Editing Close and open harmony

{{Short description|Types of note arrangements within chords}}
{{hatnote group|{{redirects|Barbershop harmony||Barbershop arranging}}{{redirects|Open harmony|the software|OpenHarmony}}{{other uses|Close harmony (disambiguation)}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
\relative c' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f <c e g>1 <c g' e' g> }
</score>|width=300|caption=C major triad in close and open harmony}}
A [[Chord (music)|chord]] is in '''close harmony''' (also called '''close position''' or '''close structure'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Tonal Harmony|url=https://archive.org/details/workbookfortonal00kost_245|url-access=limited|last1=Kostka|first1=Stefan|author1-link=Stefan Kostka|last2=Payne|first2=Dorothy|date=2004|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=0072852607|edition=5th|location=Boston|page=[https://archive.org/details/workbookfortonal00kost_245/page/n70 74]|oclc=51613969}}</ref>) if its notes are [[Voicing (music)|arranged]] within a narrow [[range (music)|range]], usually with no more than an [[octave]] between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in '''open harmony''' (also called '''open position''' or '''open structure'''<ref name=":0" />) if there is more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. The more general term ''spacing'' describes how far apart the notes in a chord are voiced. A triad in close harmony has compact spacing, while one in open harmony has wider spacing.

Close harmony or voicing can refer to both instrumental and vocal arrangements. It can follow the standard [[Voice leading|voice-leading]] rules of classical harmony, as in [[string quartet]]s or [[Bach chorales]], or proceed in [[contrapuntal motion|parallel motion]] with the melody in [[Third (chord)|thirds]] or [[Sixth chord|sixths]].

== Vocal music ==
{{see also|Vocal harmony}}
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
{
#(set-global-staff-size 15)
      \new PianoStaff <<
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c' {
                \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
                c8 c d e c e d4 c8 c d e c4 b c8 c d e f e d c b g a b c4 c
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
           \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 120
           \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
           \new Voice \relative c {
                <c e g>2 <c e g>4 <b d g>4 <c e g>2 <c e g>4 <d g> <c e g>2 <c f a> <d f g> <c e g>4 <c e g>
                }
            >>
    >> }
</score>|align=right|caption=Beginning of "[[Yankee Doodle]]"<ref>Porter, Steven (1987). ''Harmonization of the Chorale'', p.&nbsp;9. {{ISBN|0-935016-80-5}}.</ref> with [[accompaniment]] in close harmony}}
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
{
      <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"voice oohs"
            \relative c'' {
                \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
                   g2. g4 e2 e g2. g4 e2 c
                }
                \addlyrics { Tie -- fe Stil -- le herrscht im Was -- ser }
            >>
      \new PianoStaff <<
        \set PianoStaff.connectArpeggios = ##t
        \new Staff <<
           \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
           \new Voice \relative c' {
                <c e>1\pp\arpeggio
                <c e>\arpeggio
                <d f>\arpeggio
                <c e>\arpeggio
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
           \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
           \new Voice \relative c, {
                <c c' g'>1\arpeggio
                <c c' g'>\arpeggio
                <b b' g'>\arpeggio
                <c c' g'>\arpeggio
                }
            >>
    >>  >> }
</score>|width=370|align=right|caption=Beginning of [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]]'s "Meeresstille", D. 216, is an example of accompaniment in open harmony, spaced according to the [[harmonic series (music)|overtone series]]<ref>[[Oswald Jonas|Jonas, Oswald]] (1982). ''Introduction to the Theory of [[Heinrich Schenker]]'' (1934: ''Das Wesen des musikalischen Kunstwerks: Eine Einführung in Die Lehre Heinrich Schenkers''), p.&nbsp;18. Translator: John Rothgeb. {{ISBN|0-582-28227-6}}.</ref>}}
Origins of this style of singing are found in harmonies of the 1800s in America.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

Early radio quartets continued this tradition. Female harmonists, like [[The Boswell Sisters]] ("[[Mood Indigo]]", 1933) and The Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce ("Who? You That's Who!", 1927), who then became [[Three X Sisters]], performed and recorded this style in the 1920s, and continued it on commercial radio of the 1930s. Close harmony singing was especially popular in the 1940s with pop and R&B groups using the technique quite frequently. [[The Andrews Sisters]] also capitalized on a similar style with [[swing music]].

Many [[Gospel music|gospel]] and [[Soul music|soul]] groups in the 1950s and 60s also used this technique, usually 3- or 4-part [[SSAA choir|SSAA]] or [[TTBB]] harmony with one person (either bass or lead) doing a [[Call and response (music)|call-and-response]] type lead. Examples of this are [[The Blind Boys of Alabama]],{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} a group that is still recording today. Artists like [[The Beatles]] and [[Simon & Garfunkel]] used close harmony, echoing their chosen role-models, [[The Everly Brothers]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/the-everly-brothers-20110420|title=100 Greatest Artists: 33. The Everly Brothers|last=Simon|first=Paul|date=20 April 2011|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=19 January 2014}}</ref> [[The Louvin Brothers]] were a duo that used close harmony in the genre of [[country music]].<ref> {{cite news|last=Friskics-Warren |first=Bill |date=26 January 2011 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/arts/music/27louvin.html/ |title= Charlie Louvin, Country Singer, Dies at 83|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=15 February 2017}} </ref>

[[Barbershop music|Barbershop harmony]] has a unique harmonic structure: the melody is in the 2nd tenor or "lead" voice, while the 1st tenor takes the next part up, usually in 3rds, with the baritone and bass voices supporting. The bass line tends to be more rhythmic and covers the root notes of the harmonic progression, providing more "support" and independence than in classical vocal music, since Barbershop is usually sung a cappella. Barbershop can be sung by people of any gender.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Public domain pieces, such as "[[Sweet Adeline (song)|Sweet Adeline]]", and newer pieces are abundant. National organizations promote the music with local chapters in many communities.

Soul and gospel groups flourished in America in the years after World War II, building on the foundation of blues, 1930s gospel songs and big band music. Originally called "[[race music]]" by white mainstream radio and its target market, it was the precursor to [[rock and roll]] and [[rhythm and blues]] of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, influencing many English and American artists of that era. They often used the more traditional TTBB or SSAA 4-part structure, but with heavy use of solos and call-and-response, which is rooted in the [[African American]] church. These groups sometimes sang a cappella but also used instrumental backing, especially when recorded by the bigger labels. [[Pop music]] and [[doo-wop]] can be seen as a commercialization of this genre.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

== Instrumental music ==
[[Impressionist Music|Impressionist]] composers like [[Claude Debussy]] and [[Maurice Ravel]] often used close harmony in their works and other intervals, such as 7ths, 9ths, and 11ths may be used since the chords have four or more notes and the harmonies are more complex.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} In [[jazz]], this influence flowered in the works of [[George Gershwin]] and [[Duke Ellington]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Hasse|first=John Edward|title=Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington|year=1995|location=New York|publisher=Da Capo|isbn=0-306-80614-2}}</ref>

A well-known example of consistent instrumental close harmony is [[Glenn Miller]]'s "[[Moonlight Serenade]]" which uses the full range of single-reed [[wind instrument]]s (soprano clarinet, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones) to make a distinctive sound by harmonizing the different sections all within a single octave.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} Miller studied the [[Schillinger system|Schillinger technique]] with [[Joseph Schillinger]],<ref>"[http://www.theschillingerschoolofmusic.org/biog.php Joseph Schillinger, the forgotten Guru] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504001230/http://www.theschillingerschoolofmusic.org/biog.php|date=May 4, 2006}}", ''The Schillinger School of Music''.</ref> who is credited with helping Miller create the "Miller sound", and under whose tutelage he himself composed what became his signature theme, "Moonlight Serenade".<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20090219020019/http://schillingersystem.com/whois.htm Who Is Joseph Schillinger?]", ''The Schillinger System''.</ref>

==Block harmony==
In [[organ (music)|organ]] performance, block harmony means that close position chords are added below the [[melody]] in the right hand, and the left hand [[Doubling (voicing)|doubles]] the melody an [[octave]] lower, while in open harmony the middle note of the chord is played an octave lower creating an "open" space in the chord.<ref>Shanaphy, Edward and Knowlton, Joseph (1990). ''The Do It Yourself Handbook for Keyboard Playing'', p.&nbsp;220. {{ISBN|0-943748-00-3}}.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Block chord]]
*[[Open chord]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Voicing (music)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Close and open harmony}}
[[Category:Musical terminology]]
[[Category:Barbershop music]]
[[Category:Harmony]]
[[Category:Voicing (music)]]