The following is gratefully copied from the Barbershop Harmony
Society's web site.
Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized
by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. The melody is consistently sung
by the lead, with the tenor harmonizing above the melody, the bass singing the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone
completing the chord. The melody is not sung by the tenor except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading,
in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishing effect can be created. Occasional brief passages may be sung by fewer
than four voice parts.
Barbershop music features songs with understandable lyrics and easily singable melodies,
whose tones clearly define a tonal center and imply major and minor chords and barbershop (dominant and secondary dominant)
seventh chords that resolve primarily around the circle of fifths, while making frequent use of other resolutions. Barbershop
music also features a balanced and symmetrical form, and a standard meter. The basic song and its harmonization are embellished
by the arranger to provide appropriate support of the song's theme and to close the song effectively.
Barbershop
singers adjust pitches to achieve perfectly tuned chords in just intonation while remaining true to the established tonal
center. Artistic singing in the barbershop style exhibits a fullness or expansion of sound, precise intonation, a high degree
of vocal skill, and a high level of unity and consistency within the ensemble. Ideally, these elements are natural, unmanufactured,
and free from apparent effort.
The presentation of barbershop music uses appropriate musical and visual methods
to convey the theme of the song and provide the audience with an emotionally satisfying and entertaining experience. The musical
and visual delivery is from the heart, believable, and sensitive to the song and its arrangement throughout. The most stylistic
presentation artistically melds together the musical and visual aspects to create and sustain the illusions suggested by the
music.
That was the technical definition from BHS's (previoiusly SPEBSQSA's) Contest & Judging
Handbook.
To give you a brief idea of how barbershop competitions are judged, the following is condensed from 80 page contest
judging handbook.
We have three Judging categories:
Singing
Music
Presentation
These
are all judged separately by three or more Judges. There is an area where all three categories overlap, this is called the
'common ground' and is best described by the diagram below.
Each category is of equal importance and is awarded
a 100-point band per judge per song. In a tie situation only first place is split, this is split by the chorus/quartet with
the highest number of points in singing, if points are still the same then refer to the music category, then presentation.
Common Ground (In The Middle Where The Circles Overlap)
Where there is the overlap in categories it
allows a trained judge to talk about other areas of the performance that bothered him/her for example: If a singing judge
considers that an 'over the top' presentation has affected the quality, of singing, he/she may award a lower score dependant
on how much it affected him/her. This then allows the presentation judge to take the lead when the performer goes through
their evaluation.
The Common Ground consists of:
In Barbershop style?
Ringing, in tune sound?
In
good quality?
Suitable to the performer?
From the heart?
A judge's score sheet will look similar
to this for each category:
Singing
E
D
C-
C
B-
B
A-
A
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Not in tune
Rarely in Tune
Sometimes in tune
Frequently in
tune
Consistently in tune
Offensive vocal quality
Improper vocal quality
Satisfactory
vocal quality
Pleasing vocal quality
Excellent vocal quality
Not a unit
Rarely
a unit
Sometimes a unit
Frequently a unit
Consistent a unit
Insignificant
expansion
Rare expansion
Some expansion
Frequent expansion
Consistent
expansion
No artistry
Rare artistry
Some artistry
Frequent artistry
Consistent artistry
Other things the Singing category is looking/judging for:
