Re: Future of Close Harmony singing

Hi Aaron,

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006, Aaron Wolf wrote:

[snip]
> Another angle: in barbershop, the chords are so harmonically tuned
> that when the bass is on the fifth of the chord, it doesn't sound that
> much like a classical second inversion chord, because the expanded
> harmonic sound blends everything together and we can even still
> sense the fundamental missing low root note. Common practice
> music generally thinks in terms of voice-leading that is based
> on perceiving each part as its own line. In well done barbershop,
> the bass isn't meant to be heard as a distinct polyphonic part, but
> rather the entire quartet is heard as almost one sound.

And that is the peculiar pleasure of barbershop to me:
It creates a blended sound that is a very rich timbre,
in which it is exceedingly difficult to unpick the motion
of the parts. Rather than writing the four parts for
maximum distinctiveness, salience or independence, as
in classical polyphony, the singers create these four
parts for maximum blend, union and interdependence.
To find out the parts of such a mix, requires much
listening, and also I think much singing and practice.
To be able to create such parts, almost on the fly, as
one imagines the "woodshedders" do, would require
much more of the same. I'm impressed by both the
speed with which BSers (can I say that? ;-)) must be
able to put such things together, as well as the altruism
of the ensemble that makes a virtuoso performance
possible, as against the disharmony that often arises in
small groups from an overdose of egoism (I've been
involved in such scuffles, and it ain't pretty).

[snip]

> I doubt that you can find an example of a cappella common practice
> music that *both* has lots of 1st inversion chords and also has anything
> similar to the barbershop focus on harmonic blend as opposed to
> polyphonic melodic focus. But if you can, I'd be curious to hear it.

Now *there* is a composition challenge!!! ;-)

Regards,
Yahya

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> And that is the peculiar pleasure of barbershop to me:
> It creates a blended sound that is a very rich timbre,
> in which it is exceedingly difficult to unpick the motion
> of the parts. Rather than writing the four parts for
> maximum distinctiveness, salience or independence, as
> in classical polyphony, the singers create these four
> parts for maximum blend, union and interdependence.
> To find out the parts of such a mix, requires much
> listening, and also I think much singing and practice.
> To be able to create such parts, almost on the fly, as
> one imagines the "woodshedders" do, would require
> much more of the same. I'm impressed by both the
> speed with which BSers (can I say that? ;-)) must be
> able to put such things together, as well as the altruism
> of the ensemble that makes a virtuoso performance
> possible, as against the disharmony that often arises in
> small groups from an overdose of egoism (I've been
> involved in such scuffles, and it ain't pretty).
>
[snip]

> Regards,
> Yahya
>

Yahya,

To go one step further, I have truly found that barbershoppers are
particularly socially oriented and generous and friendly, and I truly
believe it is not coincidence or a "birds of a feather" issue. I believe
that experiencing this expanded sound that only happens by careful
cooperation and selflessness, as well as the feel and literally the
"harmony" of these chords actually encourages people to be more
happy and positive and less egotistical. Not to say there aren't
egotistical barbershoppers, but (in opposition to most collegiate a
cappella) there is very little ego-stroking solo diva style singing.

I have spoken to many barbershoppers who agree with me that
blending with a good quartet is truly a *spiritual* experience. The
focus is on a beauty created external to oneself. It is more about
the connection between people than about any one person. In fact,
many very listenable quartets are made of singers who would be
unimpressive on their own.

It is absolutely the case in barbershop that each part learns their
place and ends up caring more about the group result than their
own voice. A tip I've heard is that when someone comes up and
says "great bass voice!" the baritone should silently say "thank
you" because it is the baritone's job to blend and emphasize the
basses harmonics and make the bass sound good. In the end,
it is the bass structure of the quartet sound that is so good, not
necessarily the bass singer.

And because each singer needs the others to create this sound,
there is level of compassion between singers that I don't tend to see
in other musical ensembles.

At any rate, for the tuning list issues, I do want to even further
emphasize that the PERCEPTUAL implications of barbershop
are truly apples and oranges compared to polyphonic style
common practice music. Even the most talented barbershop
listener does not hear any part besides lead as having any of its
own musical implications outside of the quartet context.

-Aaron