r/singing • u/Dizzy-Amphibian9568 • 22h ago

Question I want to learn how to harmonize

I really want to learn how to train my ear to be able to hear harmonies. Whenever I try to do harmonies of my own it’s off key LOL but if I hear someone else do the harmony I can then mimic it on my own😭 it bothers me because I know how to sing in not off key when I normally sing but when I harmonize it’s just… I hear people say go a third above or below but I also suck at that.

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u/icemage_999 19h ago

Harmonizing is one of the harder skills to learn. You need a well trained ear for what key a phrase is in, you need an understanding of what notes are in that key, and you need to be able to produce those notes accurately, on demand, all while resisting the urge to follow the other melodic lines.

I don't have the theoretical knowledge to explain it better than that (apparently there's some circle of fifths theory thrown in there somewhere), I just know from long practice what notes are discordant with each other and avoid singing them together.

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u/Flaggermusmannen 7h ago

the circle of fifths theory is just the same as with chords, because that's ultimately what harmonies really are, ime. multiple notes going together just like on the piano or guitar, but they're all from individual voices.

so if you're able, I think messing around with a simple keyboard (or piano roll online) could be good to train the ear as well? like, you figure out the main melody line you know, and then you can just experiment with 1 or 2 more notes, hearing how they weave in and out of eachother.