{{Short description|Close harmony a cappella singing group}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}} [[File:US Navy 080615-N-7656R-003 Navy Band Northwest's Barbershop Quartet win the hearts of the audience with a John Philip Sousa rendition of.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The US Navy Band's barbershop quartet in 2008]]
A '''barbershop quartet''' is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella). The four voices that make up a quartet are the lead, the bass, the tenor, and the baritone. Barbershop music is typified by close harmony—the upper three voices generally remain within one octave of each other.
Historically, barbershop quartets were mainly sung by male singers; contemporary quartets can include any gender combination. All-female barbershop quartets were often called '''beauty shop quartets''', a term that has fallen out of favor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sfetcu |first=Nicolae |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Music/IhyKAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=beauty+shop+quartet&pg=PA175&printsec=frontcover |title=American Music |date=2014-05-09 |publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu |language=en}}</ref>
While the regional origins of barbershop quartet singing are not wholly agreed upon,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/barbershop-quartet-singing |title=Barbershop quartet singing | music |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> current organizations that promote the style typify it as an "old American institution."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.barbershop.org/about/our-vision-mission |title=Our Vision & Mission |website=Our Vision & Mission | Barbershop Harmony Society |access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Though the style is most popular in the United States, barbershop organizations exist in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite book |last=Garnett |first=Liz |year=2005 |title=The British Barbershopper: A Study in Socio-musical Values |place=London |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-3559-8 }}</ref> the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.barbershop.org/about/our-community/districts |title=Chapters/Choruses outside of the United States/Canada |publisher=Barbershop Harmony Society |access-date=March 20, 2020 }}</ref>
Barbershop quartets have been featured in popular culture in musical theater productions such as ''The Music Man'', and lampooned in television series such as ''The Simpsons'' and ''Family Guy''.
== History == {{Main|Barbershop music#Historical origins}}
While many sources claim that barbershop singing originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States of America, some maintain that the origins of barbershop singing are "obscure".<ref name="auto"/> The style is considered a blend of White and African-American musical styles.<ref name="Abbot1992">{{cite journal |last=Abbott |first=Lynn |s2cid=191390367 |year=1992 |title='Play That Barber Shop Chord': A Case for the African-American Origin of Barbershop Harmony |journal=American Music |volume=10 |number=3 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |pages=289–325 |doi=10.2307/3051597 |jstor=3051597 }}</ref> Although the African-American influence is sometimes overlooked, these quartets had a formative role in the development of the style.<ref name="Henry2000">{{Cite book |author=Henry, James Earl |title=The Origins of Barbershop Harmony: A Study of Barbershop's Links to Other African American Musics as Evidenced through Recordings and Arrangements of Early Black and White Quartets |publisher=Washington University |year=2000}}</ref>
By the 1920s, the popularity of the style had begun to fade. It was revived in the late 1930s along with the founding of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), now known as Barbershop Harmony Society, abbreviated as BHS.<ref name="Döhl, Frédéric 2014">{{cite journal |last=Döhl |first=Frédéric |year=2014 |title=From Harmonic Style to Genre: The Early History (1890s–1940s) of the Uniquely American Musical Term 'Barbershop' |journal=American Music |volume=32 |number=2 |pages=123–171 |doi=10.5406/americanmusic.32.2.0123 |s2cid=194072078 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/566731 |issn=1945-2349 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The society's first meeting was held at the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 11, 1938,<ref name="auto"/> and it was open only to male singers. In 1945, a parallel organization for women was also founded in Tulsa, called Sweet Adelines International (SAI).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sweetadelines.com/about |title=About | Sweet Adelines |website=sweetadelines.com |access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Harmony, Incorporated (HI), also serving women, was established in Rhode Island in 1959.<ref>{{cite book |last=Averill |first=Gage |year=2003 |title=Four Parts, No Waiting: A Social History of American Barbershop Harmony |place=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1951-1672-4 |page=132}}</ref> After BHS fully welcomed women in 2018,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/06/20/621603558/after-80-years-the-barbershop-harmony-society-will-allow-women-to-join |title=After 80 Years, The Barbershop Harmony Society Will Allow Women To Join |date=June 20, 2018 |first=Andrew |last=Flanagan |publisher=NPR |access-date=January 19, 2026}}</ref> The Society for the Preservation and Propagation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in the United States (SPPBSQSUS) formed with a focus on all-male barbershop quartet singing;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sppbsqsus.org/post/sppbsqsus-inaugural-convention-in-san-antonio-harmonious-historic-heavenly-happening |title=Inaugural Convention in San Antonio |date=March 4, 2019 |website=SPPBSQSUS |first=Jim |last=Bagby |access-date=January 19, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sppbsqsus.org/_files/ugd/b9030e_f15dd5f0350844d9bde521ae11519539.pdf#page=4 |title=By-Laws: Purpose |date=December 30, 2021 |website=SPPBSQSUS |page=4 |access-date=January 19, 2026 |quote=purpose shall be to preserve and perpetuate the historic tradition and American cultural institution of the all-male barbershop quartet}}</ref> since 2024, it operates as the Worldwide Barbershop Quartet Association (WBQA).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sppbsqsus.org/copy-of-gentlemen-s-barbershop-quar |title=Our Story |website=Worldwide Barbershop Quartet Association |access-date=January 19, 2026}}</ref>
In 1971, BHS president Ralph Ribble launched a successful "Barberpole Cat Program" to encourage barbershop singing as widely as possible.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://stellent.barbershop.org/web/groups/public/documents/pages/pub_id_047338.hcsp |title=The Barberpole Cat Program |date=March 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321072849/http://stellent.barbershop.org/web/groups/public/documents/pages/pub_id_047338.hcsp |access-date=February 4, 2020|archive-date=March 21, 2011 }}</ref> Barbershop songs were published and promoted to provide a core set of pieces for barbershop quartets. The current 12 songs and the tag end of two others, were selected in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sheetmusiclibrary.website/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Barberpole-Cat-Program-And-Songbook-Quartet-Singers.pdf |title=The Barberpole Cat Program |publisher=The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America |date=1992 |access-date=March 9, 2026 |website=Sheet Music Library}}</ref>
== Style of dress == [[File:BarbershopQuartet Disneyworld.jpg|thumb|The Dapper Dans at Disney World dressed in the traditional barbershop quartet style in 2006.]]
In competition, barbershop quartets generally wear coordinated outfits to mark them as members of the same group. The Society Contest and Judging Committee of the Barbershop Harmony Society notes in their rule book that aesthetics are important to competitive success: "The judge responds to both the vocal and visual aspects of the performance, but the judge principally evaluates the interaction of those aspects as they work together to create the image of the song."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.barbershop.org/files/documents/contestandjudging/CJBook-03%20Contest%20Rules.pdf |date=August 2018 |title=Contest Rules |publisher=Barbershop Harmony Society |access-date=February 5, 2020}}</ref>
Traditionally, barbershop quartet attire consisted of a vest, straw hat, and spats, often with bow ties and sleeve garters; this is known as the Gay Nineties style.{{sfn|Averill|2003|p=137}} In popular culture, this style exemplifies the stereotypical barbershop quartet. Several Walt Disney theme parks feature a dedicated barbershop quartet called The Dapper Dans, whose outfits vary depending on location but do feature vests and straw hats.
== Roles of vocal parts == Male barbershop quartets use TTBB (tenor—tenor—baritone—bass) arrangements, with the second tenor singing the lead. Since the 1940s, barbershop singers have tuned their seventh chords with just intonation to maximize the overtones, yielding a distinctive "ringing" sound.{{sfn|Averill|2003|p=164}}
[[File:Maxqt.jpg|thumb|Max Q, championship winners of the Barbershop Harmony Society's international barbershop convention in 2007. From left to right: Greg Clancy (tenor), Tony De Rosa (lead), Jeff Oxley (bass), and Gary Lewis (baritone)]]
Female barbershop quartets use SSAA (Soprano—Soprano—Alto—Alto) arrangements, while applying the same range names as a TTBB arrangement. Mixed barbershop quartets use SATB (Soprano—Alto—Tenor—Bass) arrangements.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is barbershop music?|url=https://www.barbershop.org/music/about-our-music|website=What is barbershop music? {{!}} Barbershop Harmony Society|access-date=2026-02-02|language=en-US}}</ref>
'''Tenor:''' The tenor generally harmonizes above the lead, making the part the highest in the quartet. So as not to overpower the lead singer, who carries the tune, the part is often sung in falsetto, which is of a softer quality than singing in the modal register,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoch |first1=Matthew |title=A dictionary for the modern singer dictionaries for the modern musician |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham |isbn=978-0-8108-8656-8 |pages=20–21}}</ref> though some quartets do make use of tenors with a softer full-voice quality.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McNeil |editor-first1=W.K. |title=Encyclopedia of American gospel music |date=2005 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |location=Hoboken |isbn=1-135-37700-6}}</ref> Notable examples of barbershop quartets which made use of the full-voiced tenor include The Buffalo Bills, Boston Common and Vocal Spectrum.<ref>{{cite journal | author= <!-- ? --> | date= Winter 2014 | title= Society Hall of Fame, Class of 2014 |url= http://www.issuu.com/theharmonizer/docs/the_harmonizer_-_nov-dec_2014 | journal= The Harmonizer | location= Nashville |publisher= Barbershop Harmony Society |access-date= May 12, 2015 |page= 23}}</ref>
The range of a tenor in barbershop music does not necessarily closely correspond to that of a tenor's range in Classical repertoire, often being more in the range of the classical countertenor range.<ref>{{cite web |title=Barbershop quartet singing |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52893/barbershop-quartet-singing |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=May 12, 2015}}</ref>
'''Lead:''' The lead, often a lower or second tenor, usually sings the main melody.
'''Baritone:''' The baritone often completes the chord with a medium voice, usually slightly below the lead, but sometimes above it. While the baritone's part by itself does not sound as "melodious" as the other three, the baritone plays a fundamental role in the quartet in filling in the missing notes and giving each chord a fuller sound.
'''Bass:''' The bass always sings and harmonizes the lowest notes, often setting the root of the chord for root position chords, or singing the lowest note of the chord for inverted chords.
== In popular culture == * The TV sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' used the cast in a barbershop quartet in the 1952 episode, "Lucy's Show-Biz Swan Song";<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/video/Sm4b81lHW0NDvj8bHM5QV5Q4qNmuvhYe/ |title=I Love Lucy Barbershop Quartet |website=Paramount+ |access-date=March 10, 2026}}</ref> some of the same footage was used for a flashback in their 1956 Christmas show.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-announces-i-love-lucy-christmas-special/ |title=CBS announces 'I Love Lucy Christmas Special' |website=CBS News |date=November 5, 2015 |first=Andrea |last=Park |access-date=March 10, 2026 |quote=The episode will revisit the time Lucy ended up as part of a barbershop quartet... [and] was first broadcast on CBS in December 1956}}</ref> * The Buffalo Bills barbershop quartet (Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Champions of 1950), who starred in the 1957 Meredith Willson Broadway musical ''The Music Man'', were also cast in the 1962 film adaptation starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aicgold.com/1950-the-buffalo-bills/ |title=1950 – The Buffalo Bills |access-date=November 6, 2017 |publisher=The Association of International Champions |website=aicgold.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107055201/https://www.aicgold.com/1950-the-buffalo-bills/ |archive-date=November 7, 2017 }}</ref> * In the 1969 novel "Slaughterhouse-Five", Kurt Vonnegut uses a barbershop quartet as a symbol to link between Billy's worlds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LitCharts |url=https://www.litcharts.com/lit/slaughterhouse-five/symbols/barbershop-quartet |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=LitCharts |language=en}}</ref> * Barbershop music is featured extensively in the 1975 post-apocalyptic film ''A Boy and His Dog''.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/a-boy-and-his-dog/an-appreciation-for-harlan-ellison-and-a-boy-and-h/ |title=An Appreciation for Harlan Ellison and 'A Boy and His Dog' |date=August 13, 2018 |magazine=Paste |first=Oktay Ege |last=Kozak |access-date=June 4, 2020 }}</ref> * ''Cheers'' features a barbershop quartet in the season 4 episode "Dark Imaginings" (1986),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=cheers&episode=s04e19 |title=Cheers s04e19 Episode Script: Dark Imaginings |website=Springfield! Springfield! |access-date=March 11, 2026}} (opening scene)</ref> and in the season 8 episode "The Stork Brings a Crane" (1989).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/video/en3Pv40w_D2xgjkyIi_nEcH0y8Pd9Zn9/ |title=S8 E7: The Stork Brings a Crane |website=Paramount+ |access-date=March 10, 2026}} Quartet is seen to right in still image.</ref> * The ''Forever Plaid'' musical (1989) tells the story of Frankie (lead/second tenor), Jinx (tenor), Sparky (baritone), and Smudge (bass), a barbershop quartet that gets the chance to come back to life after dying in a bus crash.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.morningjournal.com/2019/01/25/workshop-players-adds-performance-to-forever-plaid-production/ |title= Workshop Players adds performance to 'Forever Plaid' production |date=January 25, 2019 |newspaper=The Morning Journal |first=Jordana |last=Joy |access-date=March 12, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mtishows.com/forever-plaid# |title=Forever Plaid |website=Music Theatre International |access-date=March 12, 2026}}</ref> * ''Sesame Street'' has included barbershop quartets of humans and of Muppets who imitate the genre with the songs "When You Cooperate", "Long Time No See", "Small B", "Same Different Barbershop Quartet", and "Counting Floors", among others.
=== 1990s === * A 1993 episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", parodies the journey of The Beatles as though they are each members of a barbershop quartet named "The Be Sharps". The episode stars The Dapper Dans, a Disneyland quartet.<ref>Martin, Jeff (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.</ref> * In the 1997 ''Friends'' episode titled "The One with All the Jealousy", Ross Geller hires a barbershop quartet and sends it to Rachel's office to sing her a love song.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/lists/friends-reunion-guest-appearances-ranked/barbershop-quartet/ |title=Ranking the 'Friends' Reunion Guest Appearances, From Lady Gaga to Tom Selleck: Barbershop Quartet |date=May 27, 2021 |magazine=Variety |access-date=March 13, 2013 |quote=One early (third season) element ... was when Ross hired a barbershop quartet to remind Rachel of ... (him)}}</ref> * ''Frasier'' features a barbershop quartet in the episode, "Frasier's Curse" (1998).<ref>{{cite web |website=TV.com |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/frasier/frasiers-curse-9227/ |title=Frasier – Season 6, Episode 2: Frasier's Curse |publisher=TV.com |date=October 1, 1998 |access-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-date=December 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212031829/http://www.tv.com/shows/frasier/frasiers-curse-9227/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> * In the 1999 ''Family Guy'' episode titled "Brian: Portrait of a Dog", Brian Griffin does an impression of a barbershop quartet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=family-guy&episode=s01e07 |title=Family Guy s01e07 Episode Script: Brian: Portrait of a Dog |website=Springfield! Springfield! |access-date=March 13, 2026 |quote=You could do your impression of a barbershop quartet. [followed by singing]}}</ref> * In nearly every episode of Nick Jr. Channel's television program ''Blue's Clues'' (1996–2006), a barbershop quartet harmonizes the word "Mailtime", after which the show host sings the mail time song as the mail arrives at their house.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/copy_1B5B4F05-5F7A-487F-B9D9-CDF4D7DBE61C |title= Every 'Mail Time' Segment Compilation from Blue's Clues part 1 |date=August 12, 2024 |website=Internet Archive |author=Paramount |access-date=March 13, 2026}}</ref>
=== 2000s === * Episodes of ''Family Guy'' in 2005 and 2006 used songs by a barbershop quartet to inform a hospital patient he has AIDS, and to describe a vasectomy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/04/family-guy-top-10-musical-moments |title=Family Guy: Top 10 Musical Moments |date=May 12, 2012 |website=IGN |first=Ahsan |last=Haque |access-date=March 13, 2026}}</ref> * Episodes of ''Jack's Big Music Show'' frequently feature the "Schwartzman Quartet" of four puppet brothers; in the season 2 episode "Jack's Super Swell Sing-Along" (2007), they sing about being a barbershop quartet. * ''Psych''{{'}}s fourth season's seventh episode, "High Top Fade-Out" (2009), prominently features the murder of a member of Gus's college barbershop quartet. Originally called "Blackapella", the quartet is renamed "Quarterblack" once Shawn (a white man) joins. * The Internet webcomic ''Homestuck'' (2009–2016) features a barbershop cover of the Eddie Morton song, "I'm a Member of the Midnight Crew". The cover was sung by a fan of the series and was put into the comic on the page, "DD: Ascend more casually."<ref>{{cite web |website=homestuck.com |url=https://www.homestuck.com/story/4944 |title=DD: Ascend more casually |publisher=Andrew Hussie}}</ref>
=== 2010s === * The 2010 video game, ''Toy Story 3'', includes a Pict-O-Matic cutscene wherein, if the player dresses four citizens in a barber outfit, it triggers another cutscene in which they become a barbershop quartet. * Several animated shorts of the webcomic ''Cyanide and Happiness'' include a barbershop quartet. In "Barbershop Quartet Hits on Girl From Taxi" (2010), quartet members and the driver lean outside a slow-moving taxi and flirt with a girl by harmonizing, until the taxi crashes into a tree. * In the 2011 ''Victorious'' episode titled "Beggin' on Your Knees", a group of four boys is seen pleading in a barbershop quartet style for their music teacher to allow them to sing as a quartet for a musical performance. * ''The Ben Show'' (2013) has a recurring sketch in which a barbershop quartet sings the titles of porn videos.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vulture.com/2014/08/comedy-centrals-graveyard-of-one-season-sketch-shows.html |title=Comedy Central's Graveyard of One-Season Sketch Shows |date=August 11, 2014 |website=Vulture.com |access-date=December 15, 2021 }}</ref> * The 2013 video game ''BioShock Infinite'' (set in 1912) includes a barbershop quartet anachronistically singing a rendition of The Beach Boys' 1966 song "God Only Knows".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kohler |first=Chris |title=If You Leave Me, I'll Die: 9 Popular Songs That Unlock BioShock Infinite's Mysteries |language=en-US |work=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/12/bioshock-infinite-music/ |access-date=2023-10-19 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> * The 2017 video game ''Cuphead'', known for its 1930s cartoon style, contains two songs sung by barbershop quartet 'Shoptimus Prime: "Don't Deal with the Devil" and "A Quick Break".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/08/27/cuphead-releases-official-sheet-music-and-invites-school-bands-to-learn |title=Cuphead Releases Official Sheet Music And Invites School Bands To Learn |date=August 27, 2019 |website=IGN |first=Alysia |last=Judge |access-date=March 13, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://vgmonline.net/cuphead-original-soundtrack/ |title=Cuphead Original Soundtrack (review) |website=Video Game Music Online (archive) |first=Lee |last=Neikirk |access-date=March 13, 2026}}</ref> * In a 2019 GEICO television commercial, a barbershop quartet sings while playing a four-on-four basketball game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Irk_/geico-a-barbershop-quartet-plays-basketball# |title=GEICO TV Commercial, 'A Barbershop Quartet Plays Basketball' |website=iSpot.tv |year=2019 |access-date=April 1, 2019 }}</ref> The quartet in the ad is #TheAccidentals.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://closeupculture.com/2019/01/13/close-up-an-interview-with-robert-rice/ |title=An Interview With Robert Rice |date=January 13, 2019 |website=Close-Up Culture |first=James |last=Prestridge |access-date=April 22, 2023 }}</ref>
== See also == *Barbershop Chorus *Gospel quartet *List of Barbershop Harmony Society quartet champions *Sweet Adelines International competition
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{Commons category-inline|Barbershop quartets}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Barbershop music Category:A cappella Category:Four-part harmony