A good question, and one that's been on my mind this past while. I sing in a group with three other people and, during the past year, it's become clear to us that people expect harmonies if they see more than one person singing. And they seem to expect those harmonies to be quite elaborate.

However, I believe that a harmony should complement and enhance the melody, not drown it out. I find it frustrating trying to hear the actual melody of a song that has been harmonied too elaborately to my ears.

Some of our songs have no harmonies, or not many, because we believe that the words and the way in which we sing them are better at getting the song across.

So why sing them? For me, it's a group thing. There is a wonderful feeling to be had when we make a pretty sound! And it's also wonderful when I am singing alone, and the audience or the people I am singing with join in with all sorts of harmonies that seem to make the song into something else.