This page is maintained by Tom Arneberg ( toma@arneberg.com)
(Last modified: $Date: 2001/06/26 18:50:56 $)
For more info about MHBQA, email Kim Orloff at korloff@ix.netcom.com
(Last modified: $Date: 2001/06/26 18:50:56 $)
Preparing to teach in China, and wanting the simplest of all explanations to forward in advance for translation, Brian Beck wrote the following.
Barbershop harmony in its present form originated in the United States. The time frame can be debated, but probably the first example of barbershop harmony appeared in public about 1880. Only when better songs were written (ca 1890 - 1920) did the style flourish and become what we hear today.Here are the musical characteristics of barbershop harmony:
- Simple, easily singable melodies, largely diatonic (notes of the melody are in the chord
- Melody in the second voice, usually a second tenor
- Tenor harmony above the melody almost all the time
- Bass singing roots and fifths primarily, and the baritone filling in the fourth note
- All singers usually singing the same words at the same time to form a chord (homophonic)
- Predominance of dominant seventh chords (also called minor sevenths or barbershop sevenths, C-E-G-Bb for example)
- Chord changes featuring a return to "do" (as in do-re-mi), using the circle of fifths (C-A7-D7-G7-C)
- Most songs sung in this style were written from 1900 - 1940, but any song with similar musical characteristics (the Beatles' "Something," and "Michelle," and similar songs) are suitable.
- Usually sung by a male quartet or a female quartet, but mixed (male and female) barbershop has been sung in many families since the 1930's (my uncles and aunts, for example.)
The object of this clinic here in China is to introduce you to the style, and to have you enjoy singing several songs in the barbershop style, both in English and in Chinese. The two Chinese folk songs, which I have arranged into barbershop harmonies, were easy to arrange in the barbershop style because they have an easily singable melody.
In the United States in the early part of the 20th Century, radio, theatre, and sheet music made it easy and common for the average person with any interest in music to know and be able to sing hundreds of popular songs. People could get together and "woodshed" (improvise) their own harmonies, based on the common knowledge which they shared of songs like "Side by Side," "Down Our Way," "Let the Rest of the World Go By," and hundreds of others.
Even if the singers did not have a scholastic knowledge of chords, their ears and penchant for harmony led them to this chord or that chord... chords which were satisfying to their sense of harmony. The basics of harmony improvisation were also very prominent in the American jazz form of band playing. The same person who might play a horn in a band and improvise around the known melody also sang, either for fun or professionally, the barbershop harmony of the day. My Uncle Walter was one of those. He played saxaphone and guitar professionally, but sang with the family for recreation. Today I am a professional singer and teacher, but I still love to just harmonize for fun. So let us learn a few songs, and get an idea about how to sing barbershop harmony with men and women singing together!
The following was posted on the Harmonet on January 8, 2001, by barbershopper Joe Liles. Joe is the retired Executive Director of SPEBSQSA, the men's barbershop singing society in the U.S.A. He is also well known for the many barbershop arrangements he has created over the years. During his years as the Executive Director of the Society, Joe helped MHBQA to get started. He has been a staunch supporter of singing mixed barbershop. This posting of his was on the Harmonet (the internet barbershop discussion group), and is a delightful reminder of the FUN that is an essential part of singing barbershop of any kind!
"...I've heard recordings of quartets before our organization began, and oh, boy!! Were they ever doing some wonderful and crazy, fun things. The old time quartets were more liberal than we have been [when it comes to a definition of what is barbershop.] We startet putting parameters and certain requirements on the style that just about sterilized us. Between 1970 and the early 90s we were on a "purification" binge."The old quartets added sevenths and bodacious swipes to their barbershop adaptations that were never conceived of in the original song. I've come to appreciate what they did. The barbershop we hear today reflects the spirit and essence of barbershop. I really love it!! The essence of the style is:
- Melody predominantly in the lead.
- Bass predominantly on roots and fifths of the chords.
- Consonant harmony predominates (an obvious lack of dissonant chords.)
- Fun swipes and chord substitutions that tantalize the ear. They may be far afield from the original composition.
- Some barbershop sevenths worked into the fabric.
"That's it. Simple as that. Barbershop music is probably the only style of music that takes advantage of all these principles. Let's get back to the spirit of barbershop... singing old songs as well as songs of the day, adapted to the style expressed by the 5 items above. The best barbershop will be sung a cappella, in tune, and the chords will have a ringing quality. But some group of guys singing a little out of tune or raucous doesn't make it unbarbershop. It just could be performed a little better.
"...There are a variety of flavors within our style. If you like only one certain kind, then sing it with guys who like that particular flavor, and don't be critical of those who may really enjoy a little different twist of the style. ...We have the greatest resource of songs and arrangements in the history of barbershop, with the most wonderful variety you can imagine within the style. I savor it all!
In 'Seventh' Heaven,
Joe Liles" [end quote from Harmonet]