The Trick To Writing Harmony Lines
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- There's nothing quite like the sound of multiple voices singing in harmony, but with more lines comes more opportunities for error. How do you make sure your harmonies sound harmonious? As always there are lots of ways, but this week we're talking about one of the easiest and most common, tight harmony. We dive into how it works, how to use it to make wiggly lines that sound good, plus we get to see it in action harmonizing a melody that, if you ask me, sounds pretty cool! (I wrote it.)
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this is like minute physics but if he did music
Thanks!
Oh my god that's so true
Minute physics does music
I’m glad he lengthened these over the years lol.
Now i get it why listening this is so much fun
This channel is definitely one of the best. Maybe THE best when it comes to theory things.
What are the other channels beyond Adam Neely?
@@user-kk7ti4tx5j Just click my name then go to the "channels" tab to find all the music channels I am following. You may have to dig a bit, as I follow other stuff too, but you will find lots in on my page.
@@ILLEAGLExxx thx
who else really, really wanted that D natural to resolve to an E at the end there?
Yeah, me too...
It bugged me so much .-.
I wanted it to resolve to a G natural. Hmm weird.
i want the D. And we got the D. and it’s great.
Anthony Holroyd It's a phrase...part of a longer whole. As such it is common for it to end on an unstable note.
did i just find the best music youtube channel ever????
Sara A I believe so. 😱😍
Yes, yes you did.
Awesome video, guys. This is really what I've been looking for: an analysis of composition moment to moment, concerning harmony and how to achieve that via separate melodic lines. Its a huge subject to cover, and I understand most of it is subjective and yet you still pulled off an informative and balanced approach. Great job!
Thanks! That's really great to hear, I'm glad it helped!
One minute in and already I feel like i've learned more than three month's worth of music theory classes in school, this is like the best thing ever
To be honest, I like the 'mess' chord at 3:04 better. It sounds quartal and full.
Heh, yeah. I guess it's less "messy" and more just complex. It's probably still a little too rich to unexpectedly drop into a triad-based progression, though...
Yeah, switching form so suddenly woulld do that. Say, is there gonna be a video for writing good counterpoint harmonies?
Definitely! We wanted to do a basic one first before looking at more advanced techniques, but counterpoint is coming. Not sure when, but it's on our list!
Just curious - if it's too rich to have a Csus2 (or would that be CMaj9? idk, usually 9th chords include the seventh) could you not stay in G minor for the last cord or something similar?
@@rachelzimet8310 It would be a *Cadd9.* Such _added 9th chords_ are much more common in pop than jazzier full 9th chords.
And sure, you could change the chord progression, but then it would feel different. First of all, if the note isn't a tension anymore, it doesn't feel as, well, tense. :^)
Also if this is a cyclic progression which repeats, the C is the dominant that leads back to the tonic Fm. Wouldn't feel as smooth to go there from Gm.
Also, staying at Gm means a change in the harmonic rhythm (how often you change chords), which also feels very different. (Though ofc you could find another simpler chord that includes the D from the melody, like Dm or Bb)
This has been INCREDIBLY useful, thanks so much. I'm arranging my second song for our band to play and this is exactly what I needed.
You explained as much music theory in 4 minutes my band teacher explained in 4 months.
PROPS!!!
Aaa this is so helpful! My friend and I have been trying to write two part harmony for a song we're covering, so these tips are going to make that sooooo much easier
Thanks! Glad we could help!
I’ve been a 12-Tone fan for many years and thought I had basically seen every episode, but today the algorithm in its wisdom found one that I missed from 7 years ago, and decided to show it to me right at the crucial moment that I am trying to finish a composing contest entry and struggling to arrange my strings. Thanks algorithm! Now I can finish my piece!
Thank you so much for making these videos! i found you on the music theory subreddit and everyone is surprised that you don't have more people watching your videos!
Thanks! I'm really glad it's getting shared, that's the best way for those viewer numbers to grow! And it's great that other serious theorists appreciate it, too!
I remember harmonizing a melody where the harmony notes were always either a 5th diminished 5th or 4th away and it sounded cool, I was able to do a bunch of stuff like inverting it in on itself by also transposing the original melody by an octave and having the otherwise complementary voice be the strong one etc
Nice! Yeah, there's a lot of really complex stuff you can do with harmonies, as long as you know what you're doing.
Aww you only teased the techniques I was curious about T-T
I hope you follow up on this soon!
I love it when Owen Wilson teaches me musical theory :')
^_^
2:57 "this d gets hold for a very long time" 😂😂😂😂
Can I use this melody in a beat ?
This guy: actual technique
Me: plays random notes and keeps the ones that sound good
We are fucked bro
Ashley ha ha lol
Fr I tried to write a song a few months back and I just hit like three keys one space apart each and was like "yep this is great"
@@lowercase_ash haha same I’m also writing a song but i have ta juz play some random keys and I was like “well, this sounds great I will use this in my song” XD
This is such a medieval bop I love it
This is really good! One of the best music education channels around! Big thanks and keep up the great work!
Thanks!
trying to write a harmony for my class's choir competition song. this is saving my neck. thanks man. youre awesome.
I love your videos. I do wonder though, do you create these melodies yourself or do you adopt them? Just curious, especially because I love the melody used in this video, very interesting. Thanks for the amazing content! Keep on rocking!
The C major to that D natural made me all kinds of happy!
Most helpful music lesson i ever watched
Very nice video as always!
It would be fantastic if you did a video on jazz reharmonization :)
Keep on rockin!
That's a great idea! We've touched on it a couple times, but we haven't really done a deep dive on the topic. We'll work on it, thanks!
I second this!
thank you
super synchronization
you really draw left like that
Love your style of teaching.. Thank you!
Been looking for a quick guide for this for a while. Thanks!
for the last whole note i would have used half-notes resolving: 1st 2 beats: stack D-G-F (D= highest note) to C-G-E for the last 2 beats (C=highest note)
Can You Talk About Harmonisation of Indian Ragas and Indian Classical Music?
It still didnt show how to find the harmony
Yeah, he's mostly just playing thirds or fifths from the root melody I think except the ones he specifically covers
Tim so the third interval? (i’m sorry; this is just my understanding because i’m a violinist hehe)
Why is the sound of the music playing an octave above the music you're writing?
Good question! Generally, I'm pretty loose with transposing octaves because it doesn't make a huge difference in terms of the theory. I'll usually compose it first and put it in whichever octave sounds best, and then for notation I'll transpose it to fit as cleanly as possible on the treble clef because that's the one most people are most familiar with reading. You can think of it as piccolo notation, if you'd prefer.
This is the first of your videos I felt I actually understood
I feel smart now!
Nice!
I'm a trumpet player, and what you said about not being able to play quietly in the upper register isn't completely true. Yes, it is harder to play softly in the upper register, especially if the player in question isn't comfortable in that register yet, but with practice, it is possible to build up the control necessary to be able to play a concert B-flat 5 as easily and quietly as a B-flat two octaves below that.
Interesting! I'm not a trumpet player myself so I'll take your word for it. I was basing that off my arranging teacher's advice, but that was writing for any trumpet so may not apply as much with highly-skilled players.
Loved this. Just what I was looking for.
This channel is amazing! Is there a video on finding chords? ♥
What are you talking about, Bb is part of the key of Fminor, it would just be a minor triad instead of a major triad just like if we were playing in the major scale the fourth would be a major chord.
Very useful videos! Can you make one on tight harmony? :)
Thanks for this video!
Thank you kindly🤍
Thank you from Argentina.
I generally don't understand music theory but I uderstood this. Thanks. I'm looking forward to trying it out.
Very well explained!
So nicely explained!! Smart and cute ;)
Can someone explain what he did on the last measure? I just want to know how and when to use that. Thanks
Amazing buddy.. Where can I learn more ?
2:03 Not every note in the melody is part of a chord? Couldn't you just make a chord out of the note, or for it to be harmonized the entire melody has to be made out of one chord? How does this work when you got two melodies playing over each other?
I have an unresolved question. I took step back from scale and harmony then started with intervals. But now i can't understand resolutions only using intervals can you help me out ??
Awesome lesson!
Thanks
Simply. Amazing.
that was a good explanation!
Youre a lefty like me! :D subbed
^_^
Although it was a bit fast for my brain not steeped in theory for decades, it taught me what I wanted to know.
Why play such a long D note on that C chord? It somehow doesn't work for me.
tymime Jazz harmonies... it's not uncommon at all to have the 7th or 9th (or even #11) in the "resolution" of a melody. Coltrane did it a ton, but you'll also find it all over the place in almost every style of commercial music.
Sure, but in this particular instance it doesn't seem to work. It works lots of other times, but for some reason it doesn't sound right to me this time.
It's not like I'm not aware of jazz chords being used at the end of songs. My grandma is terrible about it: when she heard Robert Johnson and Fats Waller use dominant 7ths at the end of their songs, she'd say it sounded "unfinished".
tymime I think, in this case, he chose the D purely as an example for the exercise. We often get a free pass on nonharmonic tones of short duration, but here, there was simply no option not to address it. Because it was the 9th instead of the 7th, it enabled him to talk about that 'treat it like the next lower chord tone' without skipping down to G. (You would likely choose C and E to harmonize a M7 at the end instead of the G and E used here.) Though it was a more academic example, (constructed to allow maximum "rules" explained) you still encounter similar instances in real life. Heaven by Ellington ends F to C over a Bbmaj7 chord. Hubbard's The Intrepid Fox ends on the Bb of an F7sus4 and feels similarly "off" to most people even though the quartal harmonies are all over the place before the ending. Shorter's Iris ends on the #11, Lady Sings the Blues (love that tune!) also ends on the 9 over a minor 6th. It's a funky little example, but I tend to let things slide in that context. A different preparation, or even a ii, V, I turn around under the D would have smoothed it out for our ears, but it's a very short example.
You write with your right hand in the intro but left hand in the analysis (but right side of the page to left). Are you ambidextrous or are you writing backwards and flipping the videos? Looks like the Zodiac's handwriting too :)
Great videos, keep it up
Nah, I'm just left-handed. The intro was shot with our original animator, who has since left.
Right, they left, yeah?
Cool video, man!
Thanks!
Am I the first who is going to comment on the gummy bears at the end?! lol 🤣🤣Btw, great video!
Damn was looking for 4 part vocal style, but nice job
Can you guys make a video on Viennese Trichords and how to apply them?
I'll look into them! Thanks for the suggestion!
maybe link the video "finding chords" when you reference it
Wish I understood, Rule of thumb if we have to make leap let's get it over with then you moved one step. Sooo maybe it is two I have a 60 in TV and I can't tell may be it doesn't matter. Not to mention why does the C become a D? I'll have to come back it's too fast. I get, to aim for the chord tones that's something any way.
Hey man,
I am doing a song where melody has 3rd in the melody.I was trying to write harmony but I was stuck as it has same melody.Any suggestion?
But how did you derive a C chord from the single D natural in the first place? What did I miss?
What do you mean with tight harmonies? Could you explain better by using a DAW with a staff aside if you preferer!
Actually I am really confused. Shall we use tight harmony like the one in the video? Or the rules in contrapuntal such as contrary motion, oblique motion and etc?
Depends on the context! This is more for pop/rock/R&B harmony lines so if that's the style you're working in I'd use this, but if you want something that sounds more classical or complex, counterpoint's probably the way to go.
@@12tone Ahh, thanks~
"It's more important where you're heading than where you're coming from" WHY NO ONE TOLD ME THIS BEFORE?
I wanted to compose something difficult to play but i cant even use seventh chords because i dont know where they fit
thank you!!!!!!!
awesome tutorial. subscribed
Thanks!
Great!
PLEASE BREAK DOWN THE VOCAL HARMONY IN "FLUME" BY BON IVER ! :)
Lefty gany! ✌ Thanks for this
Bro I just want my vocal mixes to sound full 😩
I'd like to watch a video of you analyzing the andrews sisters music. It would be amazing. 🙌🏼
Thanks for the suggestion! At this point, though, we receive so many song requests that we can really only focus on the ones from our Patreon patrons. We just don't have the time to look at every song that comes in, unfortunately. There's a link to our Patreon in the video description if you're interested, though!
The key is Ab but your melody has a lot of alterations and the harmony isn't diatonic, is it a mode or something?
I'm honestly not super sure anymore, I made it about a year and a half ago so it's been a while. Looking at it briefly, though, I think the melody's meant to be in F dorian. Not entirely sure why I made that decision, though, beyond just liking dorian.
all the cartooning, and rapidfire speech really undermind want some very good musical principles
Hey, I was wondering if you could help me. I'm a coach for a HS marching band/concert band and I'm writing some new pep band stuff and I always struggle with second and third trumpets. I usually end up with the seconds being either a third, a fourth or a fifth away from the first. This gets really bland. I was wondering how I write these parts so that they're similar to the first part but a bit more unique than just a third down, fourth down, etc. I don't really have this problem as much with instruments that don't have melody. Thanks. If you could make a video based of this question that'd really help alot.
Hi! One thing you might look into is four-part writing. It has some pretty strict rules about how different voices interact, and while you don't have to be quite that strict it certainly has some useful guidelines. One of the biggest ones is avoiding parallel fifths, where two voices that start out a perfect fifth apart both move the same distance to their next note. (Say, D to C and G to F) Instead you might want to use contrary motion (Say, D to C and G to A) which changes the intervallic relationship between the two voices. When one goes up the other goes down, which makes the whole thing sound more interesting. You can still have parallel thirds and such but trying to regularly switch up the distances between the voices is a pretty simple way to add interest to the parts.
We did make a video about four-part writing but it was a _looooong_ time ago and the production is much worse than our current stuff. Still, though, it might have some useful info: ua-cam.com/video/c9SUElo4vQo/v-deo.html
Nice!
Nice, but as a fellow lefty I have no idea how you write with your pen jammed into your hand like that.
What if you write a melody in melodic minor and a harmony in harmonic minor?
Harmonic and melodic are ways of manipulating the minor scale. Therefore you can't be entrenched in just one form. Make sure a chord with altered notes complements the altered melody.
Lost me at 1:45 lol
That was beefy
Thank you Thank you Thank you so much........
^_^
How many Haribos in stock?
Where can we read more about this? Can you suggest a book?
Unfortunately, this mostly comes from the arranging classes I took, so I don't know of a book that goes into this specifically. We did have a textbook (amzn.to/2tfd5rR ) but we didn't actually use it much so I'm not sure how helpful it'd be.
good job
I like this
Thanks!
Superb.
Thanks!
Like the ryhthym giutar?
I usually sing it and hear if it fits.
So that Cmaj tension chord would be a Csus2 chord then?
Well, not quite, 'cause you still have an E as well. It's basically a C(add 9) chord.
Maybe this is too academic, but actually it is not that correct to put a C as lowest note in a harmony of Fm, as well as the D in the harmony of Gm, then the progression Eb - Fm isn't that correct because of the parallel motion of fifths, as well as the parallel fourths not hold by a third in the lowest voices
Wow.
I liked this video, but the final note and the chord just.... clashed for me :/
What? When working with brass, sure. Keep the harmony below the melody. But woodwinds play higher than the melody all the time. It's not as if the piccolo plays the melody very often.
Good catch! You're right: That was an error. I was thinking mainly about saxophones, which are a bit of a weird case 'cause they're played like woodwinds but they're made of brass, but you're absolutely right: Other woodwinds are often perfectly happy to play harmonies above the melody. Sorry about that!
No prob. And I very much appreciate the spirit in which you took my comment! I have now moved from just checking out your stuff to subscribing.
_Good_ saxophone players have no problem playing harmony lines above the melody.
unter Titel Deutsch?
So harmonies are just different notes in a specific chord.
Interesting.
Three parts in parallel motion... :S
Heh, true. It's more a tool for popular music than art music, but it's a clear and easy way to quickly get the job done, you know?
Wow, you reply so prompty to viewer comments! You are officially my favourite youtuber right now. BTW how many of you work for these videos? Keep up the good work.
Thanks! It's mostly just me and my brother right now. We get some script help from a couple other friends, but largely it's the two of us.
the trooper, the number of the beast, and most other iron maiden songs make use of this
That makes sense: Close harmony is a fairly common technique in rock music 'cause it doesn't obscure the melody very much. I hadn't looked at those particular songs much, though, thanks for pointing them out!
12tone well, thank YOU for explaining how it works, i wouldt know what its called if you didnt explain it after all