Bluegrass vocals

I have written a few blogs on bluegrass harmony singing (https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/11/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-1-either-you-have-it-or-you-can-learn-it/, https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/19/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-2-you-gotta-work-on-it-to-be-good/). For some, it can come naturally, but for many, it takes a lot of work training the ear to hit the correct pitch. Unless one is in a position to work with other singers continually, it can be extremely difficult to jump right in and sing another part to harmonize with the lead.

Only this morning, I came across the website Part By Heart (http://www.partbyheart.com/). Bluegrass musician Austin Scelzo has developed an app (also available online) to work on harmonies to many bluegrass standards. Two of the songs (“Angel Band,” “All the Good Times Are Passed”) are available for free, while others are available for $8.00 per month or $35.00 per year as a subscription.

With each song, the chorus is set up with the lead vocals as well at three harmony parts and guitar accompaniment. The student can work on each part by listening to it on its own, muting the other parts, then muting only that part and singing along with the chorus. Additional features include shifting the pitch of the song and panning each part to separate stereo channels.

I was testing it out earlier, and it seemed to work fine on my new Samsung phone, but was shaky on my laptop. As this is a relatively new site, they may be still working out some bugs (the intro YouTube video states that it can be used on cellphones, computers, laptops and tablets). There are currently 16 tunes up with more to be added.

I will check it out again in a few weeks, and hopefully the kinks will be worked out from the computer end. If so, it may be interesting to try out for a few months. At this point, I would recommend anyone wanting to work on harmonies to check out the two songs available to see if it helps. If it does, a subscription may be worthwhile, as it is a lot cheaper than trying to find a vocal coach or getting together with others to practice on your own available time.

In parting, here’s a great video to watch. I have never been a fan of the ukelele, but this brought a smile to my face this past week.

Chew on it and comment.

Winter is around the corner. More time indoors, most of the time outdoors (especially north of the Mason-Dixon Line) is spent shoveling and snowblowing instead of out on the road heading for a festival or jam session. There is little to look forward to during the next few months. Even most bluegrass bands go into hibernation, since most of their in come comes from performing at outdoor events.

This doesn’t mean that everyone (including you) have to forget about anything musical until March or April. This is the perfect time to better yourself for the 2023 bluegrass summer season. There are a number of activities that you can do to busy yourself at home while improving on your musical skills.

Practice – That concept cannot be repeated enough! There is always something that you can learn to improve on your playing. Time spent outside gardening or lawn maintenance can be spent indoors (once the driveway and sidewalk are shoveled) learning new things on your preferred instrument. There are tons of books, videos and YouTube channels devoted to lessons on all stringed instruments. Moreover, I have discussed jam-along videos in previous blogs that can help you improve your playing with others (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/06/11/a-look-at-bluegrass-jam-tracks/). I have also mentioned checking out instructional videos from other genres (rock, blues, jazz, Celtic, etc.) to see if there is any tips that you can pick up.

Learn Another Instrument – So you play guitar and that is the only instrument that you own. Get a beginner bass guitar rig, or a mandolin, and transfer some of your skills to one of those instrument. How about a tin whistle? Those are extremely inexpensive, and you can pick up a few tunes within a week or so. If you want to stick with strings and have a little more dough to blow, start working on a good banjo, dobro, or fiddle. Make yourself more viable at the jam sessions next year.

Vocals – If you are a lead singer, keep stretching those pipes! Do warm-up exercises every day. Sing loud, like in a band, not in a lower talking volume. If you are not a singer, then start working on it! I did a two-part blog on bluegrass harmonies (https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/11/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-1-either-you-have-it-or-you-can-learn-it/ and https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/19/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-2-you-gotta-work-on-it-to-be-good/). Bluegrass vocals depend on great-sounding two- and three-part harmonies. Some people have an ear for harmonizing naturally. Others need to work on it. Now it the time. Find some bluegrass recordings with great harmonies, and pay attention. Then, tune-in to those harmonies and see if you can match the pitches. Find some solo-singing bluegrass vocals and try to harmonize. This is something that takes a lot of work, but again, makes a bluegrass performer more viable. If anything, you can check out Cary Fridley’s YouTube courses on singing.

https://www.youtube.com/user/cfridley

Basic lutherie – This does nto mean to try and build a guitar or mandolin on your own (although if you have the time, money and passion, go right ahead!). Do some basic maintenance besides changing strings. Clean the fingerboard, polish the instrument, perhaps even do some more advanced work like crowning frets or adjusting the truss rod. Again, there are a number of books on guitar/musical instrument maintenance out there, plus dozens of videos on YouTube that can walk you through simple maintenance.

Chew on it and comment.