Easy Way To Write Vocal Harmony (Vocal Harmonies Tutorial)

Easy Way To Write Vocal Harmony - This “How I Produce” video is a part of a Vocal Production mini series and is all about how to write vocal harmonies. We go through both simple and slightly more advanced (but still accessible!) techniques for vocal harmonisation that will allow you to create some great sounding harmonies for your track!
Harmony can be a huge and confusing topic - many people study it for years! But there are some simple techniques that we can use to write vocal harmonies without needing a vast and in-depth knowledge of music theory. This video is aimed at beginner and intermediate musicians, audio engineers and home producers.
Topics and Timings:
1. Intro (0:00 - 1:12)
2. Do We Need Music Theory? (1:12 - 2:18)
Is music theory really essential when writing vocal harmonies?
3. Simple Harmonies (2:18 - 2:30)
Simple harmonic devices we can use that require no music theory
4. Octave Doubling (2:30 - 5:38)
What is octave doubling and how can we create octave doubles?
5. Repeated/Pedal Notes (5:38 - 6:57)
Creating a harmony line out of one repeated note
6. Chord Notes (6:57 - 8:23)
Creating a harmony line using the chord progression of the song
7. Intermediate Harmonies (8:23 - 11:11)
Some more adventurous harmonic techniques we can use and what genres they’re commonly heard in
8. 3rds (11:11 - 11:36)
Creating a harmony line out of 3rds
9. 4ths (11:36 - 12:00)
Creating a harmony line out of 4ths
10. 5ths (12:00 - 12:40)
Creating a harmony line out of 5ths
11. Final Thoughts (12:40 - 13:51)
The vocal example used is “Happy Birthday”. The background music was written and produced by George Agombar.
Thank you so much for watching this video, I hope you found it useful! Please let me know what you thought in the comments and if there are any videos you would like to see.
Follow me:
Facebook - thirdfretltd
Instagram - @thirdfretltd
Soundcloud - / georgeagombar
Website - www.thirdfretltd.com
george@thirdfretltd.com

Пікірлер: 87

  • @The-End-Of-The-Line
    @The-End-Of-The-Line20 күн бұрын

    Thank you. Very straightforward explanations and demonstrations

  • @YashMittalfav
    @YashMittalfav2 күн бұрын

    Too good and simple explanation!! ❤

  • @nisachannel7077
    @nisachannel7077 Жыл бұрын

    You're amazing!! Please do make another video with advanced harmonies please! I love your teaching style: simple, clear and effective!! Thank you so much!

  • @valeriasaponieri5588
    @valeriasaponieri55882 жыл бұрын

    Finally a clear and accessible video about harmonies. Thank you!

  • @josephiladelphia8733
    @josephiladelphia8733 Жыл бұрын

    The content is mega, clear and simple. And listening to you speaking is a pleasure. So eloquent, clear accent, polite. Just lovely

  • @michaelamarie4288
    @michaelamarie42882 жыл бұрын

    Very clear and easy to understand. Thank you!

  • @Guillen_music
    @Guillen_music Жыл бұрын

    Fantastic and clear way to understand harmonies, thank you

  • @marylinsanimehottakes
    @marylinsanimehottakes2 ай бұрын

    A video on more advanced harmonies? YES PLEASE!!! Thank you so much for this video ❤

  • @EljayPucan
    @EljayPucan6 ай бұрын

    Clearly explained. Thank you!

  • @Firamiel
    @Firamiel2 жыл бұрын

    Great video!! Thank you, it was super helpful!

  • @qnguyen1947
    @qnguyen19472 жыл бұрын

    Hi George , your videos were great , simple but concise . Please continue with your good work on writing vocal harmony . Thank you .

  • @BrianSmith-ow9gy
    @BrianSmith-ow9gy6 ай бұрын

    Lovely stuff, very clearly explained.

  • @forester_overland_nz
    @forester_overland_nz Жыл бұрын

    Awesome explanation!

  • @luiscepeda3058
    @luiscepeda30582 жыл бұрын

    So simple and complete tutorial. Glad I found you!! 😄

  • @Drawingve
    @Drawingve Жыл бұрын

    Wow! What a great, great lesson👍🏻

  • @profesami
    @profesami2 жыл бұрын

    best video. Exactly what I was looking for

  • @gingerlacey738
    @gingerlacey738 Жыл бұрын

    Wonderful,thanks,will give it a try soon.very clear and concise .

  • @guitarwalljams
    @guitarwalljams9 ай бұрын

    So helpful! Used these techniques recording vocals with my band.

  • @LiveLooseLeaf
    @LiveLooseLeaf2 жыл бұрын

    Great video!! Thanks

  • @nisachannel7077
    @nisachannel7077 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you. So useful!

  • @zaherfaraj4936
    @zaherfaraj49362 жыл бұрын

    thank you very much, very clear and informative .

  • @bedward320
    @bedward3203 ай бұрын

    That was great!

  • @skehlaaj
    @skehlaajАй бұрын

    Thankyou! This was such a great tutorial! I would really love another more in-depth look at how to make much more complex harmonies as well.

  • @pedrocatoira2695
    @pedrocatoira26958 ай бұрын

    I loved the video. I would like to see more advanced techniques please ♥

  • @louaguado995
    @louaguado9953 жыл бұрын

    Have you ever tried the 3rd or 5th but an octave below? Many soul duets and gospel singers do it. "Endless love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie is a great example. I've even heard several ac/dc songs where the harmony was the 5th note of the scale but the 5th note was an octave down.

  • @kallelaakso130

    @kallelaakso130

    2 жыл бұрын

    Octave harmonies are not that common i think. But I really like them. Especially if a chest voice is doubled an octave higher in falsetto.

  • @filipmilojkovc6146

    @filipmilojkovc6146

    14 күн бұрын

    I will try this :D tnx

  • @youmustberoy
    @youmustberoy2 жыл бұрын

    Great, thanks

  • @billfoley9011
    @billfoley90112 жыл бұрын

    That was great. You left out trying to stay within the 3rd and 5ths and not being afraid of making a mistake, but I'm sure you have helped a lot of people sing.

  • @shemayyan7427
    @shemayyan7427 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for theaching me today. I love you.

  • @richardpictures
    @richardpictures2 жыл бұрын

    Great video George!. Just a heads up - usually with 4ths, melodies are harmonized a 4th down (this way you get the 5th of the key). Harmonizing a melody a 4th up will get you some pretty wild and dissonant results - so it's pretty rarely found in popular music!

  • @WellingtonDuarteCanal
    @WellingtonDuarteCanal3 жыл бұрын

    Lovely

  • @siddharthasekhar9434
    @siddharthasekhar94343 жыл бұрын

    This was very useful , thank you ! Regards from India !!!!

  • @prachipragatibarik7507
    @prachipragatibarik75073 жыл бұрын

    Nice Video

  • @HongFeiHo
    @HongFeiHo2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the clear explanation and ideas. Hadn't really thought of the pedal point one but it goes well. SM

  • @EEC350
    @EEC3502 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the video! Really helpful :) Could I suggest next time you could use a different colour on the sheet music for the original melody and the harmony notes so it's clearer to see which is which? It's difficult when they're both white!

  • @boazsaho97
    @boazsaho97 Жыл бұрын

    I would like a crash course on every single thing to consider when finding the harmonies of any new song at all I come across

  • @charlesgraham4286
    @charlesgraham42863 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the video appreciated

  • @ThirdFret

    @ThirdFret

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for watching!

  • @markvann3831
    @markvann38312 жыл бұрын

    Wow! I absolutely love your voice, and thank you so much for these wonderful tips on harmonizing! I couldn’t help but to sing along to each of your pieces. I really, really love your voice! I couldn’t help but give a notice to how-when I sang with your demonstrations, the harmony gave me goosebumps lol. Maybe we could do a collaboration sometime… :-)

  • @peterdrake5156
    @peterdrake5156 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent video - clear and direct. Any chance of something on writing jazz harmony? I am trying to put together a few arrangements of some famous tracks such as All of Me and others to take to a choir rehearsal...

  • @mulombaluabeya753
    @mulombaluabeya7537 ай бұрын

    Fantastic ! I don't write nor read music notes because I do not have time to go into deep music theory. This younger lady is way talented than most of the people on KZread talking about vocal harmony tutorials. She has one of the most pleasing female voices out there.

  • @Lutemann
    @Lutemann2 ай бұрын

    Of course you can smooth out the sound of those 4th and 5th harmonisations by making sure all your notes fit the chord or at least resolve. That would take a little music theory knowledge. I have four rules for pop harmony. 1) use mainly 3rds and 6ths, 2) you can use any other interval if you resolve to a 3rd or 6th, 3) the harmony part should be smooth and easy to sing. 4) If a note doesn't sound good, change it.

  • @ceruleanblue09
    @ceruleanblue09 Жыл бұрын

    I'd love for you to do a lesson on writing close harmonies heard in songs of the Swing Era. An example would be that of the Andrews Sisters.

  • @BobWestWA8YCD
    @BobWestWA8YCD11 ай бұрын

    This was helpful. It would be interesting to examine the harmonies used by the Beatles, The Eagles, and some of the other groups that are known for their vocal harmonies.

  • @1NOnlyAdityaOfficial
    @1NOnlyAdityaOfficial2 жыл бұрын

    Great ... make a complex harmony video ... ❣️🙏🇮🇳

  • @user-wt6ne2wy5o
    @user-wt6ne2wy5oАй бұрын

    I'd really like you to go further with the harmonies tutorial.Thanks

  • @maxguo5803
    @maxguo58032 ай бұрын

    thanks for the video. did you use audition on a macbook ?

  • @The-End-Of-The-Line
    @The-End-Of-The-Line20 күн бұрын

    Please could you demonstrate the harmonies in “Seven Bridges Road” by The Eagles?

  • @Accentor100
    @Accentor1003 жыл бұрын

    I often create two harmonies if I only have one vocal but want harmonies in a vocal. Should that be done with one on the third and the other on the fifth? I'd like to see a video on how to make double or even triple harmonies.

  • @josedarioleandro1538
    @josedarioleandro15382 жыл бұрын

    3rd and 6th.

  • @flmason
    @flmason10 күн бұрын

    Question about 3rds (4ths, 5ths, etc.)... if I'm harmonizing in 3rd in say C... does that mean say a D is harmonized by an F (3rd in key) or F# (Major 3rd)... I guess I'm asking "Are parallel thirds always a major or minor third... or does it change between major and minor thirds as we move around the scale?"

  • @mariak5023
    @mariak5023 Жыл бұрын

    What app are you using for the vocal doubling?

  • @originalvonster
    @originalvonster3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for another cool video, would definitely like to hear your advice on more advanced harmony. I’m not so familiar with country, are the 4ths used in county usually sung over regular major chords as a deliberate added 4th or is the chord voiced as a sus4 chord underneath the sung 4th? Or is it common to use different voicings so the 3rd and 4th aren’t a semitone away? Like an add11 instead of a add4?

  • @ximenalindsey5075

    @ximenalindsey5075

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi, it has been awhile since this Third Fret video was made, and there is some good basic advice in it. You may have already found some answers, but maybe this will address a couple of your questions (which were very good, by the way). An example of some vocal harmony 4ths in country music would be in The Judds' song, "Mama He's Crazy." I'd encourage you to listen to the high harmonies near the beginning of each chorus -- particularly the phrase, "crazy over me." Another spot is the tag toward the end of the song, when they repeat, "Mama, he's crazy." Granted, the high harmonies do contain a mix of passing intervals (mostly 3rds that stay with the melody and still maintain the current triad), but it's likely you'll be able to identify the prevalent 4ths in the main harmony structure. This is in keeping with the fact that these 4ths tend to occur when the underlying chord in that portion of the song is also a 4 (subdominant in relation to the tonic chord.) Hope this helps!

  • @originalvonster

    @originalvonster

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@ximenalindsey5075 Thank you for taking the time to reply and for the example. I hadn’t figured out the answer to my question so I really appreciate it. I will have a look into it and analyse your example. Thanks again.

  • @PatMeruseye
    @PatMeruseye11 күн бұрын

    Cool 🎉🙂👌🏻 Can anybody say, what song it is, that's playing in the intro? `And things will never be the same when I hear your name since you kissed me in the rain.. '

  • @mdderrek9280
    @mdderrek928010 ай бұрын

    What about a 3 or 4 part harmony? wanna learn that!

  • @hassanghanem4203
    @hassanghanem42035 ай бұрын

    ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

  • @mrtrench6784
    @mrtrench67843 жыл бұрын

    Thank you. What would adding a 7th do? I believe that 2nd doesn't usually work but we also get some 6th chords - what does that do?

  • @ThirdFret

    @ThirdFret

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for watching! Both using a 6th and a 7th will cause a slightly clashing sound as they are suspensions, this is because the 6th and 7ths aren't "chord notes". Adding a 7th tends to work when you're wanting to lead back to your tonic (the root chord). We normally use them at the end of a chord progression, for example, C-F-G7-C. The G7 makes the listener expect to hear the C chord again so is really effective and gives a nice resolved sound. To me, 6ths sound very blusey and warm, so can be a really nice suspension to use when writing harmonies. Hope this helped! I'm planning to do a more advanced harmonies videos when we'll look more at these and how to use them :)

  • @mrtrench6784

    @mrtrench6784

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ThirdFret Thank you. Any thoughts on harmonising when using a pentatonic scale?

  • @GREGORSALSA
    @GREGORSALSA3 жыл бұрын

    Hi Georgina! It is an awesome video, thank you first of all. I have a question: is it okay to use 3rd for a couple of words and 4th or 5th for others? Can we mix it up basically

  • @KariKauree

    @KariKauree

    2 жыл бұрын

    Do what sounds cool to you.

  • @mukul.k
    @mukul.k3 жыл бұрын

    What song is being played before every chapter of your video i like that ..

  • @ThirdFret

    @ThirdFret

    3 жыл бұрын

    It one of my own songs called "Fool For You". It's not been released yet, but I plan to release it after my next single!

  • @mukul.k

    @mukul.k

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ThirdFret it would be awesome then.🌝🌝

  • @farabiislamnaeim1543
    @farabiislamnaeim15432 жыл бұрын

    I want vocal harmony tutorials through FL Studio. Please watch the tutorials on your channel soon. I will watch your video all the time. Please keep my request. Thank you.

  • @michaelkelly6583
    @michaelkelly65833 жыл бұрын

    Same question as Gregory…

  • @MateusSilva-ix3wd
    @MateusSilva-ix3wd3 жыл бұрын

    Does anyone know some good way of practicing vocal harmonies to achieve them more instinctively?

  • @MateusSilva-ix3wd

    @MateusSilva-ix3wd

    3 жыл бұрын

    Nice vídeo btw

  • @ThirdFret

    @ThirdFret

    3 жыл бұрын

    Personally, I find that it's really helped me to listen to a song and try and sing along to the main harmony line rather than singing the melody line. It's definitely something that comes with time and practice but you'll get there! :)

  • @farabiislamnaeim1543
    @farabiislamnaeim15432 жыл бұрын

    This setting would be very useful if you could show it through FL Studio

  • @andyangyh
    @andyangyh3 жыл бұрын

    Just a personal opinion but as someone who has learned to sing harmonies "instinctively" (it took a lifetime!) the sound of a fourth sounds discordant to my ears. Putting a third and fifth on top of the tune work well for me (I am male) and sometimes a pedal harmony as well but a fourth really doesn´t work for me. I´ve used Melodyne but anything more than a fifth up starts to sound too "chipmunky" although I can, on some of my songs reach those notes. A pedal harmony an octave down is usually within my reach but going for an octave higher harmony requires clamping the capo to the singer rather than the guitar!

  • @lyneicehaynes4922
    @lyneicehaynes49222 жыл бұрын

    I like to sing Acapella Without The Music from BandLab.

  • @mr.yellowstrat3352
    @mr.yellowstrat3352 Жыл бұрын

    "Happy Birthday Dear Doo-Doo" 💩

  • @jaredmarshall9439
    @jaredmarshall94393 ай бұрын

    Happy birthday Dear Doo Doo? 😂 🎂 💩

  • @libertycowboy2495
    @libertycowboy2495 Жыл бұрын

    Am I the only person wondering who dear Doo Doo is?

  • @germanlaguer8257
    @germanlaguer82573 жыл бұрын

    This is the first of your videos that made me hesitate about how useful it is. I have some knowledge of music theory, so I admit that this video is not intended for me. I am just wondering how much a non-academical musician will understand. The fact that you use quite radical examples (all-thirds, all-fourths and all-fifths) is quite limiting in my opinion, and in fact the almost-robotic results might scare away a viewer that might be considering taking music lessons. Or perhaps "Happy birthday" was not the best choice to makes harmony examples, I don't know. I guess I was expecting that at the end you would have encouraged the viewer to combine these intervals along the song lines, to give harmonic variation, which is what happens in most compositions. But maybe you are planning to follow up in future videos, so please don't take this as harsh criticism, at all. You probably spoiled me with the other videos, where I found everything perfect. ;)

  • @Thorum13
    @Thorum132 жыл бұрын

    I had to stop watching when she sang "Happy Birthday dear Doo-Doo"...

  • @yuriebecker
    @yuriebecker2 жыл бұрын

    would you marry me?

  • @k.t.ingram375
    @k.t.ingram3753 жыл бұрын

    those harmonies were terrible. i don't mean you singing but they really clashed.

  • @ThirdFret

    @ThirdFret

    3 жыл бұрын

    I agree that the 4ths were a very clashing harmony. This is because there were multiple 4th harmonies in a row in the example I used so that I could clearly show what a 4th sounded like. In the real world, you wouldn't use as many consecutive suspensions (the 4ths are suspended as they're not a chord note), you'd use one or two in passing to add that emotion :) I also mixed the harmonies a lot louder in the examples so that they could be clearly heard, when mixed properly, the harmonies should sound as you'd expect them to :)

  • @k.t.ingram375

    @k.t.ingram375

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ThirdFret i know exactly what you did but it sounded horrible, lol

  • @webleydevelopment

    @webleydevelopment

    3 жыл бұрын

    ken.. thats what harmonies are.