Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note (such as - C4, E4, G4), while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array (like - C3, G3, E4) expanding the harmonic range past the octave. Close harmony or voicing can refer to both instrumental and vocal arrangements. It can follow the standard voice-leading rules of classical harmony, as in string quartets or Bach's Chorales, or proceed in parallel motion with the melody in 3rds or 6ths.
Impressionist composersThe impressionist movement in music was a movement in European classical music, mainly in France, that began in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Like its precursor in the visual arts, musical Impressionism focused on suggestion and atmosphere...
like
Claude DebussyAchille-Claude Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and
Maurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer of Impressionist music known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
often used this voicing in their works and other intervals, such as 7ths, 9ths, and 11ths may be used, since the chords have 4 or more notes and the harmonies are more complex.
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note (such as - C4, E4, G4), while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array (like - C3, G3, E4) expanding the harmonic range past the octave. Close harmony or voicing can refer to both instrumental and vocal arrangements. It can follow the standard voice-leading rules of classical harmony, as in string quartets or Bach's Chorales, or proceed in parallel motion with the melody in 3rds or 6ths.
Impressionist composersThe impressionist movement in music was a movement in European classical music, mainly in France, that began in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Like its precursor in the visual arts, musical Impressionism focused on suggestion and atmosphere...
like
Claude DebussyAchille-Claude Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and
Maurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer of Impressionist music known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
often used this voicing in their works and other intervals, such as 7ths, 9ths, and 11ths may be used, since the chords have 4 or more notes and the harmonies are more complex. In
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, this influence is reflected in
George GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are universally familiar....
's work.
Vocal
Barbershop quartets and other
a cappellaA cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style...
music groups commonly use close harmony. Examples of groups known for using the technique include the
Andrews SistersThe Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters LaVerne Sophia Andrews , Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and Patricia Marie Andrews...
, the
Boswell SistersThe Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell , and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell , noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation...
the Original Clark Sisters, the
Louvin BrothersThe Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin...
, the
RevelersThe Revelers were an American quintet popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Revelers' recordings of "Dinah", "Old Man River", "Valencia", "Baby Face", "Blue Room", "The Birth of the Blues", "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba", and many more, became popular in the United States and...
, the
Comedian HarmonistsThe Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1927 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II...
, the
Mills BrothersThe Mills Brothers were a jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century producing more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
, the
Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers are brothers and country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everlys are the most successful U.S...
, the
Pied PipersThe Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
, the Chordettes, the
McGuire SistersThe McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters; Christine McGuire , Dorothy McGuire , and Phyllis McGuire...
, the Lescano Trio, and modern groups such as
The Puppini SistersThe Puppini Sisters are a musical trio specializing in 1940s-style close harmony vocal music. Arion Berger described as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and their sound described as swing-punk due to its being louder and more in your face than traditional swing music...
. Many gospel and soul groups in the 1950's and 60's also used this technique, usually 3- or 4-part
SSAASSAA may refer to:*Swinburne Student Amenities Association*Sporting Shooters Association of Australia* Soprano soprano alto alto choral music arrangement*System Security Authorization Agreement...
or
TTBBIn musical choral notation, TTBB denotes a four-part men's chorus. Its configuration is Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1 , Bass 2....
harmony with one person (either Bass or Lead) doing a call-and-response type lead. One example of this is
The Blind Boys of AlabamaThe Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind....
, a group that is still recording today. The folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel used close harmony, echoing their chosen role-models, the Everly Brothers.
Barbershop harmony has a unique TTBB structure - the melody is in the 2nd tenor or "lead" voice, while the 1st tenor takes the next part up, usually in 3rds, with the baritone and bass voices supporting. The bass line tends to be more rhythmic and covers the root notes of the harmonic progression, providing more "support" and independence than in classical vocal music, since Barbershop is usually sung a cappella. Barbershop can be sung by males (
TTBBIn musical choral notation, TTBB denotes a four-part men's chorus. Its configuration is Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1 , Bass 2....
) or females (
SSAASSAA may refer to:*Swinburne Student Amenities Association*Sporting Shooters Association of Australia* Soprano soprano alto alto choral music arrangement*System Security Authorization Agreement...
). There are many
public domainThe public domain is a range of abstract materials—commonly referred to as intellectual property—which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose...
pieces—such as "Sweet Adeline"—and newer pieces. There are also national organizations to promote the music with local chapters in many communities.
Soul and gospel groups flourished in America in the years after WWII, building on the foundation of blues, 1930's gospel songs and big band music. Originally called "race music" by white mainstream radio and its target market, they were the precursors to
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
and
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
of the 1960s and 1970s, influencing many English and American artists of that era. As noted above, they often used the more traditional TTBB or SSAA 4-part structure, but with heavy use of solos and call-and-response, which is rooted in the
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
church. These groups sometimes sang a cappella but also used more instrumental backing, especially when recorded by the bigger labels.
Pop musicPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
and
doo-wopDoo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music, which developed in African-American communities in the 1940s and which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. An African-American vocal style known as doo-wop emerged from the streets of northeastern and industrial midwest...
--like the musical
Jersey BoysJersey Boys is a documentary-style musical based on the lives of one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons. The musical opened on Broadway in 2005, and has had a North American National tour, along with productions in the West End, various US cities, and Melbourne...
—can be seen as a commercialization of this genre.
Instrumental
A well-known example of consistent instrumental close harmony is
Glenn MillerGlenn Miller , was an American jazz musician, arranger, composer, and band leader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
's "
Moonlight SerenadeMoonlight Serenade is singer-songwriter Carly Simon's 29th album, 22nd studio album, and fourth album devoted to standards.Released on July 19, 2005 by Columbia Records, Moonlight Serenade debuted at number seven on the Billboard Top 200, selling 58,000 copies in its first week...
" which uses the full range of single-reed wind instruments (soprano clarinet, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones) to make a distinctive sound by harmonizing the different sections all within a single octave. Miller studied the
Schillinger techniqueThe Schillinger System of Musical Composition, named after Joseph Schillinger, is a method of musical composition based on mathematical processes...
with
Joseph SchillingerJoseph Schillinger was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher. He was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine . He graduated from the Classical College in 1914 and the St. Petersburg Imperial Conservatory of Music.Schillinger came to the United States of America in 1928 and received his citizenship...
, who is credited with helping Miller create the "Miller sound", and under whose tutelage he himself composed what became his signature theme, "Moonlight Serenade".