If you’re familiar with Sojourn recordings or worship services, you’ve no doubt heard the vocals of Rebecca Dennison. Rebecca is an amazing singer, featured on Before The Throne (check out the “My Maker And My King†mp3 on our Before The Throne page), These Things I Remember (listen to “Faithful†and “Of Psalm 51†from that page) and our upcoming Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One. In this series for worship team vocalists and singers of all stripes, Rebecca focuses on principles and techniques for taking care of your voice. This week: how do sing harmony:
“I learned to sing harmony growing up in a church that worshiped with congregational 4 part harmony only. No band, no organ. Just voices. I spent 20 years of my life hearing 4-part sacred harp singing every Sunday. It was a huge tutorial. My suggestion: Listen to a lot of music. Pick out harmonies to your favorite songs when you driving around with your radio on. I’d say 90% of singing harmony is listening.” – Jamie Barnes
Personally, I learned to sing harmony in self defense. I have a low range for a female and most of the songs we sang in church when I was young sat in an awkward part of my range. Harmony parts typically stay either above or below the melody. I usually had trouble finding a part I could sing comfortably throughout the entire song so I wound up picking whatever notes sounded nice to me, some above and some below the melody. This may work fine if you’re the only back up singer, but if there are two or more of you harmonizing you will most likely need to stay either above or below the melody to make room for the other singers.
If you can’t find your part, try listening to the guitar or keyboard that’s accompanying the song. Usually one of these instruments will be supporting the melody and you should be able to pick out a harmony from the supporting notes they play. For example, you could focus on listening for the highest note the guitar plays and follow along with that, or you could try following the bass line.
Be willing to take direction. If the band leader asks you to try a different note, try it. If they ask you not to sing a certain section (either for dynamics, because there isn’t time to perfect the harmonies, or for some other reason), do so gracefully. Lastly, keep in mind the tips for good back-up singing. If you are singing harmony your job is to complement, not contend with, the melody.
Read “What Makes A Good Backup Singer?”
Read “Tips On Choosing A Voice Teacher”
