Barbershop traces its humble beginnings back to the latter part of the 1800s. Men from all walks of life gathered in assembly halls, watering holes, community centers, rooftops – and yes, barbershops - to sing the standards of the day.

 

Drawn by a common love of song, their repertoires covered a broad range of genres - vaudevillian melodies, folk ballads, show tunes and spirituals. By the start of the 20th century, this “hobby” transformed into a new and decidedly American style of music.

In 1939, men officially formed the Barbershop Harmony Society, also known as the Society of Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA).

 

Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a primarily homorhythmic​ (the same word sounds at the same time)​ texture.

 

The melody is consistently sung by the lead​ (second tenor)​, with the tenor ​(first tenor) ​harmonizing above the melody, the bass singing the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completing the chord. Occasional brief passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts.

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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 often resolve around the circle of fifths, while also making use of other resolutions. Barbershop music also features a balanced and 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.

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Barbershop singers adjust pitches to achieve perfectly tuned chords ​(instead of tempered tuning like the piano)​ 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, not manufactured, and free from apparent effort.

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The performance 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. Barbershop singers traditionally do not hold sheet music. The musical and visual delivery is from the heart, believable, and sensitive to the song and its arrangement throughout. The most stylistic performance artistically melds together the musical and visual aspects to create and sustain the illusions suggested by the music.​

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Barbershop can be performed in quartets as well as choirs, and can be found all over the world in male, female, and mixed ensembles.

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courtesy Barbershop Harmony Society, barbershop.org

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