The 7 Levels Of Vocal Harmony (feat. A Capella Science)

[@12tone]

The first 1000 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: skl.sh/12tone27 Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) I should not that, obviously, this list isn't and could not possibly be exhaustive. Or, I mean, it kinda can be because most things could technically fall into one of the last three categories, but only trivially: I'm sure there's some radically different approaches that I either haven't heard of or didn't think of. Such is life, y'know? 2) On that note, I'd say the main thing that separates these levels is less technique and more philosophy. The guiding principles that would lead you to, say, an emphatic approach are different from the ones that would result in an oblique one. These are 7 (well, 9) ways of thinking about background vocals, and as I demonstrated a couple times, you can also combine those philosophies to make lines that serve multiple goals. It's up to you what you think works. 3) I considered including Jacob Collier's microtonal voice-leading thing, but ultimately I decided that fell under fancy notes, not fancy arranging. If you think I should've mentioned it... sorry. I'm doing it here instead, hope that's alright.

[@alfredoaran3372]

Hey! I really loved this video and your aproach to the topic. Most melodies I've been exposed to are harmonized in a tight way, so when writing my own music, many times I've had the feeling that I was doing something "wrong" when breaking away from that, so really, thank you, I feel validated now haha. Also, how would/where you classify the rare ocassions when a "harsh vocal"/scream/growl/whatever, is harmonized with clean vocals? Would the implied melody of the scream matter at all?

[@de7io407]

i got a 2 months but since my card is not big country issa declination

[@lucashulsman3509]

Is there any chance we could get to hear all of Tim's lines at the same time? Or certain selections of these lines, so that we can get an idea of how these techniques work together.

[@pegy6384]

Is that Calvin, representing Calvinball when you said "doing your own thing" at 13:56? I love that SO MUCH if it's true!

[@fredashay]

Re: doubling: Anne Reburn

[@breearbor4275]

"in my experience, background singers tend to be twice the musician their lead is anyways" shots FIRED

[@nef36]

I mean, in a band, the background singer is usually holding an instrument, while the the lead singer doesn't really have to if they cant play one. A

[@IRuinEvrything]

Cackles in Richie Sambora

[@YourMsRightHere]

[All the soprano jokes]

[@jesusjimenez3105]

as a lead, can confirm

[@gabeharris2201]

As a lead, it’s true but the lead is the performer

[@mikieswart]

“as a metal singer myself” a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one

[@nef36]

He's said it in the past.

[@exohead1]

They*

[@lindakan9809]

@@nef36 and this is why we try to normalize putting pronouns in your bio

[@MaggaraMarine]

​@@lindakan9809 Or be like Finland and get rid of gender pronouns altogether - the Finnish language only has gender neutral pronouns, so we have never really had the "misgendering issue" here. I think the "singular they" is great and people should start using it more often. In the past, "you" used to be plural, but now it's both singular and plural. The same could happen to "they" if people just started using it more.

[@Rachel-zm9up]

Have specific pronouns have been mentioned before?

[@Nate_Makes_Noise]

"Ah Greensleeves, it's so ... public domain." The state of music theory KZbin be like

[@wingracer1614]

You Watch, someone that did a cover of it 20 years ago will throw up a strike anyway

[@VynceMontgomery]

best part is the random three-circle drawing they do as they say that...

[@josephkarl2061]

*throws shade at Disney*

[@nibblrrr7124]

@@josephkarl2061 don't dare speak the name of The Rodent, it will hear us...

[@richardbloemenkamp8532]

How's about Scarborough Fair. Fortunately it's PubDom too and not written by S&G who gave Rick Beato a copyright strike a few days ago.

[@nuynobi]

1:34 Main Melody (unharmonized) 1:49 Level 0 - Background Lines 3:11 Level 1a - Unison Doubling 3:28 Level 1b - Octave Doubling 4:17 Level 2a - Tight Harmony (chord tones only) 5:13 Level 2b - Tight Harmony (colour notes added) 5:49 Level 3a - Oblique Harmony (chord tones only) 6:23 Level 3b - Pedal 6:49 Level 4a - Emphatic Harmony (syntactic accents) 7:06 Level 4b - Emphatic Harmony (metric accents) 7:53 Level 5 - Heterophony 8:53 Level 6 - Counterpoint (9:26 counterpoint harmony line isolated) 11:26 Level 7a - Complete Independence (filling gaps in main melody) 12:04 Level 7b - Complete Independence (combined with emphatic harmony) 12:17 Level 7c - Complete Independence (first few words stretched out) 13:37 Bonus Level - Second Line (layered with Scarborough Fair)

[@preronabaruah4503]

Thanks!

[@PasanRANASINGHE26]

People like u are a blessing ❤

[@Lilli_j31]

BRO THATNK YOU 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@jopoepina]

Thanks, however, its an incomprehensible video

[@JesusisJesus]

I learned one thing from this video, “Alas my love, you do me wrong, to cast me off dis-courteously.”

[@purplealice]

I grew up singing alto, and now I can fake a basic harmony part to almost any simple melody. (And doing so is fun.)

[@walkerjohnclark]

hah, you're not faking though, that's improvising

[@purplealice]

@@walkerjohnclark Well, I do sometimes find jazz harmonies creeping into my alto part :-)

[@66fitton]

I'm not surprised! Lol You guys always had the weirdest parts to sing. Never sounded like the melody line when you sang the part by itself. Have to admit though, the parts you guys sang under all those melodies were what made some songs haunting and others emotional. Four years as a tenor in high school. Loved it!! Cheers 🍻

[@tiyenin]

Tenor; same

[@migrantfamily]

Growing up I have been in every single part of a choir except maybe second bass. As a boy I was a bit soprano reaching the a above the staff easily, then as I progressed I sang with the altos in the grown-up choir for a while. When my voice changed I was tenor (first tenor if there was such a part) but in the mens’ choir I was first bass. Harmonising has been second nature since I started school. But I’ve been lazy lately and neither my instrument or my chops are where I’d like them to be.

[@daanwilmer]

One person at Universal Music Group was disappointed they couldn't monetize this video.

[@mahraba874]

Sadd’un

[@reubenshiflet]

Moneyn't

[@seabassthegamer6644]

I geuss Universal Music Group's copyright isn't so universal

[@Exspazament]

If Rick Beato made the video it would, blockers have a serious hate boner for him.

[@heggy_69]

Man I have almost no musical theory knowledge but I like to imagine watching this stuff makes something sink in

[@joshabrogena1240]

but watching stuff like this feels so weird like obviously there's some merit in knowing them and using the terminology but I'm likewise kinda glad that my first experiences with harmony isn't through music theory

[@boazcohen7992]

One thing to acknoladge: In modern music, all of those techniches could be enchanced and maginfied usin mixing and producing tricks - for example, you can pan differently the two lines permenently or have the lead staying panned on 0 and the background's pan automated over time. Another thing to consider is having a certain tone (compressed, chimy/reverbish, super bright or warm ect.) could help the listener tell which is the lead and wich is the background in the more advanced levels. I'm not that great of a producer, but I can tell these are powerful tools to concider when writing or arranging a vocal part.

[@HimanXK]

Frayed by The Naked And Famous does the panning thing and it ends with the two voices singing completely different parts on opposite sides of the head in a beautifully dizzying intertwining outro

[@acapellascience]

“Alas My Rug” - Tim Blais, 12:21

[@frigginjerk]

It really tied the room together.

[@meadish]

Harrass my lug

[@thenatureofsound2414]

@@meadish This almost made me choke to death 🤣

[@AvenMcM]

TIm's singing is so pretty... I know that's not substantive intellectual commentary, but it's true. :)

[@NeilABliss]

Loved this one. My theory prof ( a tenor) always described 4 part choral writing as such .. 1 Give melody to the Sopranos, as divas they won't work hard enough to learn more than that. 2 Give the Basses a slow moving root function, they're not to bright... so keep it simple. 3 God didn't give tenors brains, he gave them resonating space, write a part with little motion as possible and with out complex rhythm. 4 Give all the hard stuff and the weird notes to the Altos .... they're the only ones who have brains and practice. After watching your video I took your ideas and his , I wound up with very satisfying 4 part.

[@AmandaKaymusic]

I love singing tenor parts. I usually find them the most interesting. It could be the arrangement style Yani used, or maybe the arrangements were written knowing that particular choir had a fairly musically literate group of strong singers.

[@NeilABliss]

@@AmandaKaymusic could be, but what would I know? I'm a bass and we're not to bright! Lol

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

Alto here. 😎

[@SpaceNinja321]

As an alto, can confirm. 😆

[@caswellthompson6432]

I sing base and/or baritone and can confirm, no brain

[@loganstrong5426]

As someone who does all my own backing vocals to all my songs, I'm so happy to see that I've done all of these at one point or another. My absolute favorite is to do full chords, one above and one below the melody, and pan them in opposite ears.

[@petersilktube]

This was interesting. As a composer who doesn't write a lot of vocal lines but does write a lot of quite lyrical melodies and has a very layered-melody approach to composition and voice-leading I found that a lot of these things come quite naturally to me, all these techniques are very ingrained in to my approach to part writing. As I watched I started to think about what it was that I would have been listening to as a child that made me think of harmony writing in this way, and two things occured to me: 1) video game music on old hardware. When your hardware can only manage 4 or 5 simultaneous tracks, you end up writing a lot of countermelodies and using these kinds of tricks to imply more complex harmonies than the system is perhaps capable of producing with chord voicings. 2) I listened to a LOT of Beatles and as I watched found that they use pretty much every single one of the techniques and sub-techniques that you mention a some point in their output. So I guess it's no real surprise that when I write parts those are the techniques I reach for too.

[@mingnrich]

How many of these techniques did The Beatles use in just “If I Fell” alone?

[@sommeone]

I really like trying to improvise harmony with any songs I'm listening to (particularly simple songs that I really like... And boring songs...) and I looooooove oblique harmony for that, it can be so simple to do and it sounds sooooo good!!!

[@vzm4663]

Agreed, when it works it works amazingly, and its not so hard too 👏

[@ThePi314Man]

Oblique harmony, or as I call it, the bass line.

[@owencurtiscluff2149]

At 13:30 the lines blended in a very interesting way: "are you going to do me wrong" If you are going to write a second lead, you probably want to avoid that, unless you don't.

[@loganstrong5426]

Ah yes, the best music theory advice: "you probably want to avoid that, unless you don't." No truer words...

[@bryceabsher2225]

If I ever become a music teacher, that's going to be my mantra for my students. "You probably want to avoid that, unless you don't."

[@irresponsibledad]

And if you do it, make sure to tell people you meant to do it, even if you didn't

[@Ergoperidot]

That’s pretty awesome tbh

[@רפאל-ב]

"you probably want to avoid that, unless you don't" is a smart phrase, there are rules and you want to avoid breaking them, unless you don't. For example the fourth wall rule, you really want to avoid it, unless it's part of the concept of your creation

[@patrickhodson8715]

The first example of doubling I remember really noticing is in Pink's "just give me a reason" where the male and female parts that had been going back and forth and harmonizing for most of the song suddenly sing the same notes for the whole chorus, and with no accompaniment besides percussion. It's POWERFUL! You're expecting a dramatic hit or maybe even more harmony, but instead we have both voices on one melody line, and the percussion sticks around so we don't get lost. It really fits the narrative of the song well, as the two are deciding that, while things aren't perfect and they're struggling, they know they'll get through it and they can stay together

[@pamspray5254]

Can I just take a moment to thank you for making these videos? They're a constant reminder to keep practicing and working on my own music pieces. I have a tendency to fall into the pit of the unmotivated when I can't think of what I want to do and having someone talk [to me] about music theory kick starts my mind and gives me the drive to think about one of the many things I have a passion for. It's... really helpful. And this particular video has given me a couple ideas for a particular vocal piece that's been troubling me the past couple of weeks. So, thanks! Let's see what happens.

[@EpicStuffMan1000]

and sixty year old guitarists STILL say that it puts you in a box. sigh

[@aloysiuskurnia7643]

TIMESTAMPS (*) 1:34 - the melody (0) - Background lines 1:49 - Singing the thirds 2:21 - Singing the roots 2:54 - Arpeggiating the chords (1) - Doubling 3:11 - Unison doubling 3:28 - Octave doubling (2) - Tight harmony 4:17 - Simple tight harmony 5:13 - Tight harmony with "fancier" harmony (3) - Oblique harmony 5:49 - Chord tone harmony 6:23 - Pedal harmony (4) - Emphatic harmony 6:49 - Emphasis on words 7:06 - Emphasis on rhythm (5) - Heterophony - 7:53 (6) - Counterpoint - 8:53 (7) - Complete independence 11:27 - Filling in the gaps 12:04 - Emphatic variation 12:17 - Augmentation of the first 2 bar (*) 13:36 - Second lead

[@guillezav]

"As a metal singer myself" Who wants to hear some tunes boys??

[@Oswald927]

I have a music degree, and that is by far the best explanation I have ever been given for parallel fifths/octaves. I was always taught "bad thing don't do" and then "old rule feel free to bend" without any good reason WHY it was a "rule" beyond convention/tradition.

[@yvancluet8146]

you've mentionned too many times how you're a metal vocalist so at this point you just gotta show it

[@jery3385]

Yeah,I wish to hear some screams.

[@midstar1820]

Ugh I'd love to see you analyze the harmony of The Beach Boys.

[@bryanchandler3486]

It's not super complex but there's at least one decent harmonic analysis of God Only knows out there. What's crazy about that song though is that not only are the chords fairly complex by pop standards but the orchestration is as well. Which is why I think they actually keep their vocal Harmonies so simple on that one.

[@fatman7817]

Sorry, but not much there. Just like the Oak Ridge Boys.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Thank you for doing this, you picked my favourite subject! This video feels like it was made especially for me because I've sung most of the types of harmony you described :D Having been in a number of choirs in my life, mostly as a contralto, but as a teen I had a 3+ octave range (C below middle to E flat above high) and as a result I was often called on in the church choir to sing the coloratura part. My voice is so low these days I sing tenor. (Yes, I'm female, no I'm not kidding...). I'm also Welsh, and traditionally we've been renowned for harmonising off the cuff. I _think_ it was Geoffrey of Monmouth, but it could well have been another historian who was only partly joking when he said (paraphrasing here, but not much IIRC) that if there were 40 singers, one would sing the melody and the rest would make up their own harmonies as they went along (this was centuries ago if it was him writing it, but it still rang true to me in the late 20th century). Despite the potential for a musical disaster, I never heard one, not even in a pub when our vocal chords had been well and truly lubricated. [When I lived in Kent (in England) my parents came up to stay. Hubby took Dad to the pub - at the end of our street, it was very civilised there - and Dad called out the first order. The landlord looked at him suspiciously, then asked, "Are you Welsh?" Dad said he was. Then Roy (the landlord - who actually knew us very well) asked my husband if he was Welsh. The answer was no. At which point Roy said, "Thank God for that. One's all right but two's a choir!" Dad cracked up at that and never forgot it :D] Hymns are wonderful to sing in mass harmonies (though I'm no longer a member of a church, I still love the passion in the voices of great choirs singing them). Bach's tunes were always fun because more often than not, especially if we were singing a performance piece rather than part of a service, we'd let rip on the counterpoint and numerous forms of tight harmony, all in the same hymn. For a small choir we had a wide range of voices and a passion to sing our hearts out. I've always found singing with what we call _hwyl_ (which doesn't translate exactly, but has been described as 'giving it some welly' - i.e. putting your foot heavily on the accelerator pedal - but with a 'whole lotta love' ;-)) gives the best legal high it's possible to get. After a big concert with any one of my choirs, I'd feel like I was flying home! I miss that a great deal :( It was even better than being in the orchestras I loved playing in. Of course I played viola - harmonies rule!

[@bassman9261995]

There’s a lot of heterephony in old-time fiddle music.

[@SteevyTable]

Or any time you hand a trumpet section a piece of music and let them get bored.

[@bassman9261995]

Hahaha I guess that gets at the question of calling something “microtonal-heterophony” or a section that’s having a hard time playing together

[@diegodurdon]

Usually i speed up videos to spend less time on youtube, but with this dude i have to slow them down a lot bc he speaks really fast and gives a lot of information😅

[@kerpal1233]

I think Hamilton's Farmer Refuted is amazing in their vocal harmony as its basically two genres colliding.

[@snarkysnarkk4167]

That last section reminded me of one of my favorite punk songs of all time that hardly gets any recognition out of their discography. Million Miles Away by The Offspring They have your typical verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus bridge with the same guitar riff going underneath the whole time However that simplicity is flipped on its head and used against it when the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge are all sang at the same time, one coming in after the other in the climax It gives me chills every time I listen to it

[@SchmidtMinutes]

Finding harmonies has always been a challenge for me. I can learn written harmony parts in choral music easy enough, but throughout the entirety of my vocal program, no one talked about how to find/write out a harmony line. Most of the harmonies I arrange generally just sound good, but I find them at random.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

13:20 Giving the melody to the background and having the lead adlib is probably the most common use of independent harmony. It's all over pop music. Backstreet Boys' As Long As You Love Me has a decent example of this in the chorus. There's a role reversal as the main melody is carried by the support vocals and the still very distinct lead adds emphasis to certain lyrics.

[@PFDarkside]

Three years later I think this is still my favorite 12 Tone video. Purely educational with all of the personality. (And I learned and can apply everything!)

[@t-murph9371]

I’m so proud of my self that I understood all of that. I’ve taught myself by ear so much about vocal harmonies and how much life they bring in to your songs no matter what genre you do

[@srhatfield]

Bonus level = T'Pau Heart and Soul! I've loved that song since the first time I heard it because of the harmonies, the passion with which it is sung and the beautiful woman doing the singing... a triple treat!

[@annesmith9642]

Thank you, Cory. Tim Blais has such a beautiful voice. I'd love to hear that song all the way through.

[@Darth_Pro_x]

my favorite vocal harmony is between a few singer at the end of Les Mis epilogue, where they're singing "Take my hand, and lead me to salvation", it's done absolutely beautiful.

[@Darth_Pro_x]

10th anniversary version, if anyone's wondering

[@Ryandgeorgi]

Finally! There's a huge void on the internet when it comes to backing vocals. Thank you for patching it up!

[@TheDutchCreeperTDC]

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue comes to mind when talking about emphatic harmony, when Anthony sings "with the birds I'll share this lonely view" while John just sings "share this lonely" in a slightly different melody.

[@elwayfan01]

The chorus to The Righteous and the Wicked from BSSM has always fascinated me. John effectively sings the chorus as backing vocals. Anthony sings the same lyrics but faster. He starts the 'lead' in the 3rd bar and catches up in the 5th, then passes John and adds an extra line. It's an interesting take on backing vocals because initially it sounds like the backing is the lead (maybe it still is?)

[@zedkent4287]

Heyy 12 tone, awesome video, very inspiring! Do you still have a metal band or do you have records out on yt? Very curious to hear what you sound like on metal vocals

[@akmadsen]

I guess you could consider Beastie Boys' rap style ("don't you tell me to SMILE, you stick around I'll make it worth your WHILE") a sort of emphatic harmony?

[@wingracer1614]

Now that you mention it, it shows up in a lot of old school rap. At least among rap groups like Beastie Boys and Run DMC

[@themorrigan1312]

@@wingracer1614 yeah, there's a bit of that in RAtM too. The chorus of No Shelter comes to mind

[@Benji2N]

Exactly. I was about to write that before I saw this comment. Officially second the motion to rename "Emphatic Harmony" to "Beastie Boys Style"

[@akmadsen]

@@wingracer1614 Yeah, it's pretty common in old school rap, I just mentioned Beastie Boys because their use of it is so iconic.

[@pabloemiliorui2281]

CHIKA's Industry Games has a beautiful example of emphatic harmony

[@ariburnsmusic7412]

I like the way these descriptions also apply to horn arranging. Thinking about how this helps describe the layering of Roy Hargove's lines on songs like Spanish Joint, Feel like Making love, and all over all his RH-factor-related stuff in a more specific way than i was able to before... thanks!

[@hotdogskid]

I was thinking the same thing. Crazy race is a masterpiece that shows off a lot of these techniques

[@danoeb-g418]

These definitely don't translate directly to horn arrangements but it definitely gets you close. There's a few things to avoid when arranging horns that you can do in vocal harmonies. For instance you'd almost never harmonize trumpets with the harmony higher than the melody. But you'll discover the pratfalls as you go

[@ariburnsmusic7412]

Danoe B-G i mean sure, but know that you can apply any rule you want to achieve any sound/effect you want...... don’t limit your compositions/arrangements based on arbitrary rules such as “don’t harmonize the trumpets over the melody” - instead understand *why that rule exists in that context, and the effect it achieves*. Once you do that, you’ll know how to use the rule AND how to break it That’s how musicians grow and develop the art form/craft - establishing rules and then learning how to “break” them to achieve a specific sound! All about growth!

[@hotdogskid]

Ari Burns Music i agree, never limit your options. Trumpets are more powerful in their high range, so its really not a great idea to put anything but the melody or a counter line in the lead trumpet part. But i always keep those ideas in the back of my head just in case, for instance if a piece is being recorded i can manually adjust the volume of the trumpet track. Havent tried it yet, but if you know why something doesnt usually work it might be a cool effect to use it and fix it to where it does work.

[@budgetguitarist]

This is an outstanding explanation of harmony vocals! If my profs in college had taught anywhere near as well as you, I'd probably remember a lot more theory!

[@AmandaKaymusic]

I second that.

[@Rocjhead118]

Navi, Calvin and Zero all making guest appearances? 10/10 video. XD No joke, though. I love this video. As a vocally challenged musician, having these rules spelled out for me is useful if I ever need to do backup vocals. Although some I learned in music theory (like counterpoint), it's good to hear what other ways there are to do the job (that may be easier on the fly). Keep up the awesome videos!

[@Pablo360able]

“G does not sound good over D minor” yeah, but consider: it actually sounds amazing, and if the line went on long enough for you to resolve that incredible amount of tension it would be like a dam bursting over the village of harmony

[@Pablo360able]

@Hamburger the guy who made a video called “the best sounding chords ever: minor11 chords!” clearly disagrees with you

[@Pablo360able]

@Hamburger did you just compare people who have the objectively correct opinion that minor11 chords are some of the most beautiful chords in existence to a conspiracy theory

[@mgregory3777]

Well done. Thanks for adding "fill gaps" for the Tube riders.

[@nolanbalzer1796]

Thank you for this. The pace could have been overwhelming but was balanced by the mnemonic devices (doodles and audio clips) making this a powerful segment. I'll be visiting this video many times in the future.

[@PatrickSniderMusic]

I thoroughly enjoy these videos of yours. You explain the theory and reasoning behind why we do what we do very well, and the little relevant doodles are fun, too. Keep making this content. Cheers, man. 🤙🏼🎶

[@mctmaniac]

Just watched through the whole video and managed to grab a skillshare subscription. Excited to write and learn some music!

[@CreativeMindsAudio]

You just gave me a TON of confidence with this video. I knew all these things already but I thought everything was more complex than it was. I use Tight harmony, emphatic harmony, and counter point the most in my productions.

[@joelprenovault3633]

Thanks for this. Brings me back to my counterpoint classes. I love how you use a sharpie.

[@liquidsolids9415]

This was very cool. Thanks for the thoughtful and easy-to-understand explanation of composing vocal harmonies. Well done!

[@Eridan974]

I love the way you teach something. I usually do this when I want to learn; drawing things I want to remember of with cute little drawings.

[@IanWagner94]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! Looks like every video you post is something I was needing.

[@AmandaKaymusic]

I find that too. Always stimulating and well worded.

[@samllyn]

love to learn that oblique harmony has a name. when im in my room doing karaoke trying to harmonise, if i cant tell what a melody is doing because its changing too fast i fall back into oblique harmony. never fails to sound good.

[@lolcat23]

As someone who has never learned any singing and recently started in a choir in the bass (I’m told I’m baritone/bass, not a “true bass”) department, level three seems like what I do a LOT. Great content!

[@MegaCadr]

Like many of these, I’m following along fine, and then my brain melts. But good video!

[@rateeightx]

I do love how your example for the second lead was Scarborough Fair, a song of which probably the most famous recording notably uses, Well I suppose not exactly a second lead, But a similar thing, With a counterpoint melody singing different lyrics.

[@ruilopes6638]

Level 7 or the gentle giant/ spocks beard melody. It sounds so good. I love it

[@mikemetz4300]

Great video! This has quickly become my favorite channel on KZbin!! Thanks for the amazing content!

[@-tera-3345]

There's a Japanese movie called Anthem of the Heart, which centers around creating a stage musical, and they use a double lead harmony for a song in the climax to express the conflicting and complex emotions present at that point in the plot. It's such a neat trick, and a really cool moment.

[@omnistegan]

I've just re-started writing songs and I know basically nothing about vocal harmony so this video is a godsend. I've used doubling, but I now have at least 8 other things I can try, thank you!

[@roseguo]

Thank you for having Tim on your show! Lovely voice. Aloha!!!

[@annesmith9642]

I really want to hear Tim sing this whole song.

[@MaierFlorian]

As a hobby music producer it's surprising to me that I've already used many of those vocal styles without knowing that stuff from a music theory perspective. I've just used best practice methods in the music producer field. I'm interested in if I will use that stuff in the future more precise because of your video though :)

[@alakazam482]

My favorite example of second lead is from the song Blood of Angels by Brown Bird. The main singer drops out during the bridge where his wife comes in with a beautifully deep line. Then they both sing their melodies together for the next chorus, but the wife changes her melody notes as to not clash with the main melody and it sounds absolutely fantastic

[@Dahlily]

Omg thank you for talking about BGV! Im a vocalist and trying to produce and arrange neo soul/rnb type vocals and it's so difficult to figure out. And everyone talks about this or that side of production, but rarely about vocal arrangement. Thank you.

[@bryceabsher2225]

I love listening to random songs I have on my phone over and over and trying to come up with progressively more complex harmony lines, and sometimes it honestly does end up becoming a second lead. It's a great music exercise for practicing improvisation!

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Thanks for a terrific clip Cory. Guide tone melodies and harmonies fascinate me. Thorough and interesting, always something new to learn. Fantastic to have a clip specifically about the instrument, the voice. 😎🎶❤

[@orangejuice8339]

You probably hear this a lot but you’re content is top quality in music and you deserve way more audience. Nice job man!

[@icantthinkofascreenname3064]

Very interesting, I grew up singing accapella so I know nothing of notes & little of sheet music but harmonize by ear with songs all the time thanks to hearing so many harmonies over the years.

[@heavynov]

If you like oblique harmony, you'll love Byzantine chant/Orthodox church music from before the 19th century.

[@pattysmusic524]

Its nice to actually learn the names to harmonies I have been messing around with in my music. I think counterpoint and oblique harmony are some techniques that I blend with tight harmony. I don't know I just kind of write what sounds good. Very helpful video, thanks!

[@jamiehorten6468]

Dude thank you for this! I’m always learning and making every song better thanks to you 🤘🏻

[@GibusWearingMann]

"You can also combine this with the emphatic harmony approach, taking a particularly important lyric and splitting it out into an independent melodic line to drive it home." Ahh yes I too remember the final chorus of Baby One More Time

[@KrisCadwell]

Great practical information. Brings me back to when I was working through the exercises in The Study of Counterpoint. I kind of wish you had included an example of vowel blending so that we could hear exactly what we are trying to avoid, but I'm sure I can find that somewhere.

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Echoing t, ch, sss sounds could have been covered too. I hope we get more vocal clips in the future.

[@Shawnievalerie]

This was really neat. Thank you! I am a singer who has never gotten into manu details on theory, so this is helpful when it comes to learning the official harmony types.

[@Tanzbaer777]

Level 7 reminds me of good old Spock's Beard. "Thoughts Pt. 2" for example...simply great.

[@jlhitz35]

My uncle sent me a mix CD with Thoughts pt. 2 on it and it blew me away when they got to the verse. Been a fan ever since.

[@VoIcanoman]

@interspherian I thought of that too. And actually, Neal Morse was heavily influenced by the polyphonic components of Gentle Giant's music, though he did that kind of thing equally well (if you like Spock's Beard, you should give Gentle Giant a listen, they were themselves a pretty influential prog band back in the day). Aside from _Thoughts Pt. 2_ (one of my favourite songs - when I saw them live in 2007...during the Nick D'Virgilio frontman period...I nearly freaked out when they played it), Neal used the same technique a couple times on Snow, particularly on _Devil's Got My Throat_ : kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaPTYqSCfb2FjsU

[@IAmisMaster]

Gentle Giant are the kings of counterpoint in rock music.

[@greycastro1009]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours yet, and extremely helpful-thank you!

[@AJTurnsLeft]

I like how you picked Scarborough Fair to demonstrate Second Lead as Simon And Garfunkel did the Second Lead thing in their version.

[@tasfa10]

Extra points for drawing Calvin!!!! I love your channel!!

[@tomisin]

This video was honestly just amazing in every way. I don't normally leave comments but imma be saving this for sure

[@musicjunkie421]

This was just what I was looking for, so many great ideas regarding composing vocal harmonies

[@yuvalne]

"ah Greensleeves. So... Public domain" I died

[@andrewhawkins6754]

I always heard the song where the top note was flattened (the melodic minor version), so this whole video just bugged me every time that note came up.

[@jackulstrom9150]

was JUST thinking this

[@nickmorgan19457]

Same

[@lexin8139]

I've always heard the melodic minor version too. I sang this for solo and ensemble one year and the version I sang had the raised sixth so I had to completely retrain myself

[@alanbarnett718]

King Hal wrote it as a major 6th. Dorian mode was okay back then. It's later revisionists that decided it had to be a "proper" minor scale.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

In recordings of Greensleeves I usually hear that note lower (or flattened). That's the way I've always sung it. In What Child Is This it's almost always like they have it here.

[@HaydenofEverything]

So the Second Level technique is basically "One Day More" from Les Miserables, but a bit less (Les Mis has a simply baffling number of leads in that section, basically one for every named character that plays a substantial role in Act II that we've seen thus far except for a few).

[@Jesterzero138]

amazing video. I've been struggeling to write choir parts, but here I got some structure and clarification on the different concepts. and some really helpful pointers. Thanks :)

[@de7io407]

Very educational video! Today I learned that 12tone is actually a vocalist.

[@vibe6750]

Great video! I would recommended otherside by rhcp as a harmony that holds words for a long time, its the best example i can think of

[@rmdodsonbills]

"In my experience, background singers tend to be twice the musicians their lead is anyway" Preach it! :)

[@boazcohen7992]

That was just too true.

[@boyjohn]

For anyone that wants to hear an album with a lot of octave doubling on it, check out the Pet Shop Boys album Behaviour, where Neil Tennant does it on almost every song.

[@ramspencer5492]

Harmonies can make some really cool, colorful cord voicings that get really complex..... Definitely want some tension and release.... It's cool to drop into oblique Harmony and shift out of it.... Like into counter point.....Cool video

[@Transubstantiate]

This video just helps me appreciate the band Savatage that much more, particularly their song "Chance," which is one of my favorite songs of all time and it's on one of my favorite albums of all time, Handful of Rain

[@simontinguely862]

Hey quick observation on level 4, doubling the first voice only occasionaly sure enlights the moments where there's two voices, BUT, for me all my attention is captivated by the fact that there is another voice coming from nowhere and clearly not on the lyrics. Great video btw

[@elnatanmori4435]

been looking for a video like this for decades

[@RArmstrong2727]

This video has so much potential, but is so much more tell than show

[@jarrodkane98]

I've watched this video so many times just coz I love hearing all the variations 😫😫

[@AlexKnauth]

13:37 Are you going to do me wrong, to cast parsley sage discourteously?

[@AmandaKaymusic]

😃

[@mebamme]

So I think a prime example of level 8 is R.E.M.! Mike Mills' background vocals usually do their own thing entirely, and often it's not clear what the lyrics even are, but his voice fits really well with Michael Stipe's and it just *works*.

[@Arakiel9]

Level "9" = one of my favorite categories of content these days, Mash-ups! :)

[@stephenbenner4353]

There is also the classic echo or call and response. This is somewhat common in tribal music and sacred music and maybe a smidge in eighties pop music. I don’t know how much this counts as it is usually just a second voice or a chorus repeating the lead part exactly.

[@migrantfamily]

Rick Springfield excels at giving the BGVs prominent places. That way he can cram more words into a phrase than there should be space for plus it creates emphasis on key parts of the story he’s telling. If you haven’t done anything on a Rock Springfield song it’s about time.

[@hubbsllc]

In the late 1980s I started trading some interest in instrumental music for interest in vocal music and that’s when I really started getting into Yes and Utopia. I especially love “Roundabout”’s harmony vocals and I get a big kick out of the half-step-flat interval Chris sings alongside Jon toward the start of “Revealing Science Of God.” I love singing background parts as much as lead; I have my own line I like to sing for “Roundabout”’s “In and around the lake,” etc. and I have no idea if either of Jon, Chris, or Steve are singing the same thing - it’s just something I hear and think needs to exist. :)

[@magnusdolby3844]

Yes is the perfect example on how perfect background vocals are created. Nobody beats squire and rabin in harmonizing over Anderson. So many wow examples in their catalogue.