Barbershop (music)

Barbershop singing is predominantly homophonic a cappella music with a four-part chord on each melody note. The melody of the guide voice sung ( "lead"); this is below the tenor . The bass sings the lowest accompaniment notes while the baritone completes the chords. In favor of the voice guidance, in harmonic embellishments and in the coda (“tag”), the melody can occasionally be taken over by the other voices for a few notes. Short passages may be sung with fewer than four voices .

Mark

Barbershop is traditionally sung in quartets and choirs, mostly separated by gender for musical reasons ( close harmony ), and increasingly mixed in Europe. In 2012 the first World Mixed (world championship for mixed barbershop quartets) took place in Dortmund.

Typical of barbershop music are melodies whose underlying harmonies dissolve according to the circle of fifths. Therefore, the dominant seventh chord is the sound that characterizes barbershop singing the most. The stable-sounding voicings with a fifth or root note in the bass as well as the third and seventh in the baritone and tenor are preferred . By substituting individual chords with tritones , passages of descending, chromatically shifted dominant seventh chords can be created, reminiscent of the chromatic shifting of guitar fingerings.

Another characteristic of barbershop sentences is the stylistic device of the embellishments by the three accompanying voices when melody tones are held. The sometimes extravagant and harmoniously demanding decoration of a sustained closing note of a movement is called “tag” (English for 'appendage'). The tags are sometimes so elaborated that they are passed down orally as independent, short “pieces” in the barbershop scene and are also available as independent notes. With some tags it is even no longer possible to assign which piece they once belonged to; many are original compositions.

The desired sound expansion ("expanded sound") is achieved through three things:

untempered, i.e. pure intonation ("pitch")
differentiated volume of the four chord tones ("balance")
Alignment of vowels ("blend")

In addition to an overtone amplification, combination tones that match the chords are created , which expand the sound experience through the amplified bass.

Since the relatively rigid rules of the barbershop set produce a certain sound result, well-coordinated quartets are able to gradually create barbershop sets improvising (so-called "Woodshedden", named after the idea that quartets used to be in the Retired woodshed behind the house to improvise).

In the barbershop, four parts are always sung:

Tenor, decorative voice, softly in the quartet of individual voices, a small group in the choir
Lead, the melody or lead voice (English "to lead" = to lead, in a quartet the dominantly loud singer, in the choir ideally the second largest voice)
Baritone (in a quartet rather soft and responsible for the chord, usually the singer with the finest hearing)
Bass (the "foundation" of good barbershop singing, loud in a quartet, ideally the most powerful voice in a choir)

This voting designation also applies to female ensembles. Women mostly use the same arrangements as men's ensembles, they just sing about a fifth higher in each voice.

In the barbershop community, a certain repertoire of songs is set as the standard, "Polecat Songs" (the Polecats are also the barbershop-obsessed, notorious singers). This repertoire enables barbershoppers to come together freely and sing together without getting to know each other. The tags (see above) also play a special role, as they enable spontaneously composed quartets to try out the common sound without having to spend a lot of time learning to sound.

Clothing for American barbershop ensembles repeatedly used was striped vests or blazers and Florentine straw hats .

History, origin

Barbershop is one of the original American styles of music.

Its genre is now controversial, not least since independent research beyond the institutions of the genre began to show interest in the subject. This fact does not only represent a purely academic challenge for the genre. In essence, it is about maintaining and updating a special style of movement for a cappella ensembles. In this sense, barbershop is to be understood as a popular music form of historical performance practice . Among other things, the comparatively rigid regime of strict musical competition rules serves this goal. But if one brings historical arguments for and against certain aesthetic decisions into the field, the question of the origin of the barbershop also touches on the legitimacy of the stylistic norms, as they may be. a. reflected in the competition rules.

The traditional reading of the genre of this genre reads roughly as follows: Even before the era of radio, there was hits, popular music that was devised and distributed in the southern United States, mostly by traveling vaudeville ensembles. Spectators such a performance often attacked the included songs the next day, the waiting time for themselves Barbier (English: barber ) to shorten: One hummed the melody, a devised a bass line underneath, a high voice sang thirds above the melody, and finally a harmonic genius filled the sound with a fifth chord, the baritone. Those locals who had not been to the vaudeville theater also heard the new songs and took part. This is how barbershop music came about. In the households of the white upper class there was often a reproduction piano . The poor people, on the other hand, usually only had their voices to make music. In this respect, barbershop music emerged from the white lower classes of the southern states. This is also reflected in the topics of the barbershop: It is almost always about interpersonal relationships, love, suffering and heartbreak, occasionally supplemented by patriotic statements. As the radio spread, barbershop music was about to be forgotten. At the end of the 1930s, however, several associations were founded with the aim of preserving and maintaining this genre. Best known is the Barbershop Harmony Society, founded in 1938 . Their original name drove the fashion of the time to the extreme, abbreviate the names of organizations with sometimes very long sequences of letters: Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America ), abbreviated SPEBSQSA

Part of the research tends to the same date of origin around 1900 and also follows the reading that barbershop is a form of music that developed under the influence of church, minstrel and vaudeville music in simple social classes among amateurs. But she claims that barbershop should be viewed as a primarily Afro-American creation.

Another part of the research takes the view that the claim that barbershop was created in its current musical form around the turn of the century, then was forgotten and finally revived around 1940, is overall untenable. Instead, one would have to see barbershop as an invented tradition . In numerous individual aspects, including the format of the vocal quartets and the characteristic harmony, musical elements that were popular around 1900 have merged in today's barbershop. However, the formation of the style with all of its current sentence and repertoire rules only came about in the 1940s, as part of the efforts of the Barbershop Harmony Society to establish a competitive system as the center of subculture life.

Early representatives are e.g. B. Scott Joplin , Louis Armstrong , and WC Handy, they all sang barbershop in their time, according to Prof. David Wright. Scott Joplin used a barbershop quartet in his 1910 opera Treemonisha.

How you see this depends to a large extent on what you leave enough to already speak of barbershop, or on the other hand, what you consider to be perhaps important influences and precursors, but not yet as the genre that is known today as barbershop. The absolute primacy of the expanded sound in connection with the other sentence rules as a coherent aesthetic for the interpretation of entire songs should be the decisive criterion, at least from a musical point of view.

Incidentally, women and emigrants also played an important role in the vocal quartet culture in the USA at the turn of the century - a fact that was neglected for a long time.

History in Germany

In 1963 the first German barbershop quartet Sour Krauts (lead: Kurt Gerhardt) was founded, which made its first TV appearance in 1966 on the ZDF program Und Ihr Hobbypferd? had with Peter Frankenfeld.

In 1984, Barbershop Blend, the first German women's barbershop choir, was founded by Liz Döhring. In 1987 Kurt Gerhardt founded the first German barbershop male choir, the first Cologne Barbershop Choir.

In 1988 the Ruhrpott Company (members including Manfred Adams and Hans Frambach) appeared as the first German quartet in the SPEBSQSA Golden Anniversary Show as part of the American Convention . In the same year the first issue of the Barbershop News appeared.

In 1991, BinG ! - Barbershop in Germany eV founded.

In 1993 the first German barbershop competition took place at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. In addition to eleven quartets, six choirs took part: First Cologne Barbershop Choir, Barbershop Blend, Barbershop Bubbles, Jazzica, Ladies First and Singsation. The first German choir barbershop master was Ladies First (Dortmund) under the direction of Manfred Adams. The first German barbershop master quartet was four -bar from Cologne with Norbert Hammes (bass), Andreas Marquenie (baritone), Leo Freitag (lead) and Hans-Jürgen Wieneke (tenor).

Musical director

The musical director is the choir director of a barbershop choir. Since American terms are used in the barbershop in Germany as well, the choirmaster is not simply called "choir director", but is "Emm Die", MD, the abbreviation for the musical director.

An MD cannot be trained in Germany; the active MDs of German barbershop choirs are all either self-taught or they have some other musical training. A technically sound MD training in the barbershop is currently only possible in Great Britain or in the USA , the home country of the barbershop.

Competitions

There are basically two types of competitions in the barbershop community: choir and quartet competitions, but these are usually held together. In most countries, as well as internationally, there are different competitions for men and women. The evaluation system is divided into three categories, for which different jurors are available: music (evaluation of the implementation / interpretation of the arrangement, barbershop suitability of the piece), singing (intonation, balance, blend, see above) and presentation (stage presence, facial expressions, etc.) . Ä.).

Two different competitions of the German barbershop association BinG are held in Germany: The convention , which takes place every two years, and the Coesfeld Cup for quartets, which takes place as part of the annual Harmony College, which serves to qualify for the convention.

The rating system is based on the specifications of the American Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The only exception is that in Germany male, female and mixed choirs or quartets can appear one after the other and are assessed together in one category. Not only internationally renowned quartets or choirs are invited to the convention , but also jurors who have been recognized by the BHS (formerly SPEBSQSA).

The Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) annually organizes an International Barbershop Convention, which lets male quartets and choirs compete against each other. The international competition for women is hosted by Sweet Adelines International (SAI). In 2012, the first international quartet championship of mixed singing barbershop quartets, "WorldMixed", was held in Dortmund. The winners were the Swedish quartet Tarzan & Jane ahead of the American Mixed Feelings and the German quartet Klangkisses. In 2018, the first competition with mixed singing barbershop choirs was held in Munich. The winner was the Munich choir "Munich Show Chorus". The participants came from Europe, America and Australia.

At the European level, the European Barbershop Convention takes place every four years . B. in 2009. 2013 it took place in Holland together with the Dutch championships. The competition takes place separately for women and men in one place at the same time, so that the European Barbershop Convention is also a large European singers meeting.

Well-known ensembles

Abbreviations used: m. for men, f. for women, g. for mixed.

Germany

Halftones (quartet, m.) - Bad Nauheim, winner at the European Barbershop Convention 2013 in Veldhoven, Netherlands
Take Four (quartet, m.) - Kiel / Hamburg, multiple winner quartet of the BinG! -Convention
Splash (quartet, f.) - Dortmund, winning quartet at the BinG! Convention 1998 and 2002
Sound kisses (quartet, g.) - Bonn, winning quartet at the BinG! Convention 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014
Bella Donna (quartet, f.) - Dortmund, best German women's quartet, BinG! -Convention 2010
Liedhaber (quartet, m.) - Munich, 2nd place BinG! -Convention 2012
Ladies First (choir, f.) - Dortmund, winner choir of the BinG! -Convention 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, 2nd place BinG! -Convention 2016
Harmunichs (choir, f.) - Munich, winner choir of the BinG! -Convention 2006, 2016 and 2018, 2nd place in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, Crescendo Cup 2016 (for the greatest increase in points)
First Cologne Barbershop Choir (EKBC) m. - Cologne, 3rd place at the BinG! -Convention 2008, 2010 and 2012, audience award 2010, 2012 and 2014
Gentlemen visit (choir, middle) - Munich, 4th place and Crescendo Cup (for the greatest increase in points) at the BinG! -Convention 2010 (4th place 2012), 4th place at the European Barbershop Convention 2013 in Veldhoven, Netherlands, 3rd place 3rd place BinG! -Convention 2014, 3rd place BinG! -Convention 2016, Audience Award Munich 2016
Barbershop Blend (choir, f.) - Sonsbeck
Barberlights Remseck (choir, f.) - Remseck am Neckar. First women's barbershop choir in Baden-Württemberg since 1989.
A-Cappella Ladies (choir, f.) - Remseck-Pattonville, Crescendo Cup (for the greatest increase in points) at the BinG! -Convention 2012
Feelgood Company (choir, g.) - Dortmund, best-placed mixed barbershop choir, 6th place in 2014
Women in Black (Chor f.) - Berlin, Crescendo Cup (for the greatest increase in points) at the BinG! -Convention 2014
SomeSing (Quartet, g.) - Munich (6th place World Mixed 2012, 2nd place BinG! -Convention 2014, 1st place BinG! Convention 2018)
Barbershop Chor Bremen (choir, m) - Bremen
Mission possible (quartet, f.) - Munich
Tonikum (Quartet, g.) - 1st place BinG! -Convention 2014, 2nd place BinG! -Convention 2016
Düssharmonie (choir, m.) - 1st Düsseldorf barbershop choir since 2004
Main-Stream-Magic (Chor f.) - Erlenbach am Main
Munich Show Chorus (Chor, g.) - Munich (1st place World Mixed Choirs 2018, 2nd place BinG! -Convention 2018, Crescendo Cup 2018, Audience Award 2018)

United States

Storm Front (quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2010
Crossroads (quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2009
OC Times (Quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2008
Max Q (quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2007
Vocal Spectrum (Quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2006
Realtime (quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 2005
Gas House Gang (Quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 1993
The Suntones (Quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 1961
Buffalo Bills (quartet, m.) - International Quartet Champions 1950
The Crush (Quartet, m.) - FWD Quartet Champions 2010
Zing! (Quartet, f.) - Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions 2010
Moxie Ladies (Quartet, f.) - Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions 2009
Four Bettys (Quartet, f.) - Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions 2008
The Vocal Majority (choir, middle) - Dallas, Texas, eleven-time International Chorus Champions (most recently 2006)
Masters of Harmony (choir, middle) - Santa Fe Springs, California, seven-time International Chorus Champions (most recently in 2008 and 2011)
Ambassadors of Harmony (choir, middle) - St. Charles, Missouri, International Chorus Champions 2004, 2009, 2012
Westminster Chorus (Choir, middle) - Westminster, California, International Chorus Champions 2007 and 2010, 2009 Choir of the World
The Rich-Tone Chorus (chorus, f.) - Richardson, Texas, five-time Sweet Adelines International Chorus Champions (most recently 2010)
Melodeers Chorus (chorus, f.) - Northbrook, Illinois, five-time Sweet Adelines International Chorus Champions (most recently 2009)

Canada

Toronto Northern Lights - (choir, m.) International Chorus Champions 2013

Great Britain

Cambridge Chord Company (choir, m.) - Cambridge
The Cottontown Chorus (choir, middle) - Bolton
The Great Western Chorus (choir, middle) - Bristol
The White Rosettes (chorus, f.) - Leeds

Sweden

Lemon Squeezy (quartet, m.) - Winner of the 2012 Collegiate Quartet Championship
Ringmasters (quartet, m.) - European quartet champions 2009, quartet world champions 2012
SALT (Quartet, f.) - Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions 2007
Zero8 (choir, m.) - European Choir Champions 2009, 3rd place bronze medal Internationals 2019
Rönninge Show Chorus (Chorus, f.) - Sweet Adelines Sweet Adelines International Silver Medal 2011

Netherlands

Whale City Sound (choir, m.) - Zaanstad
Southern Comfort Barber Mates (choir, m.) - Eindhoven
Southern Comfort Barber Gals (choir, f.) - Eindhoven

Associations

Abbreviations used: m. for men, f. for women, g. for mixed.

USA / Canada: Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) (m.) (Historically SPEBSQSA - Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America)
European Harmony Alliance: European association of SNOBS, SAI, FABS, DABS, BinG!
Germany: Barbershop in Germany ( BinG! ) (M., F., G.)
Great Britain: British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) (m.)
Great Britain: Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) (f.)
Holland Harmony, DABS
Scandinavia: Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers (SNOBS) (m.)
Spain: Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers (SABS) (m., F., G.)
SAI Region 32 (Nordic Light Region, Sweden)
FABS (Finland)
International: Sweet Adelines International (SAI) (f.)
International: Harmony, Inc. (f.)
International: Mixed Harmony Barbershop Quartet Association (g.)

Sound samples and notes

Web links

Commons : Barbershop music - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Barbershop for music theorists. At: BinG! - Barbershop in Germany.
↑ The combination note of the perfect third is two octaves lower than the root note. With a tempered third it is about half a tone higher, which would cloud the sound considerably. See Combination Tone - Consequences for Musicians.
↑ Val Hicks: Heritage of Harmony. Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. Friendship / WI: New Past Press, 1988, pp. 2-6 ( PDF ).
↑ Ramon Schalleck: Test corpus for automatic transcription systems. Unpublished master's thesis at the Ludwig Maximilians University, 2005.
↑ Lynn Abbott: Play That Barber Shop Chord: A Case for the African-American Origin of Barbershop Harmony. In: American Music. 10/3, 1992, pp. 289-325.
↑ James Earl Henry: The Origins of Barbershop Harmony: A Study of Barbershop's Musical Link to Other African-American Musics as Evidenced Through Recordings and Arrangements of Early Black and White Quartets. PhD diss., UMI Microform 9972671, Washington University in St. Louis, 2000. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.
↑ James Earl Henry: The Historical Roots of Barbershop Harmony. In: The Harmonizer. July / August 2001, pp. 13-17.
↑ Tim Brooks: Lost Sounds. Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1890-1919. Urbana-Champaign / IL: University of Illinois Press, 2005.
^ Richard Mook, The Sounds of Liberty: Nostalgia, Masculinity, and Whiteness in Philadelphia Barbershop, 1900-2003. PhD diss., UMI Microform 3152085, University of Pennsylvania, 2004. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.
↑ Vic Hobson: Plantation Song: Delius, Barbershop, and the Blues. In: American Music. 31/3, 2013, pp. 314–339.
^ Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting. A Social History of American Barbershop Harmony. Oxford University Press, New York 2003.
^ Liz Garnett: The British Barbershopper: A Study in Socio-musical Values. Ashgate, London 2005.
^ Frédéric Döhl: That Old Barbershop Sound: The emergence of a tradition of American a cappella music. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2009.
^ Frédéric Döhl: From Harmonic Style to Genre. The Early History (1890s – 1940s) of the Uniquely American Musical Term Barbershop. In: American Music. 32/2, 2014, pp. 123-171.
↑ Frédéric Döhl: On some strategies of genre establishment and consolidation in a “traditionalist genre” of popular music. The Barbershop Harmony between historical performance practice and "Invented Tradition". In: Music Theory. 29/1, 2015, pp. 9–22.
↑ Frédéric Döhl: The Barbershop Myth. Follow a music history as an ideal. In: Archives for Musicology . 65/4, 2008, pp. 309-334.
↑ BinG! - Barbershop in Germany eV Accessed on April 10, 2018 .