What is harmonization?

Answer 1

Harmony is the acoustic phenomenon that sounds which have a certain definable pitch (musical sounds) tend to reinforce sounds with other different pitches. In its simplest form a man singing a song and a woman singing along with him are usually singing at different pitches, but the frequency of the woman's voice is twice that of the man's. Because their voice pitches are related by this simple mathematical relationship, they blend and reinforce each other--so much so that they probably do not realize that they are in fact singing different notes.

If the woman sings at pitches one-and-a-half times that of the man, the result is a sound we associate with monks singing in Gregorian chant. The voices still support and reinforce each others' sound, but in a different way.

If one woman is singing at one-and-a-half times the pitch of the man and another at twice the pitch, all three voices reinforce each other. Add another woman singing at a pitch two-and-a-half times the man's pitch and the result is spectacular! Combining different pitches in this way so as to reinforce each other is called "harmonizing" and the result is harmony, whether using voices or Musical Instruments.

That's the literal meaning. Figuratively, organizing any group of people or things so that their actions reinforce and support each other is often called "harmonizing".

Answer 2

Harmony is the acoustic phenomenon that sounds which have a certain definable pitch (musical sounds) tend to reinforce sounds with other different pitches. In its simplest form a man singing a song and a woman singing along with him are usually singing at different pitches, but the frequency of the woman's voice is twice that of the man's. Because their voice pitches are related by this simple mathematical relationship, they blend and reinforce each other--so much so that they probably do not realize that they are in fact singing different notes.

If the woman sings at pitches one-and-a-half times that of the man, the result is a sound we associate with monks singing in Gregorian chant. The voices still support and reinforce each others' sound, but in a different way.

If one woman is singing at one-and-a-half times the pitch of the man and another at twice the pitch, all three voices reinforce each other. Add another woman singing at a pitch two-and-a-half times the man's pitch and the result is spectacular! Combining different pitches in this way so as to reinforce each other is called "harmonizing" and the result is harmony, whether using voices or Musical Instruments.

That's the literal meaning. Figuratively, organizing any group of people or things so that their actions reinforce and support each other is often called "harmonizing".