chords the parts are built from.
- Sing along with the guide while the other parts come in, and watch your notes light up as you hit them.
- When you know it, Record your part with the others, then choose another part and add it over your own voice.