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GUEST BLOG: “Why Barbershop Along with High School Chorus?” by Carl Taylor

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WHY BARBERSHOP ALONG WITH HIGH SCHOOL CHORUS? by Carl Taylor
 
In 1989, when a man I had never met called me and asked me to do some singing with him and two other fellows, I really had no idea what was ahead. In a very short time I found myself memorizing several songs, performing on a SWEET ADELINE show and competing in a district contest. I was hooked on the sound of close harmony and the excitement of competition. I became a barbershopper.
 
In the ensuing years, I have involved many of my students in barbershopping; both guys and gals. Along the way, I have encountered the reluctance of colleagues who were put off by the “sterotype” that still haunts our hobby; the four guys leaning against a signpost, perhaps a bit tipsy, singing tags and doing it poorly. I can assure you that is not what barbershopping is today.
 
The benefits one can derive from the barbershop style are several. First, we get guys to sing. That in itself is a victory of some degree. Second, the ear training singers receive from the tight chords and constant circle-of-fifths progressions is invaluable in developing their personal musicality. Third, the necessity of carrying ones part alone is demanding and helps the singer develop a leadership style that carries over to their other efforts, including my SATB choir. I could add the social aspect of meeting new friends and getting along with others, the instant attraction to the opposite sex (just strike up a chord and watch the girls come running), and the opportunity to participate in the larger society of singers as benefits. But weaving through all this is simply singing. Singers are happiest when we are singing. And our high school students deserve all the opportunities we can give them.
 
Contact the Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines, or Harmony, Inc. and see what might be helpful and attractive to your young singers.
 
(Photo Credit: Lorin May – Barbershop Harmony Society)
 
[Originally posted March 26, 2013]

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  1. Barbershop can also be an introduction to another important American genre: Bluegrass and folk harmony singing.  This is not as organized as Barbershop, but there are summer festivals, “Friends of…” groups, and monthly jams throughout the country.  Newcomers of any ability are welcome–whether pickers, singers or “only” listeners–and it is not necessary to play an instrument. 

  2. I remember this when it first came through. Thanks for resurrecting it. It is very timely.
     
    I just got back from Harmony University (HU) where I was on the faculty and Dean of the Directors College. HU the a week-long international barbershop school held every summer at Belmont University in Nashville, TN sponsored by the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). We have programs not only for directors, but also for general barbershop education, quarteting and chorus coaching, leadership, as well as a Performing Arts College for high school and college students. We draw male and female participants from all over the world. This year, we had singers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.The students are from all walks of life–not just music–and you frequently can’t tell them apart because everyone is there to sing and learn. We also have members from Sweet Adelines and Harmony Inc. come to the school.
     
    Because ChoralNet serves many music teachers of all kinds from all over, I want to let people know that through our Harmony Foundation, we give tuition scholarships to teachers who are first-time attendees at HU. This year we hosted over 30 first-time music teachers in a field of 120 total returning teachers. In my two years as an HU student in the 80s and my 17 years on the faculty, no teacher has been disappointed and most are blown away. They say they learn things there that are timely, practical, life changing. Many on the faculty have terminal, if not multiple degrees in music. BTW, we also offer continuing education credits.
     
    This is not your grandfather’s barbershop. You will not believe the experience you will have. Go to http://www.barbershop.org/harmony-university/ for a look at this year’s school. Next year’s HU will be July 24 through July 31, 2016. Information will be on the web soon. Contact Donny Rose, Dean of HU, through the BHS website.
     
    Dr. Don R. Campbell
    Professor, Southern Wesleyan University
    President, South Carolina ACDA

  3. To see where the barbershop is today, I invite everyone to first look at “Seize the Day” as done by the Broadway cast::
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Sz7_7T50Q   
    Then take a look at the same song as done by tyhe Barbershop Harmony Society’s 2015 International Chorus Champion, Westminister Chorus:
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EZ3k10Hpp4
    Then, certainly holding their own, check out the Poway High School Choir perform it:
     
    For more information on how the Barbershop Harmony Society’s youth programs can help all of us keep America singing, and to receive a free muisic packet, please click on: http://www.barbershop.org/education/music-educators-guide-to-barbershop-harmony/
     
     
     

  4. I started teaching at a high school with 20 girls and 5 boys in my choir, none of the boys read and only 2 matched pitch.  I started sending them to a Harmony Explosion camp.  The first year only a couple of boys went.  They came back SO excited, the second year we sent 4, then 6 and this year I hope to send as many as will go.  For the past two years I have had 16-17 guys in my high school choir.  They have fun at camp, learn a lot, get some great vocal examples and training and do develop a love of singing that will carry them through their lives.  I highly recommend these camps and there usually are scholarships to help out kids who can’t afford it.
     

  5. A great way to introduce young men to barbershop is through the Harmony Explosion summer camps. There are around 15 of them held throughout the USA every summer. Information is available on http://www.barbershop.org and look for an ad in the June issue of ACDA’s Choral Journal (which hits mailboxes in the middle of May) .

  6. Brilliant.  I couldn’t agree more with both Carl and Ron.  Barbershop sound is unique and fun.  It is a different learning style and the fun part is tremendous.  Keep up the great work. 
    Kitty

  7. As a proud member of Sweet Adelines International, a voice teacher and a classical musician, I believe another added benefit of barbershop in our schools is that it connects our students with an organization that will provide them with singing opportunities in the future.  Too many of our strong high school singers graduate and never sing again – exposure to barbershop and a relationship with SAI, BHS or HI developed early can encourage our students to continue performing long after they have completed school and started careers of their own.  There is no better joy than seeing your students continue making music as adults and knowing that you played a small part in making that happen.
     
    Jennifer Newman

  8. My two bits – while at an officers’ training course (six-month long Military Intelligence Officers Advanced Course at Fort Huachuca, AZ) we were asked to provide a barbershop quartet for the ladies’ picnic (hosted by the commanding general’s wife) based on a “Gay 90s” theme.  The ladies had done all sorts of research and had come up with clothing that fit the period (this is not, I realize, entirely politically correct, but it WAS 1979, after all).  Our class leader’s wife had asked him to bring this group together.  Well, ol’ Bert was deaf in one ear and couldn’t hear out of the other – but he was a fabulously solid bass, and once he had the pitch, you couldn’t move him off it with an 18-wheeler!  So we got ourselves together and put up a little routine of three songs, got straw boaters, all had vests which pretty well matched – different colors, same pattern – and the usual sort of stuff (I must admit, we looked fair-to-middling good!) one tends to associate with “classic” barbershop quartets, and went and did it.  Well, doncha know, it was (as the French say) “un succès fou!”  If we’d had a half-dozen more songs, we could’ve done them all – and they still would’ve wanted more.
     
    The learning curve here?  First, it was fun.  Second, the ladies had fun.  Third, it’s the best “turn-on” of a polite and legal nature a guy can be involved in.  (Just go to your local high school and, if the choral program has an all-guy chorus or two, small or big, watch – no, listen to! – the ladies’ reactions – why this isn’t used as a recruiting tool just baffles me….!!!!)  Although I haven’t done anything related to that since (most of my concentration has been in church music, with some community theater in the “middle period”), I cannot but echo Carl’s viewpoint.  And for those “colleagues” who won’t deal with reality, as opposed to a stereotype, stuff ’em – because they belong in a museum!
     
    Chantez bien!
     
    Ron

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