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Rachel McFarland
Mrs. Corbett
7th Period AP Lit
11-18-11
The History of Barbershop Singing
The barbershop style of music is a unique genre when in comparison to other types.
According to Gage Averill, a barbershop quartet is “an a cappella vocal group comprising of
tenor, lead, baritone, and bass voices, which performs in a style featuring a flexible tempo, a
preponderance of dominant seventh chords, ringing harmonics, characteristic arranging devices
and a focus on the popular songs of an earlier period in North American history” (Gage 8).
Throughout the ages, barbershop music has been shaped and perfected into existence from the
earliest styles of music to the early African American slaves and has been preserved through the
help of several organizations for both men and women.
Four different voice parts blend together to form a barbershop quartet. In barbershop
singing, any song can be sung by the quartet as long as they can harmonize to it. The melody in a
song is sung by the second tenor, or lead. The lead is the most important part; he holds the entire
quartet together by giving a base melody to every tune. The highest voice part in the quartet is
the first tenor. The first tenor sings constantly above the lead and needs to have a high range to
be able to sing comfortably. Opposite the first tenor is the bass, the lowest part in the quartet.
The bass must have a low range to add more depth and resonance to the group. Although all of
the voices are important, one of the most vital parts of the foursome is the baritone. Baritones
have the most challenging harmonies of the group, weaving in between the tunes of the other
parts. Because the harmonies are so tight, the baritone is barely heard within the four parts until

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he makes a mistake, making himself stand out from the others. Although one voice part may
sound more important than another, each part is necessary to the composition of a barbershop
quartet. The challenge of the quartet is to always blend and smooth out the parts to makes the
close harmonies sound pleasant to the ear.
Although barbershop music is commonly thought of in relationship with the late 19th and
early 20th Centuries, its earliest origins, and music in general, are set in the 11th Century of
chanting in unison and octaves and in the introduction of the perfect fifth in the Gregorian era.
Even more harmonic opportunities were developed as early as the 14th Century with church
musicians introducing major and minor triads. However, the seventh chord, made up of the first,
third, fifth, and seventh positions in a scale, was discovered by classical composers in the 16th
and 17th Centuries and ended up causing the greatest impact on the barbershop style. Barbershop
harmony bases itself off of the “vernacular close harmony traditions of the early 19th Century”
(Gage 8). The seventh chord allowed for the greatest harmonic variance and became the
trademark sound for the style of music.
Another major influence to barbershop music is by African American musicians. After
developing in Elizabethan England, the musical style made the jump to America during the
1700s, though it reached its height in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
African Americans enjoyed singing in quartets while working as slaves in the south; the quartets
sang “the weird, organically blended harmonies that first distinguished the group-singing of
plantation slavery” (Abbott 144). Over the years, this unique sound became popular in
barbershops owned by blacks. The barbershops were good places to social and rehearse and
perform music, leading to the title of “barbershop harmony.” For quite some time, finding “a
white barber was unknown in the South.” (Abbott 144). However, quartets soon became popular

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throughout America, causing a rise in participation in harmonizing by the male population and
white men began joining in on the singing as well. Barbershop singing finally “reached its zenith
in America in the ‘60s and ‘70s, after the phenomenal success of the musical and 1962 film The
Music Man” (Nash). However, after it peaked, barbershop slowly began its route to extinction
throughout the United States, kept alive only through the efforts of numerous preservation
societies.
Barbershop has been kept alive through the ages most obviously by the efforts of
SPEBSQSA, the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet
Singing in America and also referred to as the Barbershop Preservation Society or the
Barbershop Harmony Society. The organization was founded by Owen Clifton Cash and Rupert
I. Hall alongside 24 other men; the initial meeting on April 11 in 1938 expanded three weeks
later to a meeting of over 100 members, and spread to Oklahoma, Kansas City, St. Louis, and
four other cities in July of the same year. The next year, a “national convention” was held at
Tulsa Central High School for 150 delegates nationwide to compete in their quartets and show
off their talents. The Society moved their headquarters to Kenosha, Wisconsin before relocating
to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. Each year, the group holds a convention along with a number of
contests; in addition, it publishes a bimonthly magazine, The Harmonizer, to spread the word to
the nation about its purpose. The organization continues to promote barbershop singing; over
forty thousand members nationwide are provided with musical arrangements of modern and
classic songs, vocal training, and advice on choral and quartet organization. The Barbershop
Preservation Society is also in coalition with MENC, the National Standards for Music
Education. In 1971, MENC approved a barbershop quartet category in its competitive festivals,
causing it to gain partnership with the society while allowing music teachers to gain “excellent

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vocal production and ensemble techniques, ear training, presentation methods, increased male
participation, and a path to meet some of the National Standards for Music Education” (Fehr).
Alongside the Barbershop Harmony Society, a similar organization was created for
women’s involvement with barbershop music. Sweet Adelines, now known as Sweet Adelines
International, was also founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 13, 1945. The assembly has
members on five continents, composing over 1200 quartets and 600 choruses. Their purpose is to
“[advance] the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performance…
[and] to support both the common repertoire and public singing goals”. (SingAmerica!’s
Harmonizers 20). Like the Barbershop Preservation Society, Sweet Adelines hold an annual
convention and several contests throughout the year, publishes a magazine every quartet called
The Pitch Pipe, and “supports the Young Singers Foundation, which offers scholarships for
vocal music students and a variety of grants” (Barbershop Quartet Singing). Because of racial
discrimination and over other political matters, a separate women’s organization, Harmony, Inc.,
split from Sweet Adelines in 1959; it centers in Fredericton, N.B., Canada and each year
publishes a new volume of its magazine, The Key-Note. These organizations may be their own
entities, but their goals are the same: preserve barbershop singing in America for generations.
Barbershop style music has been found to be a helpful tool in teaching music. Because of
its strong core sound, teachers use the music to demonstrate to students “the relationship between
melody, harmony, and chord formation” (DeGroot). Each vocal part presents a different aspect
of music theory to students, with the lead singing the harmony, the tenor harmonizing above the
melody, the bass mostly singing the root or the fifth, and the baritone completing the chords
wherever necessary. Barbershop can also be used to communicate a unique style of music to
students just discovering the world of music, allowing them to understand “the unique full or

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‘expanded’ sound that is characteristic of barbershop harmony” (DeGroot). Based on the basis of
chords in this particular musical style, adolescent boys particularly enjoy barbershop because
they have the ability to comfortably sing one of the voice parts no matter what stage of vocal
change they are in. The music can also act as a “really fun confidence-builder” to the young boys
who may feel awkward at such an age; it allows them the chance to sing without stressing about
sounding perfect and also attracts them into the world of quartet singing (DeGroot).
Barbershop music can be taught through a number of techniques, and although the
traditional number of singers is a quartet, the number of people on each voice part is unlimited.
One technique for warming up and getting into the mood to sing is to utilize a tag or a coda. A
tag can be defined as “a short, freely composed bit of music, usually four to eight measures,
found at the end of an arrangement” (DeGroot). Using these tags, teachers can warm up their
students while also introducing them to barbershop music. Educators are encouraged to
incorporate barbershop music into their warm ups to give students practice with sight-reading
and mini-performances and, most importantly, to introduce them to barbershop and to help keep
the style alive.
Over the centuries, humanity has given rise to countless different musical styles. One of
the most unique yet, barbershop singing, had a short existence as a popular style; however, it still
survives in the voices of America. Barbershop quartets allow any voice type of any gender to
participate in the joy of singing and, throughout the years, have developed within America to
become an extraordinary musical style that any person can enjoy.
Works Cited

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Abbott, Lynn. “’Play That Barber Shop Chord’: A Case for the African-American Origin of
Barbershop Harmony.” Wilson Quarterly Fall 1992: 144. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌u7uPLm>.
Averill, Gage. “Barbershop Quartet.” Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.
Vol. 2. 2003. 8-10. Galileo. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌p2DC4o>.
“Barbershop Quartet Singing.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011.
Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/‌EBchecked/‌topic/‌52893/‌barbershop-
quartet-singing>.
DeGroot, Joanna. “The Educational Appeal of Barbershop Music.” Teaching Music Jan. 2009:
53-55. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌tlzPnJ>.
Everett, Dianna. “SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop
Quartet Singing in America).” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
Oklahoma Historical Society, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://digital.library.okstate.edu/‌
encyclopedia/‌entries/‌S/‌SP007.html>.
Fehr, Rosalind C. “Barbershop Society Is a Hermonious Partner.” Teaching Music Apr. 2005:
19. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌uA9qgY>.
Frank, Stanley. “You Take the High Note.” Saturday Evening Post 19 Aug. 1944: 14, 15, 36.
Galileo. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌nr9OuW>.
Nash, Alanna. “Barbershop: In Perfect Harmony.” EBSCOhost. Galileo, Sept.-Oct. 2008. Web.
14 Oct. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌nr9OuW>.
“SingAmerica!’s Harmonizers.” Teaching Music Aug. 1997: 20. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌rSkawy>.

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Woodall, M. Thomas. “Barbershop Quartets.” Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in
America. Ed. Gary S. Cross. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. 63-66. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. <http://bit.ly/‌uQ1Rj7>.