respectfully declare , “ Yes you can ,” and will I prove it to you with some simple basic information and a simple example to put it to use .
In music , harmony is defined as “ chordal accompaniment to a melody .” How often have you listened to a solo vocalist and thought , “ this is a pretty good singer ,” only to have someone join in with harmony and rethink your opinion to say , “ these are a couple of really good singers .” Not only did the addition of harmony add new depth , dimension and interest to the music , the aural sensation created by the sum total of two blended notes far exceeded its parts . Add a properly placed third harmony note and the result is exponentially enhanced . If this simplification of what may seem to be an unattainable result sounds daunting , always remember it all begins with do-re-mi . So , as Julie Andrews said , “ Let ’ s start from the very beginning …”
In the key of C , the notes of the “ do-re-mi ” scale are :
For ease of learning the basics of harmony , it helps to know that do , re , mi , etc . also represent degrees of the musical scale which are often defined as roman numerals . C or “ do ” is I , D or “ re ” is II , etc .
If someone was singing or playing the C scale as seen above and you wanted to harmonize along with them , the most natural way would be for you to sing or play the note which is either a major or minor third above or below their note . Okay , what ’ s a major or minor third ? With C as the base or root note , E natural is a major third ( and , not coincidentally , the second note of a C major chord ) while Eb is a minor third ( and the second note of an E minor chord ). While we ’ re using a C scale in the key of C ( with no sharps or flats ), the chart above will automatically land you on the correct major or minor third to harmonize a scale in any key so long as the sharps or flats associated with that key are used . So , based on the chart above , if someone is playing C , a third above or below that note is E ... so if they ’ re playing C , you ’ ll play an E ( which is a major third away from C ).
NOTE : While , for purposes of this article , we ’ ll use tenor and plectrum banjo as examples , what follows can apply to any instrument …
With your instrument in your hand , fret a C on the fifth fret of the G string . Now find an E that lives below it on the C string ( on tenor or plectrum it ’ s the forth fret of the C string ). Got it ? Okay … play those two notes . Congratulations … you ’ ve harmonized C ! Now you ’ ll want to do the same thing with rest of the C scale playing the root note on the G string and the harmonized note below it on the C string … the chart below will help …
ALL FRETS SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020 17