A beginner's guide to Vocal Harmony

As amateur or semi-professional singers, we all are curious about the vocal harmonies gracefully distilled in Simon & Garfunkel or The Beach Boys pieces for instance.

Such associations are the result of vocal harmony, a science that's as efficient as tricky to perform. Indeed, this technique requires a little bit of knowledge of the music theory (chords, key)... or at least a very good ear.

Vocal harmony consists in doubling the lead vocals, with the same rhythm and most of the time the same lyrics, but on a different note. A vocal harmony usually has a lower volume to make sure it does not disturb the lead vocals.

In order to create a vocal harmony, you need to know the chords of the melody. You can find them by playing the chords on your favorite instrument (or find them online). These chords are made of several notes together.

Most of the time, the chord is made of 3 notes together : the fundamental, the third (4 semi-tones above, 3 if the chord is minor) and the fifth (7 semi-tones above). For instance, an F would have F as a fundamental, an A as a third and C as a fifth. Doing a vocal harmony for an F will then be about singing an A to get the third or a C for the fifth.

By extension, a G chord is composed of a G, a B (third) and a D (fifth). To harmonize the lead vocals in G, you can either sing the B or the D.

This is just a basic harmony, and many of them can be found to create a richer harmony. However, this technique is a first step towards more complicated patterns (and you probably won't need to get there to find a great harmony).

In addition, training your ear to recognize and build harmonies is necessary to master this technique. Indeed, karaoke is an ideal way to do so, allowing you to add your voice on top of the lead vocals and try different patterns according to your taste and mood.

Spice up your summer with our Acoustic Versions

Summer is here and gets the season of long nights on the sand started.

Looking for the perfect soundtrack by the bonfire? Karaoke Version has picked this year's top tracks acoustic versions, perfect to complete your Guitar repertoire for the summer or sing along with an acoustic touch.

• Wake Me Up (Acoustic) as made famous by Aloe Blacc
• Valerie (Acoustic) as made famous by Amy Winehouse
• Hotel California (Acoustic) as made famous by The Eagles
• Just The Way You Are (Acoustic) as made famous by Bruno Mars
• Creep (Acoustic) as made famous by Radiohead
• Diamonds (Acoustic) as made famous by Rihanna
• Wicked Game (Acoustic) as made famous by Chris Isaak
• One Day / Reckoning Song (Live Acoustic) as made famous by Asaf Avidan
• Next To Me (Acoustic) as made famous by Emeli Sandé
• Moves Like Jagger (Acoustic) as made famous by Maroon 5

Feel free to make your selection among 160 acoustic versions, and update your campfire classics with a touch of Pop.

What about you? What's your favorite acoustic version? Let us know in the comments

Karaoke Version takes you to Brazil

While the Football fans are getting ready for several intense weeks on a cheering soundtrack, Karaoke Version is already dressed up for the World Cup on versao-karaoke.com!

For an extra time with music rhymes, our team has selected some of the most popular Latin Music songs. Treat yourself to a moment under the Copacabana sun with one or more of our selections.

Don't forget our ageless Football songs selection, including the World Cup Official Song, We Are One (Ole Ola), to bring the greatest moments of Football history back to life!

New : change the pitch of your backing tracks for instruments!

As an extension to our last update offering live pitch for Custom Backing Tracks, we are happy to release the pitch for our backing tracks for instruments.

Your favorite song is in G#? Make it an A or a F in just a click! Handy if you want to sing along and play (or just play with a different scale).

This update is obviously available for all the tracks you've already purchased, and all the future ones you will.

Have fun!

A look back on Eurovision!

Every year in May, the Eurovision Song Contest is back with surprising songs, extravagant costumes and stage performances that only this musical competition can bring.

Let's step back in time and review the songs that everybody remembers from Eurovision over the last 58 years:

• Waterloo, as made famous by Abba

This song made popular by the Swedish band won the competition in 1974 and took over the world, being number 1 in many Europeans countries, and entering the top 10 in the United States.

• Diva, as made famous by Dana International

This song by Israeli Pop singer Dana International, is still remembered as being the first and only winning song performed by a transgender artist.

• Ne partez pas sans moi, as made famous by Céline Dion

With this song, Céline Dion, at that time not as famous as she is now, won the competition in 1988 for Switzerland.

• Hard Rock Hallelujah, as made famous by Lordi

This rock song, quite unusual in the musical landscape of Eurovision, was the only one that brought Finland a victory.

• Only Teardrops, as made famous by Emmelie de Forest

Winner of last year's competition, Only Teardrops rapidly became a huge success in its home country, Denmark.

• Euphoria, as made famous by Loreen

This Swedish song won the competition in 2012, with a total of 372 points, the second highest score ever reached since the beginning of the contest.

• L’oiseau et l’enfant, as made famous by Marie Myriam

This ballad, single French winning song in 58 years of Eurovision, was a great success through Europe, and was sung in French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

• White and Black Blues, as made famous by Joëlle Ursull

White and Black Blues is the second song written by the French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg entering the competition. It allowed France to rank second in 1990.

• Poupée de cire, poupée de son, as made famous by France Gall

Luxembourg representative in 1965, this song written by Serge Gainsbourg was translated in more than 18 languages, including Arabic, Russian, Swedish and even Japanese.

“Roar”, “Royals”, “Happy”... One word to hit the world!

You may have noticed the increasing number of popular songs with one-word titles in the charts worldwide.

From Pop music to R&B, writers are now more than ever looking for short, simple and effective names. But where is this coming from?

• Sharing is success

With the superpower of social media, a short title can be easily shared and turned into an hashtag. This way, the music and lyrics can be spread all over the internet in just a few seconds.

• One word to be number one

The writers know it: if a song can be summed up in a single word, then the message must be really powerful. It's likely to be memorized by the fans around the world and become a number one in the charts.

Let’s play a game: I'm sure you have the following one-word titled songs in mind. Can you remember the lyrics? Check them out right now on our website!

• Believe, made famous by Cher .
• Ghostbusters, made famous by Ray Parker J.
• Funkytown, made famous by Lipps, Inc.
• OMG, made famous by Usher.
• Footloose, made famous by Kenny Loggins.
• Grenade, made famous by Bruno Mars.
• Fantasy, made famous by Mariah Carey.
• Firework, made famous by Katy Perry.
• Waterfalls, made famous by TLC.
• Fallin’, made famous by Alicia Keys.
• Radioactive, made famous by Imagine Dragons.
• Irreplaceable, made famous by Beyoncé.
• Faith, made famous by George Michael.
• Royals, made famous by Lorde.
• Low, made famous by Flo Rida.
• Physical, made famous by Olivia Newton-John.
• Macarena, made famous by Los Del Rio.
• Smooth, made famous by Santana.
• Happy, made famous by Pharrell.