What is Barbershop Singing?

Barbershop singing is four part harmony with individual parts sung unaccompanied by instruments to produce a unique musical style that rings chords. It’s this ringing of chords that gives the participants the thrill of a lifetime and can only be truly experienced by being one of the singers that is making it happen. This should be on any man’s “Bucket List” for sure. 

Barbershop harmony is truly an American art form.  It's music in a very pure form created with nothing but human voices coming together to create a rich and satisfying texture that is pleasing to the ears and invigorating to the soul. 

These wonderful harmonies are created by four parts.  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.

Frequently in Barbershop singing, the prettiest and smoothest chords happen towards the end of the song. These endings, called tags, typically consist of only a few measures and a handful of chords and often have a special ring called “expanded sound” “overtones” or “undertones”, almost as if there were a fifth singer. This special barbershop sound is created when the harmonics in the individually sung tones reinforce each other to produce audible tones above or below the highest or lowest sung note. Barabershoppers call this “ringing a cord”.  Creating that “fifth voice” is

one of the most thrilling sensations a barbershop singer can experience.