Do you have a hard time singing 7th chords in tune? Most vocalists do. Don’t worry, the sing-along song tracks can help! Read more to learn how.
7th chords tune differently that other intervals. The tuning theorist Harry Partch calls them septimal intervals, because in just intonation theory, they have a frequency ratio based on the prime number 7.
Therefore, chords with septimal intervals can be called septimal harmony. Today’s post will look at how to harmonize septimal dominant 7th chords.
Septimal 7ths sound harmonically in tune, but will have more roughness or buzz than 3rds, 5ths, and octaves. Thus, you need to listen carefully for the amount of buzz when harmonizing.
Conversely, the septimal 7th sounds melodically low, making melodies that contain them sound out of tune to some musicians. Hence, I’ve put them in the inside parts: alto and tenor. This arrangement helps the septimal 7ths to sound better. (For an explanation of how music can be harmonically in tune and melodically out of tune, see Harmony and Melody Tune Differently.)
Therefore, I’ve given you two versions of the chorus part. One has the septimal 7th in the alto and the other has it in the tenor. Also, this means there will be two SATB, alto, and tenor song tracks for you to perform with.
The sing-along tracks use synth voices rather than actual voices. Science has shown that this helps you, the vocalist, to identify and perform absolute pitch information. For more info, see Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices.