Music & AudioBeginnerPreview
Singing Harmony
A structured beginner course that trains your ear to recognize intervals, build harmony lines by stacking thirds, fifths, and sixths over a melody, and hold your part while another voice sings the lead. You leave able to arrange and perform clean 2- and 3-part harmonies without losing your note.
For singers who can carry a tune but lose their note the moment someone sings a different one, and want to add real harmony to a band, choir, worship team, or recordings.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the Singing Harmony course into daily ear-training reps and real arranging practice. It pairs each module with exercises, fill-in worksheets, and checklists you can use at a keyboard or with a partner, plus editable templates for tracking intervals, mapping harmony lines, and laying out 3-part arrangements. Work one section per course module, record everything, and use the action plan to build a habit that actually trains your ear.
Hearing and Singing Intervals
Lock in reliable pitch matching, solfege, and the ability to name and sing every interval inside an octave.
Exercise: Slide-and-Lock Pitch Match
Play a comfortable mid-range note on a keyboard or app and hold it. Slide your voice up to it from below and stop the instant the wobble (beating) between your voice and the reference disappears. Hold the locked note for 8 seconds, then record it and check your cents-off on a tuner like TonalEnergy.
- Do you tend to land flat or sharp before you correct, and by roughly how many cents?
- Could you hear the beating slow down and stop, or did you guess when to stop?
- How long could you hold the locked note before it drifted out of tune?
Worksheet: Interval Song-Anchor Sheet
Fill in your own go-to song for each interval so you can recall the sound instantly. Use the course suggestions or pick songs you know better.
- Minor 2nd anchor song
- Major 2nd anchor song
- Major 3rd anchor song
- Perfect 4th anchor song
- Perfect 5th anchor song
- Major 6th anchor song
- Octave anchor song
- Which interval is hardest for me to sing?
Checklist: Daily Ear-Training Warm-Up
- Matched 5 random reference pitches within a few cents on a tuner
- Sang the major scale up and down in solfege over a drone on do
- Killed the beating on every scale degree against the drone
- Sang a major 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 6th above a held root and held them
- Recorded one interval set and checked it back for tuning
Stacking Harmony Over a Melody
Turn interval skills into real harmony lines by tracking thirds and sixths and choosing notes by chord tone.
Exercise: Third-Above Tracking Drill
Learn the melody of Amazing Grace or Frere Jacques cold. Map a diatonic third above each note in solfege (do to mi, re to fa, mi to sol). Play the melody on the keyboard and sing only the harmony line on top. Hear your first harmony note internally before you make a sound so you do not slide onto the melody.
- On which words did your voice get pulled back down onto the melody?
- Which thirds were major and which were minor, and could you feel the difference?
- Could you sing the whole harmony line alone, with no melody, in tune?
Exercise: Chord-Tone Note Picker
Take a simple song with a chart (Stand By Me works well). For each chord, write its three notes, find which one the melody is singing, then pick a different chord tone near your range as the harmony. Sing it against the melody and listen for a clean lock with no fighting.
- On which chord did a strict parallel third clash, and which chord tone fixed it?
- Did you prefer the third or the fifth of the chord as your harmony note, and why?
- Where did doubling the root make the harmony sound muddy or bottom-heavy?
Worksheet: Harmony Line Map
Map one full song line by line so you know exactly what to sing where.
- Song title and key
- Chord per line (e.g., C / Am / F / G)
- Melody note or syllable per phrase
- Harmony position chosen (3rd above / 6th / 3rd below)
- Sections where harmony enters
- Sections where harmony drops out
- Highest and lowest harmony note in the arrangement
Checklist: Harmony-Line Readiness
- Can sing the chosen harmony line completely alone, in tune
- Found each starting harmony note internally before singing it
- Adjusted clashing notes to a chord tone rather than forcing a strict third
- Planned a harmony position per section that fits my range
- Switched positions only on breaths between phrases, never mid-note
Locking Pitch and Blend
Tune chords to just intonation, blend vowels and tone, and hold your part against a strong lead vocal.
Exercise: Lock-the-Third Chord Drill
With a partner or three sustained reference tones, build a major triad. Tune the fifth to the root first until it stops beating, then add the third on top and bend it down a hair until the whole chord suddenly clarifies and seems louder. That bloom is the overtone ring. Memorize where that note sits.
- Could you hear the chord get louder and clearer at the locked spot (the ring)?
- How far did the third have to move from the piano pitch to lock the chord?
- Which note, root, third, or fifth, felt most responsible for the chord ringing?
Worksheet: Blend Tune-Up Worksheet
Fill this in with a partner or group before performing a song so your voices fuse instead of stacking.
- Tricky words and the agreed vowel shape for each
- Tone target (brighter / darker) to match the lead
- Vibrato plan (light / matched / straight tone)
- Harmony volume relative to lead (target ~80 to 90%)
- Consonants that must land exactly together
- Spots where blend felt off in the last run-through
Exercise: Hold-Your-Part Pressure Test
Record your harmony line alone and confirm it is in tune. Play the melody quietly underneath and sing over it. Each pass, raise the melody volume until it is as loud as a real lead. Use the cupped-ear trick, one hand over an ear, to strengthen your own internal reference.
- At what melody volume did you start getting pulled onto the lead?
- Did cupping one ear noticeably help you hold your own note?
- Did practicing against a recorded lead vocal feel harder than against a piano?
Checklist: Tuning and Blend Confidence
- Can lock a major triad by ear until it rings, without the piano
- Place the third by listening down to the root and fifth, not by habit
- Agree on unified vowel shapes before rehearsing the notes
- Sing the harmony under the lead's volume, not as loud as a solo
- Can hold my part with a strong lead vocal at full volume
Arranging Two and Three-Part Harmony
Arrange full songs for two and three voices with smooth voice leading, then find harmony by ear in real time.
Exercise: Two-Part Build From Scratch
Take a simple song such as Lean On Me. Write the lyrics with chords above each line and the melody notes underneath. Choose a harmony position per section that fits your range, decide where the harmony enters (start with the chorus hook), then sing and record it against the melody and refine any clashing notes.
- Where did you decide the harmony should enter and drop out, and why?
- Which section needed a different harmony position to stay in your range?
- After recording, which notes clashed and how did you fix them?
Exercise: Three-Part Voice-Leading Drill
Assign three voices to root, third, and fifth of each chord. As the chords change, move each voice to the nearest chord tone and keep any shared (common) tones on the same pitch. Write out all three parts, then sing each line alone to confirm it works as a melody by itself.
- Which voice had the largest leaps, and could you smooth it with a common tone?
- Did each of the three lines make sense sung completely on its own?
- Where did two voices accidentally leap in the same direction at once?
Exercise: Harmony-by-Ear Radio Challenge
Pick any song on the radio with a clear chorus. Listen once and hum quietly to find do, the home note. Commit in advance to singing a third above the chorus hook, come in on a strong sustained word, and slide to the nearest chord tone if anything clashes. Keep your volume under the lead.
- Could you find do (the key center) within one listen?
- Did committing to a plan before singing stop you drifting onto the melody?
- On which words did you have to nudge to a chord tone, and did it work?
Checklist: Arranging and Improvising Readiness
- Arranged a full two-part song with planned entrances and exits
- Assigned root, third, and fifth across three voices on every chord
- Used common tones and nearest-note moves for smooth voice leading
- Can sing each of the three parts alone as a sensible line
- Can find do and sing a third above a chorus on a first listen
Your Action Plan
- Week 1: Drill slide-and-lock pitch matching and solfege over a drone until you can kill the beating on every scale degree.
- Week 2: Learn every interval inside the octave with a song anchor; sing thirds, fifths, and sixths above and below a held root.
- Week 3: Track a diatonic third above a simple melody (Amazing Grace) until you can sing it alone, in tune, start to finish.
- Week 4: Harmonize a song by chord tone, choosing notes that belong to each chord instead of strict parallel thirds.
- Week 5: Add low harmonies and sixths, and plan position switches at breath points to keep every line inside your range.
- Week 6: Practice locking major triads to just intonation by ear until the chord rings, placing the third by listening down.
- Week 7: Run blend tune-ups with a partner and complete the hold-your-part pressure test against a full-volume lead.
- Week 8: Arrange a full two-part song with planned entrances, exits, and range-appropriate positions, then record it.
- Week 9: Build a three-part arrangement on root, third, and fifth with smooth voice leading and singable inner lines.
- Week 10 and ongoing: Do the radio challenge daily (find do, sing a third above the chorus on first listen), record one interval set and one harmony line each day, and listen daily to CSN, gospel quartets, or Take 6 for the ring.
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