Tuning Tendencies For Parts of a Chord

We’ve all stood around tagging out in the lobby or hotel room, and we try to ring every chord! What fun it can be! And, we want to get better at it….so we sing the same tag again and again; hoping it will ring more and more. Sometimes things just line up naturally. Usually though, you have to tweak and change what your singing to really lock up the chords in a tag or song.

When you’re in this choice situation at a convention, it’s good to know some basics about tuning and ringing chords. So, here’s a quick blurb about tuning chords!

Disclaimer

This is not a discertation on resonance and healthy vocal production (you should try to sing well, and voice teachers are out there)… and this is certainly not a detailed scientific analysis. Just some words used by guys in the harmony trenches – barbershop “street terms”– nothing fancy! Words like “match”, “bright” or “dark”, and “low” or “high” – all which could be defined differently depending your circle of music friends. Also, someday you might hear a coach or director or teacher say something that contradicts what I’m sharing about tuning chords in an acappella group. If so, just try out what they’re saying. There is no perfect “cookie-cutter” solution for every group or person. It’s all about experimenting and learning the craft!

General Guidelines to Tuning

So, here are some general tuning tendencies for parts of a chord. These are not “rules” for every time, but seem to apply often. Don’t analyze the semantics of the language too much – this is stuff you’ll hear when singing with your buddies.

The 3rd (of a major chord) – Tune it just a tad low with “bright” tone color. Low??? What? Uh…yes! And you say “but we’ve always been told to sing on the high side of the third!” Well, unless you and/or your chorus tend to sing everything flat (making all the 3rds so flat that they start to sound minor), then the 3rd of a major chord will usually ring and lock best when tuning it on the low side with a tad of brightness in your voice. Try it and you’ll see.

The 5th – The 5th is usually sung right on the note – no high or low tuning needed. Match the resonance and timbre of the “one” of the chord. Usually it’s the bass or lead on the 5th. But, could be anyone.

The 7th (dominant 7th or barbershop 7th ) – Our favorite chord!! And, you’ll find it usually tunes on the low side. Singing with a bright tone color often helps the 7th tune (especially on the baritone or tenor part) – but it’s all about matching resonance….wait, I’m not going there!

The Major 7th – Sing it high as to avoid the sound of a dominant seventh.

The Major 6th – Sometimes called the 13th in shop terms. Here you sit directly on the note or slightly low as to avoid singing a Dominant 7th

The 9th / The 2nd – What a lovely part of the chord to sing! Just sit directly on the note or slightly low as to avoid clashing with the 3rd.

Minor 3rd – Well, this is not a real “ringing” part of any chord… so just sing it and be accurate. Just be sure to stay low enough so it doesn’t start to sound like a “major 3rd”

There are other parts of the chord that we could discuss, but we might desecrate this fine blog with too much music geekness! So, have fun ringing chords! If you didn’t really understand any of this, that’s okay. You sing each of these parts of the chord often, and likely you tune them okay already. It’s all about just doing it. All this music street talk is just fun to learn on the side – and might be an asset someday when huddled in a stairwell blasting “To the end……” (and again….1/2 step higher!)