Harmonize acapellas?

[jontah]

Hey there!

So I'm trying to harmonize some acapellas.

Turns out I'm having a real tough time harmonizing.

Eventhough I know the scales and all the chords in that scales in all inversions, it's hard to get the correct chords fitting together with the acapella.

Can anyone share any secret tips/tricks on how you go on about this?

Do you usually take out the whole melody on the piano first? (which is hard since it's sung, it's not fitting into perfect semitones etc as the piano).

Getting any melody to fit is really easy, but chords... damn , it's hard!

To take an example:

https://soundcloud.com/toph-official/st ... ou-be-mine

I want to make a nice chord progression to that one. What do you guys come up with? I've tried and none of the chords in B Major scale (which sounds good to me) fits into this acapella. I'm really struggling here.

What chords do u think fit here?

Need some noobie tips and help here

cheers!

[Harry_HH]

Several points in your message which didn't open to me, including your
sound example (if you are looking chords fore this, just find first the tonal centre and the correct chords by trial-error). If your melody dosn't fit to the 12 semitones, your melody is either out of any key or not western music. Of course locally you may have microintervals or "blue notes".

Vocal arrangements/harmonies discussed much earlier in these pages, see e.g.
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 95#5399895
which may be helpful to you. H.

[jontah]

Several points in your message which didn't open to me, including your
sound example (if you are looking chords fore this, just find first the tonal centre and the correct chords by trial-error). If your melody dosn't fit to the 12 semitones, your melody is either out of any key or not western music. Of course locally you may have microintervals or "blue notes".

Vocal arrangements/harmonies discussed much earlier in these pages, see e.g.
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 95#5399895
which may be helpful to you. H.

What do you mean with that it didn't open to you? inlcuding my sound example? ;o

Yeah, I read through that thread.. and to be honest, it's simple facts that I know already.. it's just that I don't seem to get it right no matter how hard I try.

No no, you don't get it. I find the scale, but I have a hard time putting chords that fits to that SINGING melody. It just doesn't seem to fit. The harmonization... so how do I learn how to harmonize better? I know about theory, I know about the relative things in the scales such as third fifth sevenths, 11ths, sus chords, aug, dim, 13ths and so on and so forth.

And I know the inversions, I know ALL the scales in natural minor aswell as harmonic minor, and all the scales in major too.

[jontah]

What happens in this particular acapella for example is that I pick out the right notes that fits to each bar of that acapella..

so for this acapella it goes:

C#, G#, G#, C#, C and then starts over again.

When I try to HARMONIZE that. So the C# becomes a chord, G# becomes a chord, yeah you get the point..

I do like this:

the fifth of C# is G# (within the C# major scale which this seems to be in)

That G# together with that C# sounds almost false when played together with this acapella. Also, when it comes down to the C, since the C is the 7th of that major scale, it's a dim chord, so when trying to harmonize that I take the fifth of C in that scale, which is F, and that sounds REALLY false.

You get my point?

[JumpingJackFlash]

how do I learn how to harmonize better?

Listen to and analyse music of a similar style. When you hear something you like, work out what it is and, if possible, why it works.

Books are good too, I recommend this one, which you can currently get half price if you agree not to photocopy it.

There's the trial-and-error approach too of course, but you'll need some idea of what you're doing first otherwise you'll be there all day and have nothing to show for it.

[JumpingJackFlash]

so for this acapella it goes:

C#, G#, G#, C#, C and then starts over again.

Ok. So, let's look at your options:
The C# could be harmonised as any of the following:

Root of C# major chord (C#, E#, G#)
Root of C# minor chord (C#, E, G#)
Third of A major chord (A, C#, E)
Fifth of F# major chord (F#, A#, C#)
Fifth of F# minor chord (F#, A, C#)

The G# could be harmonised as any of the following:

Root of G# major (G#, B#, D#)
Root of G# minor (G#, B, D#)
Third of E major (E, G#, B)
Fifth of C# major (C#, E#, G#)
Fifth of C# minor (C#, E, G#)

This is not an exhaustive list; let's forget sevenths and other stuff for now until you have the basics mastered.
Do any of those sound good?

Identifying an overall key for the music will help you to narrow down your options, as not all these chords work well in all keys.

If the music is in C# major for example, then it makes sense to start with that chord.

But, harmony is much more than just choosing chords. You also have to voice them appropriately, and use good voice-leading techniques to move from one note to another.

A great chord sequence may sound very poor if it is not handled well, and likewise an unremarkable chord sequence can sound great if it is handled well.

So, you need to think about the inversion of the chord, what notes to double (if any)... What instruments are being used? - Writing idiomatically for your chosen instruments (or voice) will make a big difference to the sound.

You also need to think about when to change chords. You don't have to do so on every note, it might make sense to have a C# major chord underneath the first 4 notes for example, varying the inversion or voicing if you like to keep things interesting.

Also, when it comes down to the C, since the C is the 7th of that major scale

Technically that's B#.

[jontah]

so for this acapella it goes:

C#, G#, G#, C#, C and then starts over again.

Ok. So, let's look at your options:
The C# could be harmonised as any of the following:

Root of C# major chord (C#, E#, G#)
Root of C# minor chord (C#, E, G#)
Third of A major chord (A, C#, E)
Fifth of F# major chord (F#, A#, C#)
Fifth of F# minor chord (F#, A, C#)

The G# could be harmonised as any of the following:

Root of G# major (G#, B#, D#)
Root of G# minor (G#, B, D#)
Third of E major (E, G#, B)
Fifth of C# major (C#, E#, G#)
Fifth of C# minor (C#, E, G#)

This is not an exhaustive list; let's forget sevenths and other stuff for now until you have the basics mastered.
Do any of those sound good?

Identifying an overall key for the music will help you to narrow down your options, as not all these chords work well in all keys.

If the music is in C# major for example, then it makes sense to start with that chord.

But, harmony is much more than just choosing chords. You also have to voice them appropriately, and use good voice-leading techniques to move from one note to another.

A great chord sequence may sound very poor if it is not handled well, and likewise an unremarkable chord sequence can sound great if it is handled well.

So, you need to think about the inversion of the chord, what notes to double (if any)... What instruments are being used? - Writing idiomatically for your chosen instruments (or voice) will make a big difference to the sound.

You also need to think about when to change chords. You don't have to do so on every note, it might make sense to have a C# major chord underneath the first 4 notes for example, varying the inversion or voicing if you like to keep things interesting.

Also, when it comes down to the C, since the C is the 7th of that major scale

Technically that's B#.

Hey! Thanks alot for the brief answer, I appreciate it alot.

But to be honest, none of these options seems to fit properly. Is it usually this hard?

About the voicing - yeah I know, I know all the inversion and I tried the inversions on each chord to see if it sounded better. But as I already figured out the TOPNOTES (the notes which is on top of the chord), I should use an inversion of that chord so that it's on top still. But eventhough I do this, I don't get a good result. It doesn't fit. I tried to skip the third since in many cases it just makes it sound different and more heavy, but in this case when only using the fifth just below the rootnote didn't work either (this would be the most logical way for me), but it really doesn't sound good! AM I stupid or what? Driving me nuts here.. lol.

I'm ONLY using a piano here nothing else.

[JumpingJackFlash]

Is it usually this hard?

No, to do it really well, it's actually a lot harder.

People literally spend years studying and practising this kind of thing.

I know all the inversion and I tried the inversions on each chord to see if it sounded better. But as I already figured out the TOPNOTES (the notes which is on top of the chord), I should use an inversion of that chord so that it's on top still.

Inversions only determine what note is lowest, not what is on top.
So, you can still keep the C# on top, what matters for the inversion is what note is on the bottom. If the root is lowest, it's a root position chord. If the third is lowest, it's first inversion. If the fifth is lowest, it's second inversion.

when only using the fifth just below the rootnote didn't work either

The root note doesn't have to be on top. - That top note could be the third or fifth of a chord too, which would not necessarily affect the inversion.

Perhaps try a third or sixth below the top note and see if that sounds better? - Why not try an A underneath a C# for example?

I'm ONLY using a piano here nothing else.

And how are you playing it? With the notes close together or far apart? Using both hands or only one? At the lower end of the range or higher up? - Try different things and see if it sounds better.

[stringtapper]

https://soundcloud.com/toph-official/st ... ou-be-mine

I want to make a nice chord progression to that one. What do you guys come up with? I've tried and none of the chords in B Major scale (which sounds good to me) fits into this acapella. I'm really struggling here.

What chords do u think fit here?

The most straight forward harmonization for that is the old vi-IV-I-V progression. In this case in B major.


"Star…"---"Look…"---"Could…"---"Could…"
G#m(7)---E(maj7)---B-----------F#



It's not rocket surgery, but it does take practice to hear these kinds of things, even with an instrument.

There's no shortcut to listening and practicing.

You don't cram for a marathon.

You don't jump from the ground to the top of the mountain.