New barbershop term
Posted by editor on Apr 14 2006 | Category: Craft
A new barbershop music term is catching on like wildfire. Soon this new term will pop up in conversations, and will join the ranks of terms like tag, swipe, and barbershop 7th. The origins of this new term might eventually be forgotten, but its meaning will endure. The new term: naked notes.
[Well all right, I made it up. But it might catch on. Who knows?]
What do I mean by naked notes and what is the musical significance?
I use the term naked notes to mean any series of notes that are sung by one voice alone, with no other part joining in. For example, if the lead sings in the beginning of a song: “Oh, When The Saints . . .” before the bass, baritone, and tenor joins in with their part, then the lead is singing naked notes. In other words, the lead is out there, naked to the world in a musical manner of speaking, with those first four notes of this song.
Naked notes can also refer to a spot in a song where the other three parts move to a neutral vowel sound, like “oo”, while the fourth part continues to sing the lyric. Such is the case in the arrangement of “I Believe” that I direct with my chorus. Toward the end of the song at the apex, the four parts sing together: “Then I know why . . .” At that point, the tenor, baritone, and bass immediately go to an “oo” vowel, while the lead continues to sing: “. . . I Believe!”
What if you have naked notes in your arrangement? And what should it matter? I have discovered that the average barbershop singer, in quartet or chorus, can be a bit timid when singing by themselves, especially at the beginning of a song. To overcome this tendency and to start the song off right, naked notes need to be sung with confidence and energy. The amount of energy is mandated by the lyric and mood of the song. Confidence is an internal thing. In the example above, if the lead does not sing the last two words “I Believe!” with confidence and energy, the chords fall apart.
So the next time that you have series of notes, a phrase, or even an entire line of music to sing by yourself without the benefit of being clothed by the other three parts, remember: you are singing naked notes! Now you know what to do about them.
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