Talk:Close and open harmony

Yankie Doodle wrong
So in the harmonization, we have F64 before G64. It’s not allowed, and sounds silly, because it has parallel 4ths (C–F going to D–G). Probably we should reharmonize this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.21.142.188 (talk) 14:06, 20 December 2016 (UTC)

Country music
Why is this included in the country music category? Tiles 09:24, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Because the term is often associated with the "brother duets" of early country music, e.g. the Delmore Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, the Everly Brothers. Also, Bill Monroe and his brother sang in this style prior to the development of the "high lonesome" sound of bluegrass. -MrFizyx 04:36, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Close Harmony Country/Gospel Music
I heard a programme on BBC World-Service Radio on the night of 15/16th November 2007. It featured a close-harmony country/gospel group called 'The Luban Brothers' (or Looben or Louban - I don't know the spelling.) One brother was killed in a road accident in 1965, but the other is still performing, at the age of 80! They used to have Elvis Presley as an opening act!! They sang wonderful close harmony, and were said to have inspired the Everly Brothers,& Gram Parsons amongst others. Please, can anybody help with the spelling of their name, and a source of their records? The Small Bopper —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Small Bopper (talk • contribs) 09:56, 16 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Among the most interesting Close Harmony performers of the second half of the 20th Century were the male vocal group "The Letterman." They were very popular in the 1960s (especially the early years of that decade) and, I believe, still have a loyal following today (2008). Their music was far from "Country/Gospel"; their best work was old Standards, supplemented by some original work. They were backed up by strings, piano, and double-bass. The results were often enchanting (for example, the old tune "The Way You Look Tonight"). Trent River (talk) 01:07, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

no Beach Boys ????????
i mean come on, greatest harmony group ever in rock. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.173.225.125 (talk) 12:36, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Reply: that are great and they often used close harmony, but their typical style is more "open harmony", modeled after the Four Freshman. But I think including them could make sense. This whole article is poorly written presently (3/14/10) and needs a lot of revision to be encyclopedic and more focused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.179.110.174 (talk) 05:40, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Schubert - "Meeresstille," D. 216 overtone series.png is wrong
The Meeres Stille picture is wrong. The lowest note should be a C, not an E. Could somebody fix it? Thank you.-- Fauban  12:30, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Barbershop is closed harmony?
I think that's completely wrong. The article even explains that in barbershop the top part is usually on the 3rd above the melody/octave, which is pretty much the definition of open harmony.

Also, half of the paragraph about barbershop seems completely unnecessary and self-promoting:
 * ... Barbershop can be sung by males (TTBB) or females (SSAA). Public domain pieces, such as "Sweet Adeline", and newer pieces are abundant. National organizations promote the music with local chapters in many communities.

--Bigpeteb (talk) 15:29, 16 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I would not say that barbershop music is in close harmony most of the time. However, if the tenor is on the 3rd above the lead who says that this is not close harmony? Of course it depends on which note the lead is singing. If the tenor is on the 3rd while the lead is on the root note (or more rarely the ninth) below it, then this is still close harmony for these two parts. However, this is a very dubious claim which I am removing right away, since barbershop music contains much more in open than closed position. JZCL 21:43, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Too technical
This part is too technical and needs to be explained better.

It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note (such as - C4, E4, G4), while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array

I know how to read music and I know how to make chords, and I know what C4 usually means (A C note with an F note), but I have no idea what is meant by that notation in this sentence. Rodeored (talk) 00:25, 28 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Actually, C4 is just another way of saying middle C. All notes are given a number depending on the octave they are in. See C (musical note). Although I do agree that this article needs a good deal more clarification. JZCL 21:38, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

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Schillinger?
I can't see how Schillinger belongs in this article. Harmonizing a melody with closed voicings doesn't need special composition lessons - any competent musician can have it explained in 60 seconds. And Duke Ellington was writing closed harmony parts before Miller. That 'Miller sound' comes more from the clarinet on top of the saxes and the use of major 6 chords. I would dump the Schillinger citations entirely. MarkinBoston (talk) 22:27, 20 December 2017 (UTC)