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Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing - Woman Singing

Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing in Tune

/ Singing in Tune / By / Chord, Sing, Sing-Along Songs, Tuning
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Estimated reading time 3 minutes

Table of Contents

Introduction

Want to be able to sing like your favorite vocal group? Today we’ll get to the heart of our ear training exercises for harmonizing in tune. Read more to learn how to master singing harmony in tune.

  • Each diatonic chord contains more that one note of the major scale.
  • Therefore, the sing-along songs work on each scale note combined with the major triads in which they can appear.
  • Each note exists in more than one chord, and each chord alters the tone of the note in question.
  • So, you must sing each note with all its diatonic chords to hear how the tone color changes.
  • Singing with the sound tracks below helps foster an a cappella level of intonation.
  • The exercises were inspired by Gerald Eskelin’s Natural Ear Training charts, which I recommend for choir directors – see the Glossary.
  • The song tracks use synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information, read: Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices

This article uses technical musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.

The Garden Hose Image and Ear Training for Harmonizing in Tune

ear training exercises for harmonizing - garden hose

In Sight Singing with Solfege we talked about how to get power in our singing. In this post, we’ll talk a little bit about letting the power of the supported tone out.

  1. My wife and I studied voice with Sue Ellen Kuzma.
  2. In the lessons, she used to use the image of a garden hose to talk about vocal air flow.
  3. She explained that if you squeeze your throat shut as you try to change notes, it’s like pinching a hose as the water flows out.
  4. Namely, the more you tighten your throat, the more you pinch off the air stream. Instead, try for a relaxed, open throat as you sing.

Also, gaining control of your diaphragm muscle helps with gaining pitch control. Doing these things will make the ear training exercises for harmonizing in tune more successful.

The Exercises for Ear Training for Harmonizing in Tune

Make sure you sing with a:

First time through, sing on the vowel ah. After you become secure with ah. Try the other vowels. For suggestions on how to get a strong tone through the vowels, read:

Written in the tenor range, children and sopranos should sing up an octave. However, basses may feel better singing down an octave. 

  1. When ready, try singing the exercise again to the solo organ part.
  2. Practice both these exercises daily until you have mastered them.

The following ear training exercises for harmonizing have specially tuned soundtracks that you can sing-along with. I’ve designed the tracks to balance harmonic and melodic tuning.

Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.

Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing 2 line 1
Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing 2 line 2
Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing 2 line 3
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Ear Training Exercises for Harmonizing 2 line 6

Melody & Organ – Harmonizing the Melody Notes Exercise:

Solo Organ – Harmonizing the Melody Notes Exercise:

Concluding Thoughts to Ear Training for Harmonizing in Tune

The above ear training exercises for harmonizing in tune helps you to hear how notes sound in well-tuned chords. Hearing how the harmonies should sound will be half the battle.

Practicing with the sing-along songs on a frequent basis will help make you sound like an a cappella singer. Have fun and keep singing!

© 2021 Geoffrey Keith

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