Barbershop music, with its close, unaccompanied four-part harmonies and ringing chords, is a uniquely American folk art.  It evolved in much the same way  as other forms of vocal music.  Although no one can say exactly when or where barbershop music began, the growth of the tradition was certainly aided between the 1860s and 1920s by the types of songs popular at the time - songs characterized by sentimental lyrics and uncomplicated melodies that could be harmonized with a variety of four-part chords.

In the early years of American barbershop music, singers most often improvised harmonies.  When the printing press was adapted to produce musical notation, there was further advancement of the barbershop idiom.  Many early pieces of sheet music were printed with the standard vocal line and piano accompaniment, and with an additional quartet arrangement on the final page.

At the turn of the century amateur singers, usually men, could often be heard singing improvised barbershop harmony at parties and picnics.  Minstrel shows also featured barbershop quartets, who sang in front of the curtain as an "olio" act while performers and stage hands prepared for the next act.   It was convenient to use a quartet for this purpose, since no props were required. 

Barbershop Harmony Today

Barbershop harmony has evolved into a highly stylized art form requiring the same high degree of singing skill as other types of choral music.

Barbershop harmony's four voice parts are still called by their traditional names - tenor, lead, baritone and bass - whether referring to men's or women's vocal groups.  One of the distinctive qualities of barbershop harmony is that the melody, sung by the lead voice, in below the tenor harmony. This follows the pattern of many early American hymns written for men and women, with the melody in the male tenor voice and the women singing harmony above.  The barbershop harmony of today is a highly stylized art form requiring the same high degree of singing skill as other types of choral music. 

As the popularity of barbershop harmony has grown, so has the type of participation.  Barbershop singing is no longer restricted to male quartets; there are many women's quartets, and both men's and women's choruses now enjoy this unique art form.  Choruses, ranging in size from 20 to 150 or more members, have found this singing style a challenging and exciting musical experience.

What is barbershop harmony?

In simple terms, barbershop harmony is vocal harmony produced by four parts: lead, tenor, baritone and bass.   It is different from any other kind of choral or group singing.

Finding the right part for your voice is the initial step.  Any woman of average singing ability, with or without vocal training, will find a part that fits her range.

LEAD is the melody and is sung in the range between A below middle C, and C above middle C.

TENOR is a harmony part sung consistently above the lead.  Although tenor is the highest voice in barbershop harmony, it should not be confused with the soprano of conventional singing groups.  The tenor should have a light, sweet, pure tone that will complement but not overpower the lead voice.

BARITONE covers approximately the same range as lead.  The baritone harmony notes cross the lead notes; sometimes sung below and sometimes above.

BASS singers should have a rich, mellow voice and be able to sing the E flat below middle C easily.  Bass should not be confused with the alto of conventional groups.

Barbershop Style for the Director, Teacher and Singer

Four-part harmony, barbershop style, has unique characteristics that contribute to the thrilling "lock-and-ring" sound which results when the music is sung with skill and energy.

This unaccompanied choral harmony is characterized by a cone-shaped sound and specific chord structures, delivery and interpretation.

The Cone-Shaped Sound
Church or glee club music (SATB) is balanced cylindrically, all voices singing with equal weight and intensity.  Progressive jazz (when sung in harmony) and modern harmony are sung with inverted-cone balance, i.e., the top voice sings with more weight and intensity and the lower voices sing with less weight and intensity.  Proper barbershop balance is just the opposite, as illustrated by the cone shown here.

Basic ingredients of the cone-shaped sound include a harmony part sung above the melody (tenor above lead), a strong bass line and utilization of complete, four-toned chords.

Chord Structure / Arrangement
Barbershop harmony is characterized by consonant four-part chords that vertically support each melody note.  It makes frequent use of major and minor triads and barbershop (dominant) seventh and dominant ninth chords.  The melody may sometimes demand sixth, major seventh and ninth chords, but the minor second interval is not used.  Major chords are often spread to the tenth interval, using do-sol-do-mi rather than do-mi-sol-do.
Frequent use of major triads and dominant seventh chords provides barbershop harmony with its unique beauty and richness and makes it easily recognizable.

Arrangement
A good barbershop arrangement includes:
- All chord tones present in each four-note chord;
- Non-chord tones not present in any voice part;
- Frequent use of major triads and dominant seventh chords; and
- Bass often voiced on the chord's root or fifth.

Use of the Pitch Pipe
To establish pitch (tonality), the key note (tonic note) is usually sounded by the pitch pipe.  Using a vowel such as "ah" or "ooh", each section sings a prescribed note of the tonic chord.  Basses and leads sing do an octave apart, baritones sing sol below the lead, and tenors sing mi above the lead.  This method of pitch-taking establishes a sense of tonality.  Many choral directors then have the singers move to the first chord of the song.

Manuscript
A barbershop arrangement has the appearance of SATB music, but it is important to remember that the notes for the baritone and bass parts written in the bass clef are sung one octave higher than written.  By using both clef signs, the need for many leger lines is eliminated.

Delivery
The barbershop style requires diction that is clear, sounds natural and lends itself to smoothly flowing phrases.  Lyrics must be understandable but not over-enunciated, so that musical flow is ever present and the message of the song is not lost.
Effective delivery also requires that stressed syllables be connected by forward movement.  This is achieved through use of a controlled, continuous sound, allowing the performer, by slight variation in volume, to emphasize important syllables and de-emphasize those that are less important.

Interpretation
Barbershop songs usually fall into one of three general categories:
- Strong rhythmic songs are often referred to as uptunes.  An example is Seventy-Six Trombones from "The Music Man;"
- Swing tempo songs such as I Don't Want to Walk Without You; and
- Ballads such as If I Loved You, sung in ad lib style.
In rhythmic uptunes and swing tempo songs it is important to maintain a steady rhythmic pulse even when singing a cappella.
Barbershop's interpretive style permits relatively wide liberties with the treatment of note values.  Words of importance or chords of exceptional beauty may be held, pauses may be added to enhance meaning, and word flow may be adjusted to enliven the text.  Effective changes in tempo and dynamics often enhance the performance.

Ballad Flow
Throughout formal music training a concerted effort is made to adhere to rhythmic values as notated by the composer or arranger.  Whether it is a rousing march or a tender ballad, the music is performed "as written" in both vocal and instrumental music.  The barbershop ballad is characterized by an ad-lib presentation.  This ad-lib delivery is a characteristic that differentiates performances in barbershop style from performances in other choral styles.
Most ballads are treated in a free, rubato style, interpreted and crafted by the director's own musicality.  It is this freedom of interpretation that gives a barbershop ballad its unique beauty"
Consider the following lyrical line:
                "Nothing seems the same anymore."
If one were to speak this line, the word "same" would likely receive added emphasis.  The rhythmic notation for that line is:

 
Noth - ing seems the same an - y  -  more.____

When it is sung in strict rhythm, the line can become rather stilted.  In order to give greater lyrical flow, we may need to rethink the rhythmic notation.  If we would like the line to flow to the word "same," we may wish to mentally feel the following notations:

Nothing seems the  same  an-y  -    more._____

Developing lyric flow in a barbershop ballad, outside the written rhythmic notation, is a challenge for the choral director and the singer.