Singing 2 vocals

[MichaelAngelo]

hi guys i'd like to know how the 2nd vocal figures out what to sing relative to the lead vocalist? you know eg. simon and garfunkel or the bee gees, where they have different people singing different tunes to produce an effect while the lead vocalist's melody still stands out. Any rough "guidelines" as to how they produce it?(as in how the 2nd vocals figures out what to sing) thanks in advance for all responses!

 

[rainedrop]

the harmonising has to be slowly trained and practised i guess.. if u wanna learn to harmonise, maybe u can try getting a karaoke vcd and switching off the lead vocal part. u'll be listening to the harmonising parts instead and u can try to "learn" them like how u learn the song (as a lead vocal). switch the lead vocal part back on and sing the harmonising part u've just learnt. now u're harmonising with the lead vocal! =) after more tries with more songs u'll get the feel of harmonising and will probably be able to harmonise on ur own next time =) just a suggestion though =]

 

[Taylorboy87]

for harmonizing, we usually harmonize the 3rd or the 5th from the root note. I usually do the 5th.

 

[Mayflower]

hi guys i'd like to know how the 2nd vocal figures out what to sing relative to the lead vocalist? you know eg. simon and garfunkel or the bee gees, where they have different people singing different tunes to produce an effect while the lead vocalist's melody still stands out. Any rough "guidelines" as to how they produce it?(as in how the 2nd vocals figures out what to sing) thanks in advance for all responses!

One of the easiest way to learn how to harmonise is to join a choir. Alternatively, you must be familiar with the song first. Listen over and over again until you are confident to harmonise. If you listen carefully, you can hear the music harmony in the background.

 

[btherl]

If you don't know the major scale, then learning that is a good place to start. Most harmonizing is done along the major scale. And as said before, it's usually at a distance of a 3rd (two notes up the scale) or a 5th (4 notes up the scale).

Coldplay songs have a lot of standard harmonies at a 3rd distance. They are good to listen to to get the idea.

The 3rd usually sounds soft and warm.. the 5th sounds more bare and bold. That's my impression anyway. The 4th is also bare and bold (it's just an inverted 5th actually). Similarly the 6th interval is also quite warm, since it's an inverted 3rd.