Sorry for the bad pun in the title…
I’m reasonably confident that the default background added harmony for a good deal of popular music would be a 3rd above the lead voice. I’m curious as to what 2nd, 3rd, etc. harmonies lead to the distinct vocal harmonies of, let’s say, The Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Beatles, etc. ?
An easy one I picked out today is Chris Tifford singing an octave below Glen Tilbrook in Squeeze.
Well, according to this page of sheet music, almost all of the Everly’s “Bye Bye Love” harmony part is a sixth below.
This page has some interesting discussion about Beach Boys harmonies vs. the Beatles:
http://music.metafilter.com/5534/That-Beach-Boys-Vocal-Sound
Another group whose harmonies you should check out for comparison is Crosby Stills and Nash.
The Beatles even played around with parallel fourths and fifths (which were no-nos under classical musical theory.) See the part from “Eight Days a Week” that goes "Eight Days a Week, I luh-uh-uh-uh-uhve you. That’s got those in there at the bolded section.
Typically, though, when harmonizing, you’re going to be picking out chord tones that work, and perhaps building around thirds and sixths, but not exclusively so. It’s more a question of what notes from the chord will work rather than hey, let’s just sing a third above or below the melody the whole time. which wouldn’t work well with most songs.
Thanks, I meant to include them…beautiful unique harmonies that have been tough to beat 40+ years later.
I think that makes more sense logically; people who can jump in and sing harmony on the fly had me convinced that they had an ear for picking out the 3rd above instantly. Most likely they adjust instantaneously if that leads them to a (incorrect in many cases) major 7th.
