A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries the melody; a bass, the part which provides the bass line to the melody; a tenor, the part which harmonizes above the lead; and a baritone, 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— the upper three voices generally remain within one octave of each other.
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 music as an art form. Founded by Owen C. Cash and Rupert I. Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1938, the organization quickly grew, promoting barbershop harmony among men of all ages. As of 2014, just under 23,000 men in the United States and Canada were members of this organization whose focus is on a cappella music. The international headquarters was in Kenosha, Wisconsin for fifty years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. In June 2018, the society announced it would allow women to join as full members.
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 homorhythmic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: generally, the lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead. The melody is not usually sung by the tenor or baritone, except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading, in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishment can be created. One characteristic feature of barbershop harmony is the use of what is known as "snakes" and "swipes". This is when a chord is altered by a change in one or more non-melodic voices. Occasional passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts.
Founded in 1985 with just a few dozen men, the Masters of Harmony is a 110-member men's chorus, based in Greater Los Angeles, California. Winner of eight consecutive gold medals (1990–2011) in international barbershop chorus competitions, the group possesses a diverse repertoire encompassing not only barbershop music but also classical, jazz, patriotic, sacred, standards and Broadway pops, and sings for various groups and organizations throughout the greater Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The chorus won another barbershop international competition in 2017, bringing their total gold medal count to nine.
Gotcha! is an American barbershop quartet formed in 1996 by four members of the Masters of Harmony chorus.
The Rich-Tone Chorus is an all-female, barbershop chorus, located in northern Texas in the United States. The group was founded in 1968 in the city of Richardson. The musical director is Dale Syverson.
Pacific Coast Harmony (PCH) is the San Diego, California, chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The mixed-gender chorus sings in the a cappella style known as barbershop music. In its origin, PCH was an all-male chorus, placed 19th overall at the chorus competition at the Society's international convention in Indianapolis in 2006, and placed 22nd in Portland in 2012 and Las Vegas in 2017. In 2019, Pacific Coast Harmony converted to mixed-gender membership, and is currently directed by Sweet Adelines member Bonnie McKibben.
Music Central was a barbershop chorus formed in 1995 and based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The chorus ranked at the top of its division for most of its first dozen years, and competed internationally in 1999.
The Far Western District is a geographical district of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS).
The Association of Far Western District Champions (AFWDC), is an affiliate organization of the Far Western District Association of Chapters of SPEBSQSA, one of the districts of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Founded in 1980–81, its members are the champions from the district's annual quartet contest, from 1947 to present. AFWDC's primary purpose is to raise funds to subsidize the travel expenses of Far Western District quartets which qualify to compete at the Barbershop Harmony Society's international quartet contest. This is done with the proceeds of two shows produced annually: the Past Champs Show, held the Friday evening of the district's annual convention; and the Go For The Gold Show, held each June.
The Virginians is a barbershop chorus located in Richmond, Virginia. Mike Wallen is currently its musical director, and has been serving in this capacity since 1998. It recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and is one of the oldest continuous singing groups in the Greater Richmond Area. Originally chartered in 1952 as the Tobaccoland Chorus, the chapter was renamed to the Virginians in 1990.
Singing Valentines is the name for a fundraising program that is popular with barbershop choruses in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The delivery of Singing Valentines is usually done by a barbershop quartet from a chapter affiliated with the three major International barbershop societies:
The Melodeers are an all-female, a cappella barbershop harmony chorus based in the metropolitan Chicago area.
MAXX Factor is the barbershop quartet that won the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Championship for 2011 on October 22, 2010, in Seattle, Washington. SAI, "one of the world's largest singing organizations for women", has members over five continents who belong to more than 1,200 quartets. The quartet competed with seven other a cappella groups in the first season of The Sing-Off reality television show in December 2009, before being eliminated in the third of four episodes. MAXX Factor won the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Harmony Sweepstakes qualifying them to compete in the 2009 National Harmony Sweepstakes, which they won. All MAXX Factor members sing with The Coronet Club in their annual show at Sweet Adelines International Convention.
Martini is the barbershop quartet that won the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Championship for 2012 on October 21, 2011, in Houston, Texas. SAI, "one of the world's largest singing organizations for women", has members over five continents who belong to more than 1200 quartets.
Tim Waurick is a barbershop tenor singer, and coach for various barbershop choruses and quartets. Waurick creates learning tracks – recordings in which one part is dominant and the others are sung softly in the background – for the Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines International, and various other quartets and choruses around the world. His learning track company is named TimTracks.
The Sweet Adelines International Competitions are the annual global championships for women's barbershop harmony a cappella singing – in quartets and choruses – for members of Sweet Adelines International (SAI) and have been held annually between September and November since 1947. They are now the largest women's singing competition in the world with over 8000 participants at the 2014 convention. There are two competitions for choruses, and two competitions for quartets. Currently, the first three of these competitions are held together and form the Sweet Adelines International Convention. Over the course of competition history, the most successful chorus has been Melodeers Chorus from Chicago with seven championship titles, and the most successful quartet singer was Connie Noble who won with four separate quartets. Lustre Quartet from Baltimore holds the record for highest quartet score, and Rönninge Show Chorus from Stockholm for highest ever chorus score.
Toast of Tampa Show Chorus is an a cappella, female-only chorus, composed of 100 women singers of all ages. The non-profit group, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, competes and performs around the world, and is considered locally to be among the best barbershop music choruses in the world.
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 Perry in Providence, Rhode Island, the organization currently has just under 2000 members in the United States and Canada and is closely affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Diablo Vista Chorus (DVC) is an amateur women's a cappella singing group, based in the "East Bay" of the San Francisco Bay area. DVC is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest singing organization for women, with over 21,000 members worldwide. DVC primarily performs four-part-harmony works, often in what is traditionally called "barbershop" style.
