close harmony

American  

[klohs] / kloʊs /

noun

Music.

1. harmony in which the voices, excluding the bass, occur within an octave or, sometimes, within the interval of a tenth.

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close harmony British  

/ kləʊs /

noun

1. a type of singing in which all the parts except the bass lie close together and are confined to the compass of a tenth

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Etymology

Origin of close harmony

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The mix of working in close harmony, but entirely individually, chimed with McMurtry.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2024

Adherents of the Baha’i faith, they sought to make a calmer brand of music, mixing folk, bluegrass, country and jazz influences and delivering their lyrics in close harmony.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2022

Their backing band drops into the Lou Rawls standard “Fine Brown Frame” and they start singing in airtight close harmony.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2017

HooShir A Cappella, Indiana University’s premier co-ed a cappella group with Jewish roots, and Potomac Fever, a 13-voice a cappella close harmony pop ensemble from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC will perform.

From Washington Post • Mar. 1, 2014

As we left the Temperant tent, the quartet was singing, in close harmony: .

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck