VOCALS
VOCAL ARRANGING | Sheri Gould
Many worship team leaders today are unable to HARMONY SINGING harmony. This is, of course, just one scenario.
give much thought to vocal arranging. It’s about Adding harmony to the melody of a song can Another might be the use of background vocals
all we can do just to get everyone there, get truly enhance the melody as well as add beauty. simply humming underneath the melody. This
parts right and make sure the band is working Harmony is the addition of notes, other than the can be effective to create an angelic feel to
well together. And yet, with a few simple melody, that are a part of the underlying chord your vocals. Humming is a subtle way to add
techniques, vocals can become much more structure of the song. In the past, harmony harmony but keep the focus completely on
powerful in their presentation. When vocals parts were thoughtfully written out and often the melody. A cool trick I love to use is having
are nicely arranged, they can lead the way for incorporated vocal arranging in such a way that the background singers hum underneath the
creating a beautiful, worshipful atmosphere. In the leader or director simply had to carry out melody but at a key point switch from the hum
this article, I list some basic tools you can use the composer’s written instructions. Now we to an “Ah”. It can be very powerful when used
to help arrange your team’s vocals in a simple are often left to our own resources to come up at the right time. The point is: change up the
yet effective way. with acceptable harmony lines that work for our texture.
group. This is often based on the skill level of
UNISON SINGING each individual singer and his or her ability to Another aspect to changing texture is the use
Unison singing is the practice of all the singers create a harmony that works for their specific of the band. A’capella singing can bring a cool
singing together on the same notes. The act of team (and makes our job a bit harder). focus to any song. Contrast is an important
aspect here again. The feel of a full-on band
singing in unison can be very powerful. The key
thing here is contrast. As with anything, when Using harmony can also be a powerful tool. with vocalists switching to just vocalists can
you have the same approach constantly it loses Again, the key element is often the contrast truly highlight a powerful moment and bring a
its power and can get very old, very quickly. So, from unison that makes it so powerful. If surge of emotion. Arranging the band to use
the trick here is to use it wisely. harmony is overused or simply the norm, it only one or two instruments behind the singers
becomes blasé and loses a lot of its impact. So, can also add great effect. So get creative!
A great time to use unison singing is when you think of harmony as a way to add something to are first introducing a song. When starting off your song. Not as the whole of the song itself. DYNAMICS
a song, we must be aware that there may be Place your harmony lines strategically to add Don’t forget to use dynamics in your arranging.
people in our congregations that don’t know emphasis or bring out the beauty of a line. Singing quietly can bring a huge emphasis as
can singing loudly when it’s done in contrast.
the song, or perhaps don’t know it well. Making
sure that the melody comes through loudly and TEXTURE Pay attention to changes in volume levels as
clearly can be helpful in ensuring that everyone Another tool we can use in vocal arranging well as texture to create special moments.
can quickly and easily join in. So, try singing is texture. Texture can be mixed up to draw in unison for the verse and/or chorus before attention to certain words or lines in a song. There are lots of tools you can use to make a
adding harmony. Most teams today really don’t use much beautiful vocal arrangement. I hope these few
texturing in their vocals. Most teams tend to use I’ve listed can help to get you started. God
Another time to make good use of unison all their singers all the time. Instead, try thinking Bless you as you sing for Him!
singing is to add contrast by switching from full about adding singers in different amounts to on harmony singing to full on unison singing. create effect. For example, perhaps you could This contrast can be especially powerful and start out with one singer leading out on a verse. is a great technique for drawing attention to a For the next verse, you could add a second specific part of a song that you may want to singer, harmonizing to the line. When the bring emphasis to. chorus comes in you could add full-on four-part
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March 2019
Sheri Gould
Sheri is an internationally acclaimed vocal coach.
She’s been helping artists and worshipers find their
voice for over 40 years. For help and resources visit
her site.
www.SheriGould.com
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