HANDOUT for ESSENCE OF BARBERSHOP for NEWBIES Ted Chamberlain 253-414-2267 [email protected]It is my philosophy that all barbershop singers are on their own unique place on the path of learning and excellence. No two people are at the same place on all the myriad of skills and understanding. AND Barbershop is a style for “everyone” – not just an elite few. Anyone with the desire can learn to sing barbershop…and to sing/perform it well!! Be patient, however, as skills can take time to develop!! Resources Being active in your local chapter/chorus Getting involved in quartetting Harmony Schools such as this! (SET, Harmony University) Attending conventions o Men: division, district, international. o Women: Regional and International Barbershop Organizational Websites and Marketplace YouTube Spotify, Pandora International Contest Webcasts. What’s in here? This handout is primarily references for later – some of which we will explore today, and much of which will help provide a skeleton of information you can use as you begin your journey in singing Barbershop Harmony!! What Is Barbershop Harmony? First, A Little History... In the last half of the 19th century, U.S. barbershops often served as community centers – a place where most men would gather. Barbershop quartets originated with African American men socializing in barbershops; they would harmonize while waiting their turn, vocalizing in spirituals, folk songs and popular songs. This generated a new style, consisting of unaccompanied, four-part, close-harmony singing. Bookmark these! Men http://www.barbershop.org http://evgsings.org Women http://www.sweetadelineintl.org http://www.sairegion13.org
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What Is Barbershop Harmony? - Harmony College … active in your local chapter ... barbershop chord. The baritone needs to have a “good ear” for harmony and the ability to adjust
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It is my philosophy that all barbershop singers are on their own unique place on the path of learning and
excellence. No two people are at the same place on all the myriad of skills and understanding. AND
Barbershop is a style for “everyone” – not just an elite few. Anyone with the desire can learn to sing
barbershop…and to sing/perform it well!! Be patient, however, as skills can take time to develop!!
Resources
Being active in your local chapter/chorus
Getting involved in quartetting
Harmony Schools such as this! (SET, Harmony
University)
Attending conventions
o Men: division, district, international.
o Women: Regional and International
Barbershop Organizational Websites and
Marketplace
YouTube
Spotify, Pandora
International Contest Webcasts.
What’s in here?
This handout is primarily references for later – some of which we will explore today, and much of which will help provide a skeleton of information you can use as you begin your journey in singing Barbershop Harmony!!
What Is Barbershop Harmony?
First, A Little History...
In the last half of the 19th century, U.S. barbershops often served as community centers – a place where most men would gather.
Barbershop quartets originated with African American men socializing in barbershops; they would harmonize while waiting their
turn, vocalizing in spirituals, folk songs and popular songs. This generated a new style, consisting of unaccompanied, four-part,
Baritones add BEAUTY to the sound and fill up the chord with resonance.
BASS sings the lowest note in the harmony part below the lead and should have a deep voice with a mellow timbre.
Basses provide the FOUNDATION of the harmony and must be consistently resonant and full. They will also “cone” so that
when they are higher in pitch they will be a little lighter than when lower. However, they must always maintain their full bass
resonance.
Adapted from Wikipedia article: Barbershop Music 20 Oct 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbershop_music>
THE BARBERSHOP CONE and Balance
Barbershop music requires a precise balance of the notes, which you will learn to hear. Because we tend
to hear higher pitches in the human vocal range more easily than lower ones (which is why we must pay
considerably more for speaker woofers than speaker tweeters!!) we must compensate to some degree.
This means that:
The lower one is within the chord, the stronger the note must be.
The higher one is within the chord, the lighter the note must be.
VOCAL TECHNIQUE FOR BARBERSHOPPERS
This section alone can be ones’ focus for a lifetime. That said, there are a few basic concepts that help get people, new to barbershop, on a healthy positive track. I’ll also say that even the least skilled barbershop singer, enjoys the experience of ringing chords. However, that fulfillment seems to grow the more accomplished the singer becomes, as he/she is able to ring chords more consistently, stronger and more of the time. WHAT ARE THE BASICS OF AN EXCELLENT BARBERSHOP TONE?
PERSONAL VOCAL TECHNIQUE o Freely produced. Learn to allow relaxation in shoulders, neck, base of the tongue, and
jaw. Other places may also be a specific issue for one person or another. While “ENERGY” is necessary, “TENSION” is typically the enemy.
o PING. Vibrant, buzzy, pingy, focused, brilliant tone. In classical singing, it is referred to as the “singer’s formant”. Sensation of the PING in the sound is often felt as an increased vibration sensation in the MASK (area around eyes). Allow the PING to ALWAYS be present in every tone. Learn to “align” your PING with the PING of the other voices around you. Even when singing tender, gentle messages, the vibrancy of the PING keeps the voice alive with emotion, and keeps the harmonics dancing!!
o RING. In the terminology I use, RING is the resonance created by the shape of the tone/vowel. You will learn how to allow the shape of your tone (mouth, lips, jaw, tongue) to modify in somewhat subtle ways to allow the tone to expand and be full and strong, even while free from tension!
o WALL OF SOUND. This is a concept that we allow the resonance (ping and ring…with freedom) to be maintained as a constant stream of tone. There are many ways we learn to do this, and it can become rather sophisticated. For starters, though, understand that we are wanting to maintain the integrity of the ringing chord. The opposite of “wall of sound” is “choppy singing”.
UNIT SOUND o Singing INSIDE the sound. Blend, unity, vocal match, all come from making small
adjustments to one’s singing so as to align with the sounds of other singers. The implication is NOT to sing SOFTER, but to sing THE SAME as the others so your voice disappears into the mix.
o Synchronization. Aligning word sounds together and even feeling the nuance of expression together help our voices to align in perfect precision. Again, there are many ways to work toward this in the barbershop style, and some may seem very strange or even counter what may have been learned in other styles. That’s OK…it can take a while to fully master this.
o INTONATION…Precise TUNING. While it is true that being in tune is actually our natural tendency, MANY factors can impede that process. Vocal tension, poorly shaped vowels, fatique, notes that are rather high or rather low, and much more can all make it challenging to maintain intonation at the highest levels. In addition, because MOST music we hear is tuned using a compromised method of tuning called “Equal temperament” … brought into vogue with J.S. Bach, our ears have learned to recognize these slightly out of tune sounds to be normal. Many singers new to barbershop will benefit from learning how to listen and feel for the ACTUAL tuning which is NATURAL – called JUST INTONATION. My Techno-tuning class is both a technical approach to understanding, and also a PRACTICAL approach on how to develop this skill as a barbershop singer.
o LOCK and RING….and EXPANDED SOUND. These are terms you will hear frequently in barbershop! When a chord is sung with great precisioin…in tune…vowel unity…exceptional balance, the resulting COMBINATION of sounds reinforce each other in some pretty spectacular ways!! Without going too deep into it here, suffice it to say that the resulting column of sound that is created contains audible notes that are beyond the 4 pitches being sung. This has to do with OVERTONES (also called “harmonics”) in each sung note, and how the note sung, and the various harmonics mix mathematically to create additional notes above, within and below the chord notes
being sung. Spectacular…and NERD-filled FUN to explore!!! For those just starting out, you really get a feel for “more than just the 4 notes being sung” even if you can’t yet hear the OTHER notes (overtones and “combination tones”). You’ll still feel the expansion.
EXPRESSIVE ARTISTRY. The structure of the chords, the shape of the melody, the feel of the rhythm, the meaning of the lyrics all combine to touch people (us and our audiences) in very meaningful ways. THIS is the artistic goal of performance: to use the elements of the music/song to connect with our audiences on these deeper levels.
o Genuine & Heart-felt. Our messages are meant to help our audiences experience universal human emotions. Learning to do so in a very genuine and natural way, that still gets across the footlights is an important aspect of Barbershop performance.
o Musically artistic. We strive to express the musical elements with beauty, finesse and rhythmic integrity, as appropriate to the song, arrangement and message you wish to convey.
o Engaging. This can be emotionally intense, or transport the audience to another place and time, or get them grooving to the rhythmical elements, or laughing, etc.
SHOWMANSHIP, STAGE PRESENCE, AND
PERFORMANCE BASICS
Barbershop performers sing with voice, face and body!! How we present the music VISUALLY is an important aspect of the style. Barbershop comes from the Vaudeville performance heritage, and as such, there is a strong emphasis on entertainment value.
Genuine, “from the heart” expression
Body posture that is confident, proud and regal
Visual plans, which may include choreography, special costuming and even props, that brings out the various stories, expressions and messages of the songs we sing.
Much of the expression should feel “conversation” as well as it should engage your audience as appropriate for the song and it’s musical and lyrical message.
WHAT DO CONTEST JUDGES JUDGE?
While a contest score is only a reflection of the quality of an artistic performance, the barbershop contest and judging systems are designed to help elevate our art form and to educate members in the finer points of performing in the barbershop style. MANY aspects of barbershop performance are universal across other musical styles.
BHS (Men); 3 categories: Singing, Music and Performance (formerly Presentation)
A single panel would be one judge per category. Larger contests often have double panels. International contest has 5 sets of judges!
Each judge can award up to 100 points per song. Contestants will sing 2 songs back-to-back. So each judge will award up to 200 points total, which means that a 600 would be a perfect score with a single panel.
The judge will determine whether the level of the performance is excellent (A-level, from 81-100), good (B-level, from 61- 80), fair (C-level, from 41-60), or poor (D-level, from 1-40)
1. SINGING a. Singing is defined as quality, in-tune vocalization accomplished with a high degree of
unity, ensemble consistency and artistry. The Singing judge evaluates the degree to which the performer achieves artistic singing in the barbershop style.
b. Major elements in the category are: intonation; vocal quality; unity of word sounds, flow, diction and synchronization; expansion and “ring”; and artistry.
2. MUSIC a. Music is defined as the song and arrangement as performed. The Music judge evaluates
the suitability of the song and arrangement to the barbershop style and the performer’s musicianship in bringing the song and arrangement to life.
b. Major elements in the category are: consonance; theme; delivery and musicality; execution; and embellishment.
3. PRESENTATION [The new PERFORMANCE category will be similar but complete information is not yet available]
a. Presentation is defined as the net impact of the performance upon the audience. The Presentation judge evaluates to what degree the audience is entertained through the performer’s communication of the story/message/theme in its musical and visual setting.
b. Major elements in the category are: entertainment value; “from the heart” delivery; audience rapport; artistry and expressiveness; and unity between the presentation’s vocal and visual elements.
Sweet Adelines International. (Women): There are many similarities between the men’s scoring and the women’s scoring. The categories are somewhat different. Here are the women’s categories:
1. SOUND a. The focus of the SOUND category is the evaluation of unit sound in the barbershop style.
Unit sound occurs when tones are properly produced, accurately tuned, blended and balanced. In barbershop terminology, this is referred to as “lock-and-ring.” Although the Sound Judge does not evaluate vocal technique in and of itself, the Sound category does include evaluation of the basics of correct singing.
2. MUSIC a. The primary focus of the MUSIC category is the performance of a song arranged in four-
part harmony, barbershop style. The Music Judge evaluates the musicality of the performance, the quality of the song and arrangement, and the adherence of the performing ensemble to the barbershop style. While any song can be arranged in the barbershop style, the extent to which a song adheres to the barbershop style is determined by characteristics unique to this form of music: chord structure, arrangement, the cone-shaped sound, untempered tuning, delivery and interpretation, which contribute to the “lock-andring” quality of the barbershop style.
3. EXPRESSION
a. The focus of the EXPRESSION category is the evaluation of the performer’s ability to communicate musically and lyrically. In vocal music, communication is strengthened by meaningful delivery of lyrics, musical diction, artistic phrasing, appropriate dynamics, energy, vocal characterization and a projection of sincere emotion. The Expression judge listens to a performance with her primary concentration directed to the evaluation of the degree of artistry achieved in the verbal execution and lyrical delivery of the song. Although many specific areas contribute to the success of an artistic performance, they are inseparable in that blended together the result is an artistically satisfying experience.
4. SHOPWMANSHIP a. The focus of the SHOWMANSHIP category is the evaluation of the salesmanship of the
musical product. This includes the elements of preparation, the visual plan and the creation and communication of onstage magic. With effective showmanship, the performer is able to enhance what the listener hears by reinforcing it with what the viewer sees, creating a total performance. The Showmanship Judge assesses the performer’s ability to incorporate the intangible art of showmanship into a performance that creates and communicates magic.