Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: the lead sings the melody, with the tenor harmonizing above the melody, the bass singing the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completing the chord. The melody is not sung by the tenor or bass, except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading, in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishing effect can be created. Occasional brief passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts. Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... Vocal music is music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. ... In music, a consonance (Latin consonare, sounding together) is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance, which is considered unstable. ... In music and music theory, a chord (from the Middle English cord) short for accord is two or more different notes or pitches sounding simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously, over a period of time. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as a countertenor). ... A basso (or bass) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ... This is an article on the voice type. ... In music, voice leading is the continuity between pitches or notes played successively in time. ...

Barbershop music features songs with understandable lyrics and easily singable melodies, whose tones clearly define a tonal center and imply major and minor chords and barbershop (dominant and secondary dominant) seventh chords that resolve primarily around the circle of fifths, while making frequent use of other resolutions. What sets barbershop apart from other musical styles is the predominant use of the dominant-type seventh chords. Barbershop music also features a balanced, symmetrical form and a standard meter. The basic song and its harmonization are embellished by the arranger to provide appropriate support of the song's theme and to close the song effectively. Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikisource, as part of the 1911 Encyclopedia Wikiproject, has original text related to this article: Music Meta has a page about this at: Music markup MusicNovatory: the science of music encyclopedia The... Lyrics are the written words in a song. ... A seventh chord is a chord or triad which has a note the seventh above the tonic in it. ... Secondary dominants are a kind of chord used in musical harmony. ... A seventh chord is a chord or triad which has a note the seventh above the tonic in it. ... In music theory, the circle of fifths is a model of pitch space. ... Resolution in western tonal music theory is the need for a sounded note and/or chord to move from a dissonance or unstable sound to a more final or stable sounding one, a consonance. ...

Barbershop singers adjust pitches to achieve perfectly tuned chords in just intonation while remaining true to the established tonal center. Artistic singing in the barbershop style exhibits a fullness or expansion of sound, precise intonation, a high degree of vocal skill, and a high level of unity and consistency within the ensemble. Ideally, these elements are natural, unmanufactured, and free from apparent effort. Just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by whole number ratios. ... Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a center or tonic. ...

The presentation of barbershop music uses appropriate musical and visual methods to convey the theme of the song and provide the audience with an emotionally satisfying and entertaining experience. The musical and visual delivery is from the heart, believable, and sensitive to the song and its arrangement throughout. The most stylistic presentation artistically melds together the musical and visual aspects to create and sustain the illusions suggested by the music.

Historical origins

As a result of scholarship by Lynn Abbott and Dr. Jim Henry it is now generally accepted that barbershop singing originated in African-American communities in the U.S. around the turn of the century, where barbershops were, and remain today, social gathering places. The four-part harmony of the form has its roots in the black church, where close harmony has a long tradition. Pictured left to right: Jim Henry, Rob Henry, Buckner, and Knight The Gas House Gang barbershop quartet started singing together in 1987. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The term Blacks is often used in the West to denote race for persons whose progenitors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa. ...

The first uses of the term were associated with African-Americans. Henry notes that "The Mills Brothers learned to harmonize in their father's barber shop in Piqua, Ohio. Several other well-known black gospel quartets were founded in neighborhood barber shops, among them the New Orleans Humming Four, the Southern Stars and the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartette." [1]. Although the Mills Brothers are primarily known as jazz and pop artists and usually performed with instrumental accompaniment, the affinity of their harmonic style with that of the barbershop quartet is clearly in evidence in their music and most notably, perhaps, in their best-known gospel recording, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well", performed a cappella. Their father founded a barbershop quartet, the Four Kings of Harmony, and the Mills Brothers produced at least three records in which they sang a cappella and performed traditional barbershop material. The Mills Brothers were an American jazz and pop vocal group of the 20th century. ...

Organizations

Singing a cappella music in the barbershop style is a hobby enjoyed by men and women worldwide. The hobby is practiced mostly within one of the three main barbershop associations, which have a combined membership in the neighborhood of eighty thousand. A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ...

The primary men's organization in the US and Canada is the Barbershop Harmony Society (also known as SPEBSQSA). Women have two organizations in North America, Sweet Adelines International and Harmony Incorporated The Barbershop Harmony Society, also known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), was the first of several organizations to promote and preserve Barbershop music as an art form. ... Sweet Adelines International (SAI) is a worldwide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performances. ...

SPEBSQSA was founded in 1938 by Tulsa, Oklahoma tax attorney O. C. Cash. The name was a lampoon on the New Deal "alphabet agencies". Sweet Adelines, Inc was founded in 1945 by Edna Mae Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Harmony, Incorporated split from Sweet Adelines in 1957 over a dispute regarding admission of black members. SPEBSQSA and Sweet Adelines at that time restricted their membership to whites, but both opened membership to all races a few years later. Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma. ... Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma. ...

All three organizations comprise choruses and quartets that perform and compete regularly throughout the US and Canada, and Sweet Adelines International also has a portion of its membership outside North America. Organizations affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society and Harmony Incorporated exist in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere. Some national and regional barbershop groups include: The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). ... Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ...

• Sweet Adelines International (SAI) [2]
• Barbershop in Germany (BinG) [3]
• British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) [4]
• Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) [5]
• Dutch Association of Barbershop Singers (DABS) [6]
• Ladies Association of Dutch Barbershop Singers (Holland Harmony) [7]
• Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers (SNOBS) [8]
• Southern Part of Africa Tonsorial Singers (SPATS)
• New Zealand Association of Barbershop Singers (NZABS) [9]
• Australian Association of Men's Barbershop Singers (AAMBS) [10]
• Irish Association of Barbershop Singers (IABS) [11]

A worldwide association for mixed groups, the Mixed Harmony Barbershop Quartet Association[12], was established in 1995 to reflect the growing popularity of male-female barbershop singing. Sweet Adelines International (SAI) is a worldwide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performances. ... Barbershop in Germany (abbreviated BinG or BinG!) is the association for barbershop music in Germany. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notable artists

Quartets

• Acoustix, 1990 international quartet champions
• Bluegrass Student Union, 1978 international quartet champions
• The Buffalo Bills, 1950 international champions, appeared in stage and screen productions of The Music Man, frequently appeared on Arthur Godfrey's radio show
• The Chordettes, women's quartet, recorded a number of mainstream popular hits during the 1950s, notably Mr. Sandman
• The Dapper Dans of Disney, who regularly sing to visitors at Disneyland, and who sang as The Be Sharps in a Simpsons episode, and, more recently, as the animated heads-on-pedestals statues quartet in Disney's Haunted Mansion movie
• The Gas House Gang, 1993 international quartet champions from St. Louis, Missouri
• Gotcha!, 2004 international quartet champions
• The Haydn Quartet, early 1900s quartet
• Michigan Jake, 2001 international quartet champions
• Platinum, 2000 international quartet champions
• Power Play, 2003 international quartet champions
• Realtime, 2005 international quartet champions
• The Singing Senators, a quartet of Republican U.S. Senators

Pictured left to right: Middaugh, Rutherford, Wilson, and January Acoustix is the 1990 International Quartet Champions of SPEBSQSA. They have all, at different times, been members of the Dallas-based Vocal Majority chorus. ... The Buffalo Bills were a barbershop quartet formed in Buffalo, New York. ... The Music Man is a musical play written by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, which premiered on Broadway in 1957 famously starring Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill (in his musical debut) and revived in 1976 with Ian Richardson. ... Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American broadcaster and entertainer, born in New York City. ... The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional pop music. ... The Dapper Dans are a barbershop quartet that performs at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. ... The Be Sharps were a fictional barbershop quartet from The Simpsons. ... Pictured left to right: Jim Henry, Rob Henry, Buckner, and Knight The Gas House Gang barbershop quartet started singing together in 1987. ... Gotcha!s 2004 championship performance. ... Although virtually forgotten today, at the start of the Twentieth Century The Haydn Quartet were undisputed kings of the Barbershop sound. ... Michigan Jake was a barbershop quartet that formed in 1995. ... Platinum is a barbershop quartet consisting of members Joe Connelly (lead), Gary Lewis (tenor), Tony DeRosa (baritone), and Kevin Miles (bass) performing together since 1998. ... Pictured left to right are: Don, Mike, Jack, and Mark Power Play is a barbershop quartet based in Michigan. ... Pictured left to right are: Tim Broersma, John Newell, Tom Metzger, Mark Metzger Realtime is an a cappella quartet that sings barbershop music. ... The Singing Senators was a group of U.S. Republican Senators who sang as a barbershop quartet. ...

Choruses

• The Big Apple Chorus [13], based out of Manhattan has competed internationally, performed in Russia, and makes up the "Singing Chorus Tree" at South Street Seaport every holiday season.
• The Singing Buckeyes [14], based in Columbus, Ohio, are eleven-times Johnny Appleseed District (Ohio, the western part of Pennsylvania and most of West Virginia) Chorus Champions. They have competed many times at the international level, achieving a highest finish of third place. The chapter hosts the Buckeye Invitational each August. Men's and Women's quartets, mixed quartets, comedy quartets, and choruses compete head-to-head for the championships of their respective category.
• Cambridge Chord Company, twice European champion barbershop chorus and British Association of Barbershop Singers gold medallists, "Choir of the World" International Eisteddfod 2004, based in England
• The Masters of Harmony [15], five-time international champions (1990, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002)
• North Metro Chorus, three-time Sweet Adelines international chorus champions from Toronto, Ontario
• The Thoroughbred Chorus, seven-time international champions
• Toronto Northern Lights [16], four-time international silver medallist chorus from Toronto, Ontario
• The Vocal Majority [17], ten-time (as of July 2003) international champions, based in Dallas, Texas
• The Great Northern Union [18], perennial international top 10 chorus, based in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area
• The Rich-Tone Chorus[19], three-time Sweet Adelines international chorus champions from Richardson, Texas

The Big Apple Chorus is a barbershop chorus based in Manhattan, New York. ... Manhattan Borough,highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... A view of the South Street Seaport in New York with the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges. ... The Columbus, OH Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and its performing chorus, The Singing Buckeyes, have been in existence since their chartering in 1950. ... Columbus is the capital of the U.S. state of Ohio. ... The Masters of Harmony are a 135-member mens a cappella chorus, based in Santa Fe Springs, California. ... The Toronto Northern Lights is a Toronto, Ontario-based mens chorus of about 50 singers drawn from the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society. ... The Vocal Majority The Vocal Majority (VM) is a Dallas, Texas-based mens chorus of over 150 singers, billed as the premier pops chorus in America. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rich-Tone Chorus is an all-female, amateur barbershop singing group, located in northern Texas in the United States. ...

Typical Barbershop Songs

SPEBSQSA "Polecats" — songs which all SPEBSQSA members are encouraged to learn as a shared repertoire; these are all famous, traditional examples of the genre:

• Down Our Way
• Down By the Old Mill Stream
• Honey/Li'l Lize Medley
• Let Me Call You Sweetheart
• My Wild Irish Rose
• Shine On Me
• The Story of the Rose ("Heart of My Heart")
• Sweet Adeline
• Sweet And Lovely
• Sweet Roses of Morn
• Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie
• You Tell Me Your Dream (I'll Tell You Mine)

There are also several other well known songs that belong to the genre. Some of which are considered "standards", like 'From the First Hello' and 'Goodbye My Coney Island Baby', while others are well known because notable quartets are associated with them. A great example of a song like this is Come Fly With Me, which gained considerable popularity this year through association with the 2005 international quartet champions, Realtime. Examples of songs that are well known to the barbershop genre, but are not considered polecats are:

• Alexander's Ragtime Band
• Bright Was the Night
• From the First Hello
• Goodbye My Coney Island Baby
• I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
• Yes Sir, That's My Baby
• Come Fly With Me
• When My Baby Smiles at Me

Lida Rose is a song beloved to barbershoppers from Meredith Willson's musical comedy, The Music Man. A barbershop quartet forms an integral part of the story, and was played by the Buffalo Bills on stage and in the screen adaptation. Barbershoppers love the show's flattering portrayal of the barbershop spirit: four bickering school board members become inseparable singing comrades once the Music Man shows them how to ring one perfect chord. Purists complain about inauthenticities in WIllson's own arrangement, which is often modified slightly for barbershop quartet performances. Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 - 15 June 1984) was an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man. ... The Music Man is a musical play written by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, which premiered on Broadway in 1957 famously starring Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill (in his musical debut) and revived in 1976 with Ian Richardson. ... The Buffalo Bills were a barbershop quartet formed in Buffalo, New York. ...

See also

• A cappella
• Barbershop arranging
• Doo-wop
• List of quartet champions by year
• List of chorus champions by year
• List of BABS quartet champions by year
• List of LABBS quartet champions by year

A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... Barbershop arranging is the art of creating arrangements of barbershop music. ... Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s in America. ... This page lists the Barbershop Harmony Societys international quartet champions by the year in which they won. ... This is a list of the British Association of Barbershop Singers quartet champions by year. ... This is a list of LABBS barbershop quartet champions by year. ...

External links

• Barbershop Harmony Society home page
• Sweet Adelines home page
• Harmony Inc. home page
• LABBS home page (Ladies' Association of British Barbershop Singers)
• BABS website (British Association of Barbershop Singers)
• Harmony Hall Museum—The historical section of the SPEBSQSA website, with information on quartets, choruses, and competitions since the Society's inception.
• Barbershop in Germany website