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Barbershop

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Barbershop is singing for four men without instruments: the lead sings the melody, the tenor sings above it, and the baritone and the bass fill out the chord. Around 1900 it was sung in this way above all by Black Americans, in barbershops, on the street and in church, and later jazz musicians also learned harmony from it. The hallmark is the barbershop chord, a seventh chord that sounds so pure it seems to ring. In 1904 the Haydn Quartet had a big hit with it with Sweet Adeline.

Listening

Listening tip. In Sweet Adeline, hear how four voices together form a single chord and how the long final notes linger while the other voices move around the melody.

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Genres