Super Trouper Harmony

July 24, 2017 2:01 AM

I want to harmonize when singing Super Trouper by ABBA (meaning sing the non-melody part.) How do I learn to do that?

I was a soprano in choir and super used to only singing the melody and not harmony. My choir days are a decade in the past, though. I love singing Super Trouper by ABBA when I go to karaoke with my best friend or others, and want to harmonize because a) I want to give my friend the spotlight and b) I think the upper harmony would be a good fit for a soprano and c) because I love how harmonies sound.

I don't know how to go about this. Is there a harmony-only version floating around somewhere so I can practice singing along with it, or sheet music? I haven't been able to find any so far.

Can anyone help me either source a sound file or sheet music, or tell me how to go about this in a different way? Just listening to the whole track hasn't been successful so far, I get confused midway through.

If you can't help with this song, I'd take suggestions for others as well!

Thanks in advance!

posted by LoonyLovegood to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: There's an arrangement here in three parts, arranged soprano soprano alto - it looks like you can unlock the whole thing for a small price (£1.73 in the UK apparently), but I haven't looked at in depth and don't know how good it is.

In terms of getting more comfortable learning the harmony line (I've done this a lot, but also have more experience singing non-melody lines in choral settings), I find it helps to just sing it a lot and focus really hard on following the harmony line while you're doing it. Get up (or down) there as early as you can and try to stay with it while you're singing along, even if you end up drifting back to the melody line (or singing your own not-the-actual-harmony-line harmonies in the process).

If you find you're drifting back to the melody line in specific places, go over them again and again, listening hard for where the harmony is going during that section. Try thinking about why you're being drawn back to the melody line there - are the harmony/melody lines close? Does the harmony line go to an unexpected place, musically? Your task is to listen as closely as you can to the harmony line during these sections, trying to consciously ignore the melody and consciously search out the harmony.

It might also help to try and find different mixes and listen to them on headphones - I find sometimes the harmony comes through a lot stronger in one ear, depending on the mix, so you can listen/sing to that side only and it might help with being able to pick out what's going on.

Above all, this takes time to learn - I've been doing this long enough now that I can pick out harmony lines fairly easily, toss my voice up a third (or whatever the interval is) and just slot into the mix, develop my own reasonable-sounding harmony lines etc., but that took a lot of years of casual practice in the car and a few years of formal barbershop singing. Trying to listen out for/sing along to the harmony line(s) in anything you're listening to will also help develop this skill in the long term.
posted by terretu at 3:30 AM on July 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

In addition to terretu's suggestions, I like to make a recording of the melody line to sing along with, using the voice memo function on my phone. Many people do fine when they are singing an isolated harmony line, but have a tendency to go back to the melody when they can hear it. It's good to practice hearing one sound and singing another.

I would just listen to the recording and find the line I wanted to sing and memorize it, but in discussions with other singers I seem to be a bit of an outlier in my approach, so that might not work for you.
posted by bunderful at 5:01 AM on July 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Sounds like you've probably already tried this, but song name + "karaoke" searches on youtube can often turn up something, since karaoke versions often include some harmony parts. You can also look for covers that have simpler or more prominent harmony parts. Karaoke and cover versions may both differ from the original, but I'm assuming your goal is just to find something that sounds good. Total faithfulness would require more than one harmony singer in this case anyway.

If "I get confused midway through" means you've already figured out a good chunk at the beginning, I'd say you're doing pretty well.

I'm not very good at this, and personally for me it's just a matter of time, sometimes having to go over the same bar multiple times, or give up and come back another day if I get frustrated. If you have some keyboard skills it can help to try working out parts on a keyboard.

Sounds like a fun project, good luck and keep at it!
posted by floppyroofing at 9:08 AM on July 24, 2017