How to sing Barbershop?

n barbershop the second tenor (the "lead") sings the melody. The strength of the sections should be approximately in the ratio of 1:2:3:4 in the order tenor, baritone, lead, bass. (These section names are also used among women barbershoppers).

The aim of barbershop singing is to produce a compact sound ("close harmony") rich in overtones ("expanded sound"). Essentially this is achieved by

• just intonation
• attention to the balance of notes within a chord
• and the matching of vocal colour

Taking a dominant seventh chord as an example (this being the most typical barbershop chord), point one would mean that the minor seventh would be considerably lower than the note on the piano. Points two and three would mean that the third and the seventh would be sung less strongly than the tonic and dominant notes of the chord.

An intense legato with soft connecting consonants, hitting the note directly and using forward motion are important for a smoothly flowing sound.

Since barbershop music is a branch of light entertainment - albeit artistic - a suitable presentation (facial expression, posture, positioning of the chorus, costume, maybe choreography for a rhythmical song) should support the impact of the song. Sheet music is not used in a performance.

Kurt Gerhardt, Manfred Adams