VISUALISATION
Because our voice is so perceptual to us, visualisation techniques can be really helpful when working with pitch in general. Spend some time with your own voice and focus on how each note in your range feels to you (not just sounds). Can you feel where the note resonates in your body? Even the idea of that feeling/placement can really help you land notes in the right place, so can you create an imaginary place the notes are landing?
LISTEN TO THE STYLE OF THE HARMONY
This might sound pretty obvious, but there’s more to listening than just, well, listening! There are many different types of harmony singing, each with their own rewards and challenges. You could be trying for an ‘Expanded Lead Vocal’ Harmony, which means you are singing a vocal line that sits above or below the lead vocal, and matches it rhythmically. You could be singing ‘Backing Vocals’, which are their own separate part to the lead vocals, adding their own texture to the song. A variation on that is the The ‘Pre-emptive Melody Backing Vocal’, made very famous by The Beatles: the backing vocalists actually sing the lyrics (but with a different melody, or a harmony) before the lead vocalist (the song ‘Help’ is a great example of this). Or you might be doing the most challenging of them all, ‘Choral’ Harmony; most typically associated with choirs. You will still find this is commercial music, especially with the likes of vocal A Cappella group The Pentatonix.
BE LOUD AND WRONG (aka; confident!)
Our voice is hugely influenced by our emotions and mindset. If you go at a vocal line convinced you’re going to get it wrong, then guess what, you will! Similarly if you sing it correctly, but quietly and unconvincingly, your voice will still get the message that you don’t really know what you are doing, which makes the margin for error much, much bigger. Especially when first learning or experimenting with harmonies, sing boldly and confidently. If it does go wrong, at least you’ll know about it, and can work on correcting it.
PRACTISE MAKES PROGRESS
As with anything, if you want to improve, you’ve got to put the time in. There are many ways you can practice harmonies – you could practice with your teacher; pick a duet or a song with harmony lines and try singing the part that’s not the lead whilst your teacher sings the lead vocal. Similarly, you could do this practice with your favourite singers; stick on your favourite songs, and see if you can pick out a harmony line to sing over the top instead of singing the lead. Or if you’re working on a particular song, record yourself, and then sing along with yourself experimenting with harmonies. At the end of the day, singing in harmony should be fun and exciting, not a chore. Have fun in whatever way you decide to explore harmony singing, and allow yourself to experiment and make mistakes along the way, it’s all part of the process.