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What is Barbershop Harmony?
Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied singing with three voices harmonizing to the melody. The lead sings the melody; the tenor harmonizes above the lead; the bass sings the lower harmonizing notes; the baritone provides in-between notes, either above or below the lead to make dominant-type chords ("barbershop sevenths"). This arrangement of voices gives barbershop a distinctive, full sound.
Barbershop is noted for its extensive use of the musical embellishments called swipes and tags. Lacking instrumental backing or percussion, swipes (progressions of two or more chords sung on a single word or syllable) are sung to add the forward motion of the lyric. A tag (or "coda") is the ending portion of a barbershop song - the "big ending" that caps the performance and "rings."
The most distinctive facet of barbershop harmony is the phenomenon known as expanded sound, called "overtones" or "ringing chords". It is created when the harmonics in the individually sung tones reinforce each other to produce audible overtones or undertones.
In old-time America, barbershop harmony was actually sung in barbershops, as well as on street corners (dubbed "curbstone harmony"), in social functions and parlors. The style of singing is a melting-pot product of African-American musical devices, European hymn-singing culture, and an American tradition of recreational music.
Barbershop is a uniquely American art form, sprung from the ear-harmonizers or "woodshedders" of the turn of the century America. There are currently 825 chapters and over 2000 registered quartets belonging to the Barbershop Harmony Society.
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Barbershop Harmony
