How To Sing Harmony

Music is life. Agreed, but not every piece of it! Only the harmonious one can be termed as life-giving. Actually it is only when instruments fuse to make a harmony that music is produced. Else, all that is created is plain noise. While music works wonders for soul, noise kills it. Having established that, the question which arises is how to sing with harmony? What is the point of playing the best music on earth if all you intend to do is butcher it with your out-of-tune singing? Humming adds life to music, but only when you do complete justice to it. You may not be the lead singer of the group, but that does not mean you need no rhythm. Every singer needs rhythm to compliment the song and come out with a superb musical piece. However, not everyone is blessed with harmonious singing. If you are one of those who get really upset when you see two people singing in perfect harmony with each other, wondering what went wrong at your turn, know that they are not doing any magic. All that they are doing is following the rules of music. Go through a few rules listed below and you too can equip yourself with singing harmony.

Singing Harmony

Singing harmony involves two voices. So, the first step would be to find a voice that complements yours. In a harmony, one person sings along with the melody, while the other one usually sings above or below the melody. You may use a musical instrument like a guitar to strike the first note and then follow it up with your pitch. Later, on cue, the second person may join you at a higher or lower pitch to give the much desired effect of the harmony.
Always take a song that you like. A not-so-favorite song will make you not like the entire practice and you may end up disliking the whole experience. There are no technically correct songs - there are songs that you either like or you don’t.
Once you have found a perfect pair for your favorite song, the next most important step would be to learn your song by heart. Also, you need to learn all the intricacies that the music demands. Not knowing your song is a huge drawback in any kind of singing. So make sure you know all the notes and lyrics, before you attempt to start practicing harmony. Learning both the voice parts is what the trainers usually recommend. This way you would be able to understand the subtle changes that the song involves.
Make sure that you practice with some musical instrument. Practicing on an instrument will make you realise if you are singing all the notes correctly or not.
Train your ear to identify the various notes. Sit with a piano and press just any note on to it. Hold on to that note and try to sing it. You may not get the note right in the first attempt, but with practice you will be able to not only sing the correct notes, but also identify them whenever you happen to hear them.
In case you are due for a group performance, it would be best if you practice with your group. It will help you understand the note at which all your group members are singing. This, in turn, will help you hold on to the melody and sing well with others.
Lastly, remember, singing harmony is fairly simple and can be done in all the genres of music, be it pop, rock or even jazz. Just the correct rise and fall of pitch would do wonders to any kind of music that you are planning to play. If, by any chance, you think you cannot catch up with things on your own, then consider taking formal singing lessons.

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