A barbershop quartet is a
group of four
The G4 nations, comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, are four countries which support each other's bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long- ...
singers who sing music in the
barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries the
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
; a
bass, the part which provides the bass line to the melody; a
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
, the part which
harmonizes above the lead; and a
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
, the part that frequently completes the
chord. The baritone normally sings just below the lead singer, sometimes just above as the harmony requires. Barbershop music is typified by
close harmony
A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...
— the upper three voices generally remain within one
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
of each other.
While the traditional barbershop quartet included only male singers, contemporary quartets can include any gender combination. All-female barbershop quartets were often called beauty shop quartets, a term that has fallen out of favor. The voice parts for women's and mixed barbershop groups use the same names as those for male groups since the roles perform similar functions in the quartet although the
vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...
s may be different.
While the regional origins of barbershop quartet singing are not wholly agreed upon,
current organizations that promote the style typify it as an "old American institution." While the style is most popular in the United States, barbershop organizations exist in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.
Barbershop quartets have been featured in popular culture in musical theater productions such as ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'', or lampooned in television series such as ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
''.
History
While many sources claim that barbershop singing originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States of America, some maintain that the origins of barbershop singing are "obscure".
The style is considered a blend of White and African American musical styles.
Although the African American influence is sometimes overlooked, these quartets had a formative role in the development of the style.
By the 1920s, the popularity of the style had begun to fade. It was revived in the late 1930s along with the founding of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), now known as the
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...
, or BHS.
The society's first meeting was held at the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 11, 1938,
and it was open only to male singers. In 1945, a parallel organization for women was also founded in Tulsa, called
Sweet Adelines International (SAI).
Harmony, Incorporated
Harmony, Incorporated, is an international organization of women singers whose purpose is to empower all women through education, friendship and singing. Founded by 1959 by Peggy Rigby, Charlotte Sneddon, Mary Avis Hedges, Jeanne Maino and Mary ...
(HI), also serving women, was established in Rhode Island in 1959.
In 1971, president of BHS Ralph Ribble launched the "Barberpole Cat Program" to encourage barbershop singing as widely as possible. Well-known and popular barbershop songs were published and promoted in order to provide a core set of pieces for barbershop quartets. The current list of 12 songs, commonly known as "polecats", was selected in 1987. These songs, plus the
tag end of two others, are:
Style of dress
![BarbershopQuartet Disneyworld](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/BarbershopQuartet_Disneyworld.jpg)
In competition, barbershop quartets generally wear coordinated outfits to mark them as members of the same group. A group's visual impression is rated as part of the "showmanship" score. The Society Contest and Judging Committee of the Barbershop Harmony Society notes in their rule book that aesthetics are important to competitive success: "The judge responds to both the vocal and visual aspects of the performance, but the judge principally evaluates the interaction of those aspects as they work together to create the image of the song."
Traditionally, barbershop quartet attire consisted of: vest, straw hat, and spats, often with bow tie and sleeve garters; this is known as the
Gay Nineties
The Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term and a periodization of the history of the United States referring to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the United Kingdom as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly ...
style. In popular culture, this style exemplifies the stereotypical barbershop quartet. Several Walt Disney theme parks feature a dedicated barbershop quartet called
The Dapper Dans
The Dapper Dans are a barbershop quartet that performs at Disneyland in Anaheim, California (since 1959), at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort (since 1971), and at Hong Kong Disneyland in Lantau Island, Hong Kong (from 2005 to 20 ...
(Disney World version pictured). The outfits worn by these performers vary depending on location but do feature vests and straw hats.
Roles of vocal parts
As a general rule, barbershop quartets use a
TTBB In musical choral notation, TTBB denotes a four-part lower-voice choir. Its configuration is Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1 (Baritone), Bass 2.
The Tanunda Liedertafel employs this method of notation in their music.
Typically (but not always) the 1s ...
(tenor—tenor—baritone—bass) arrangement, with the second tenor singing the lead. Since the 1940s, barbershop singers have tuned their
seventh chords
A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a minor ...
with
just intonation
In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals
Interval may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers
** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...
to maximize the
overtone
An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...
s, yielding a distinctive "ringing" sound.
Tenor: The
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
generally harmonizes above the lead, making the part the highest in the quartet. So as not to overpower the lead singer, who carries the tune, the part is often sung in
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
, which is of a softer quality than singing in the
modal register
Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels. The term "modal" refers to the resonant mode of vocal folds; that is ...
, though some quartets do make use of tenors with a softer
full voice quality. Notable examples of barbershop quartets which made use of the full-voiced tenor include
The Buffalo Bills and
Boston Common
The Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street (139 Tremont St.), Park Street, Beacon ...
.
The
range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
of a tenor in barbershop music does not necessarily closely correspond to that of a
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
's range in Classical repertoire, often being more in the range of the classical
countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...
range.
Lead: The lead, often a lower or second tenor or even more recently a higher or lighter baritone, usually sings the main
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
.
Baritone: The
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
often completes the
chord with a medium voice, usually slightly below the lead, but sometimes above it.
Bass: The
bass always sings and
harmonizes the
lowest notes, often setting the root of the chord for root position chords, or singing the lowest note of the chord for
inverted chord
In music theory, an inversion is a type of change to intervals, chords, voices (in counterpoint), and melodies. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in mus ...
s.
In popular culture
*The TV sitcom ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' used the cast in a barbershop quartet in the 1952 episode, "Lucy's Show-Biz Swan Song;" the same footage was used for a
dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...
in their 1956 Christmas show.
*In the 1957
Meredith Willson
Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 195 ...
Broadway musical ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'', the
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...
International Quartet Contest Champions The
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
(Vern Reed, Al Shea, Wayne "Scotty" Ward, Bill Spangenberg) were such a hit that they were cast in the 1962 film adaptation starring
Robert Preston as Harold Hill and
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
as Marian Paroo.
*''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...
'' featured a barbershop quartet in the season 4 episode, "Dark Imaginings" (1986) and in the season 8 episode, "The Stork Brings a Crane" (1989).
*A 1993 episode of ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'', "
Homer's Barbershop Quartet
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 1993. It features the Be Sharps, a ...
", parodied the journey of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
as though they were each members of a barbershop quartet named "The Be Sharps". The episode starred
The Dapper Dans
The Dapper Dans are a barbershop quartet that performs at Disneyland in Anaheim, California (since 1959), at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort (since 1971), and at Hong Kong Disneyland in Lantau Island, Hong Kong (from 2005 to 20 ...
, a quartet who sing on Main Street in
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
in California.
*In the 1997 ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'' episode titled "
The One with All The Jealousy
The third season of '' Friends'', an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 19, 1996. ''Friends'' was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. ...
", Dr. Ross Geller hires a barbershop quartet and sends it to Rachel's office to sing her a love song.
*''
Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Case ...
'' featured a barbershop quartet in the episode, "Frasier's Curse" (1998).
*In every episode of
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
's television program ''
Blue's Clues
''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and co ...
'' (1996–2006), a barbershop quartet can be heard saying "Mailtime", after which Steve (portrayed by
Steve Burns
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
Notable people with the name include:
steve jops
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people
* Steve ...
) or Joe (portrayed by
Donovan Patton
Donovan Patton (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and television host. Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and acted in Shakespeare plays such as ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and '' Romeo and Juliet'' before replacing Steve B ...
) sings the mail time song before the mail arrives at their house.
*''
Psych
''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observ ...
''s
fourth season's seventh episode of, "
High Top Fade-Out", prominently features the murder of a member of Gus' college barbershop quartet. Originally called "Blackapella", the quartet is renamed "Quarterblack" once
Shawn (a white man) joins.
*The internet
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be co ...
''
Homestuck
''Homestuck'' is an Internet fiction series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie in the first half of the 2010s. The fourth and best-known of Hussie's four ''MS Paint Adventures'', it originally ran from April 13, 2009 to April 1 ...
'' (2009–2016) features a barbershop cover of the
Eddie Morton song, "I'm a Member of the Midnight Crew." The cover was sung by a fan of the series and was put into the comic on the page, "DD: Ascend more casually."
*The 2017 video game ''
Cuphead
''Cuphead'' is a run-and-gun video game developed and published by Studio MDHR. The game follows the titular Cuphead who, in a deal with the Devil after losing a game at the Devil's casino, is sent on a quest to repossess the souls of runaway ...
'', known for its 1900s cartoon style, contains two songs sung by barbershop quartet "'Shoptimus Prime": "Don't Deal with the Devil" and "A Quick Break".
*An animatronic barbershop quartet is one of the scenery pieces in the theme park video game ''
Planet Coaster
''Planet Coaster'' is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Microsoft Windows. It was released worldwide on 17 November 2016. Frontier had previously worked in the amusement par ...
''. It is part of the Vintage Pack, a DLC pack that focuses on classic rides and theming.
*In a 2019
GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...
television commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
, a barbershop quartet sings while playing a four-on-four basketball game.
*''
The Ben Show
''The Ben Show'' (also known as ''The Ben Show With Ben Hoffman'') is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by comedian Ben Hoffman. The series premiered on February 28, 2013, on the American cable television
Cable ...
'' (2013) has a recurring sketch in which a barbershop quartet sings the titles of porn videos.
*Barbershop music is featured extensively in the 1975 post-apocalyptic film ''
A Boy and His Dog
''A Boy and His Dog'' is a cycle of narratives by author Harlan Ellison. The cycle tells the story of an amoral boy (Vic) and his telepathic dog (Blood), who work together as a team to survive in the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear wa ...
''.
*''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' has a barbershop quartet of Muppets who imitate the genre with the songs, "When You Cooperate", "Long Time No See", "Small B", "Same Different Barbershop Quartet", and "Counting Floors", among others.
*''
Jack's Big Music Show
''Jack's Big Music Show'' is an American musical children's television series produced for the Noggin channel. It was created and executive produced by David Rudman, Todd Hannert, and Adam Rudman through their company Spiffy Pictures. The premie ...
'' episodes frequently featured the "Schwartzman Quartet," a quartet of four puppet brothers; with one of their appearances explaining barbershop music.
See also
*
Barbershop music
Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1930s–present), is a style of a cappella close harmony, or unaccompanied vocal music, characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a primarily ...
*
Barbershop chorus
Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1930s–present), is a style of a cappella close harmony, or unaccompanied vocal music, characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a primarily ...
*
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...
*
Gospel quartet
The term Gospel quartet refers to several different traditions of harmony singing. Its origins are varied, including 4-part hymn singing, shape note singing, barbershop quartets, jubilee songs, spirituals, and other Gospel songs.
Gospel quartets ...
*
List of Barbershop Harmony Society quartet champions
*
Sweet Adelines International competition
The Sweet Adelines International Competitions are the annual global championships for women's barbershop harmony A cappella, a cappella singing – in quartets and choir, choruses – for members of Sweet Adelines International (SAI) and ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Barbershop music
A cappella
Four-part harmony