What is Barbershop Harmony?

As much a part of North American Culture as mom and apple pie, barbershop quartet singing is an original American musical art form. It thrives today through the efforts of three organizations: the Barbershop Harmony Society (male barbershoppers), and Sweet Adelines International and Harmony Inc. (female barbershoppers), The Barbershop Harmony Society, formerly known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, was whimsically founded in 1938 by Owen C. Cash and Rupert I. Hall, but takes its mission to "Keep The Whole World Singing" very seriously indeed. From that start the Barbershop Harmony Society has grown into the world's largest all-male singing organization, with more than 30,000 singers in more than 800 Chapters in the United States and Canada. Another 4,000 barbershoppers are members of affiliated organizations in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sweden. Barbershoppers actively support community service projects and local charities, and contribute many man-hours singing for churches, schools, retirement centres, and hospitals. In addition, most chapters stage at least one annual show, bringing featured quartets and choruses to the community.

The defining characteristics of the barbershop style are:

1) Four part a cappella harmony

2) Chord vocabulary consisting of consonant chords, frequently using the barbershop seventh.

3) The presence of "circle-of-fifths" resolutions.

4) Solid voicing, meaning the bass generally singing the root or fifth of the chord, and doublings of triads occurring on the root or fifth.

5) Just intonation and emphasis on match and blend of voices to create the characteristic lock and ring of chords.

6) The use of embellishments such as echoes, bell chords, lead-ins, key changes, elaborate introductions, and extended tags.

As long as a song can plausibly be harmonized with the consonant chords and progressions of the barbershop style and can be embellished by its traditional devices, that song can be included in any barbershop repertoire.

Although most barbershoppers join for the thrill of singing music in the barbershop style, most stay in the organization because of the strong, deep friendships they build by raising their voices in song with other barbershoppers.