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Beatles forums => Songs => Topic started by: nyfan(41) on January 23, 2011, 02:09:10 AM

Title: 3 part harmony
Post by: nyfan(41) on January 23, 2011, 02:09:10 AM
lots of beatles songs have two part harmonies (if i fell... all i've gotta do... i wanna hold ur hand...allthewaytill -> two of us..... its most often john and paul!)
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and others have a lead vocal and two part harmonies as backing vocal ...
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but what song's have true 3 part harmonies?

immediately coming to mind is
BECAUSE
THIS BOY
NOWHERE MAN
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any others you like?
for me, it kind of takes the song into overdrive when the 3rd harmony part is there
would love to hear any opinions and faves
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Whoeveriam on January 23, 2011, 02:21:18 AM
This Boy is poor in stereo, you don't get the swell of the voices.

Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on January 23, 2011, 05:46:32 PM
Ask Me Why, especially on the "I love you-woo-woo" parts.  One of my fave moments in Beatle song history.  :P
I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any more right now.  I'm a bit distracted listening to Beatles For Sale!

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: nyfan(41) on January 23, 2011, 06:40:21 PM
good call jai ! - i'm gonna have that part of the song in my head all day now !  ha2ha  ;yes
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whoever - i have to check out some mono beatles. when the remasters came out i read alot about the mono that i'd never considered.
i just had assumed stereo was 'better' - but that's almost like when they colorized old black and white films. newer technology isn't always improvement. it makes sense that the voices would meld more in one channel
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on January 24, 2011, 02:04:35 AM
I do rather enjoy mono over stereo quite a lot, despite being born in a stereo generation!  Music like that of The Beatles just sounds and feels right in mono to me, and I find the bizarre panning quite endearing of the time, to be honest!  The birth of stereo certainly did confuse producers as to where they should put the sounds, and as Brian Eno said, it led to some "pretty idiosynchratic panning"...  but when I put on "This Boy" and take one headphone out or turn one speaker off, it makes me smile to hear most of the song disappear.  God bless mono!  :P
And "Ask Me Why" is one of my fave Beatles songs ever, that's why I instantly thought of it when I read this thread.  It's one of the elements that makes it perfect for me.

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: pc31 on January 25, 2011, 04:35:11 AM
there should be another topic about this...buried here some wheres...if the admin are so great at fuusing topics they need to find the other.... :-X...hows that for a kick in the nuts?
i love the 3 part harmonies...flying falls under that catagory.....or is that a quartet?
i never believed it was...this boy is a wonderful song....funny thing about it is when did they developed them...in the decca sessions era george was the strongest vocalist...and john and paul were weak..they spent a lot of time learning to harmonize,......i dont think they pull it off as good as george and paul tho....altho ticket to ride is good but i think its john solo voice on it that makes is great.....i dont recall ever reading that they worked on 3 part harmony,which means george was a natural..... ;D
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on January 26, 2011, 02:51:32 AM
Good ol' Georgie!  :)
I do find myself smiling at the image of John and Paul knocking heads together in Mendips or Forthlin Road, with their guitars, listening to Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly and the Crickets and whatnot, trying to mimic the way their voices intertwine, going "I'll be Don, you be Phil - no, don't sing THAT bit, that's my part and you do the 'woooo' and I'll play the rhythm part too."  :D
Especially since I've been inside both houses...  John's bedroom was electric.  I could picture him so clearly in that room, strumming away, going down to let Paul in at the backdoor and then to the bathroom with the guitars for its superior acoustics.  Oh to have been there...  I wish I had a friend like that.  I have a boy that I harmonise with in his band, but we're not exactly Lennon-McCartney.  :P

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on February 05, 2011, 02:03:49 AM
Sorry for the double post, but I just remembered another one...  Yes It Is  :P
Very effective too.  Though it's not one of their best, and I don't think they particularly loved it, I certainly do.

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: BLEEN on February 06, 2011, 09:09:46 PM
Hey all, big Beatles fan here from Philadelphia, PA USA  :) I was actually a member some years ago, and lost my password.

Tell Me Why has three part harmony running through most of it, Sun King also.
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on February 07, 2011, 02:04:15 AM
True!  The songs we forget about because we're concentrating too hard...  :P
Welcome back to the forums, by the way.  :)

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: BLEEN on February 07, 2011, 03:16:56 AM
Thanks Jai!

Come to think of it, there is Think For Yourself and The Word which both have quite a bit of three part. I guess I consider three part harmony through a song as the ones where they are singing the same words together, as opposed to a lead vocal with harmonized backup.

I love Yes It Is too, by the way  :)
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Bobber on February 07, 2011, 08:59:07 AM
Hey all, big Beatles fan here from Philadelphia, PA USA  :) I was actually a member some years ago, and lost my password.

Congratulations on a happy return. ha2ha. What was the username then? I might be able to revive it.
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: nimrod on February 07, 2011, 01:22:02 PM
Sorry for the double post, but I just remembered another one...  Yes It Is  :P
Very effective too.  Though it's not one of their best, and I don't think they particularly loved it, I certainly do.

xxx

one of my faves, I like it more than This Boy, I love the way John belts out the chorus's
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: BLEEN on February 08, 2011, 03:05:25 PM
Congratulations on a happy return. ha2ha. What was the username then? I might be able to revive it.

Hi Bobber - I only posted a couple of times with the old username, hardly worth the effort to revive it, thank you very much for offering though! This is a wonderful forum, the knowledge on here amazes me and I've learned much about my favorite band through you guys & gals - much appreciated!
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on February 11, 2011, 02:52:49 AM
Aww, I'm glad you've found some joy in our little community, BLEEN, and I hope we can all share more knowledge and friendship.  ;)
And nimrod, I'm glad you enjoy Yes It Is so much, because I've always loved it to death and been asked why a lot.  I know that the boys themselves didn't like it so much afterwards.  I think I read somewhere that John said the lyrics were too 'old-timer' and cheesy, but while that's possibly true, the sheer power of those vocal harmonies just bring it to life beautifully.  They're not obvious harmony choices, and hard to hear and isolate each one when your new to the song or haven't heard it in a while.  I think it's very well put together and has something very similar to This Boy, though both have distinct personalities as songs.  I think Yes It Is will always be one of my not-so-typical favourites.  :)

xxx
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: TomMo on June 04, 2012, 11:01:26 PM
Those of you who know anything about 3-part harmony know that the middle part is the hardest. George handled that part and did a superb job each and every time. It was one of his hidden talents because when it's done correctly, you don't notice it.
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 23, 2017, 03:48:02 AM
Those of you who know anything about 3-part harmony know that the middle part is the hardest. George handled that part and did a superb job each and every time. It was one of his hidden talents because when it's done correctly, you don't notice it.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryn689fW4c0# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryn689fW4c0#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqPwvU4gTY# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqPwvU4gTY#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs60CUAMViE# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs60CUAMViE#)
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: tkitna on October 23, 2017, 06:02:07 PM
Thats good stuff Barry
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 24, 2017, 03:30:46 AM
They show just how hard George's harmony vocals were to do, Todd.  And he could do it while playing lead guitar!


<snap>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ZE4arxJwc# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ZE4arxJwc#)

George:  That was good!  Nowhere Man was okay, wasn't it?
Paul:  It was hard, though.  It was okay but it was hard.
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 24, 2017, 04:33:13 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITQBeP-zhMo# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITQBeP-zhMo#)
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 24, 2017, 04:51:23 AM
Yes It Is


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8RhOGVH1gs# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8RhOGVH1gs#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN6aHk7n-54# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN6aHk7n-54#)
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 24, 2017, 05:06:02 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toeBYJEyGsA# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toeBYJEyGsA#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7jzvZAdzg# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7jzvZAdzg#)
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Casbah on January 08, 2018, 06:24:28 AM
Just a small correction here, George was usually tasked with the lower harmony which, in my opinion, is harder.

In the example of Nowhere Man, the middle harmony is the main melody line, sung by John. Paul is obviously going to go high and that left the lower harmony to George.  Lower harmonies are harder to make out since they're not as audible as higher harmonies so imagine with all the screaming and no monitors and trying to stay in key and tune and ALSO not to mention he's paired up with Paul on one mic who is actually 2 harmonies above him. It's amazing he could do it at all.

Another bear of a harmony is Yes It Is. Again, with George taking the lower.
Title: Re: 3 part harmony
Post by: Moogmodule on January 09, 2018, 06:28:53 AM
Just a small correction here, George was usually tasked with the lower harmony which, in my opinion, is harder.



I tend to agree. Doing a third or fifth above a melody note comes reasonably easily with a bit of practice. The lower harmonies can be less intuitive.