Barbershop is a style of unaccompanied singing for four voice parts - all men, or all women.
It is sung by quartets and by full choruses
Unlike other forms of "a cappella" singing the harmony parts surround the melody line, or LEAD as we call it.
Other than the LEAD with the tune we have:
- a low BASS part that provides a foundation below the melody line.
- a high TENOR part which floats above the melody line.
- and the BARITONE part that dances above and below the LEAD part.
The barbershop style is also a visual performance and, unlike traditional choristers hiding behind their music scores, we stand and sing without written music. Barbershoppers love to engage the audience and, more like musical theatre, try to bring a song to life.
Technically, Barbershop arrangements have a particular vocabulary of musical chords that must be used to be the kind of song we can sing in a Barbershop contest. That is mainly for the technical folk but if you are interested in reading more about it follow up in the LABBS Contest and Judging Handbook - page 1.