The Old Songs

You probably have heard the expression, “Man, they aced it!” If you “ace” something, it means that you have done something correctly; you have hit the nail on the head.

In order to savor the true joy of singing barbershop music, every quartet member and every chorus member must ace each and every song. But what does that mean? What does it mean to ace a barbershop song? In these next few blog posts, I will attempt to address that question.

Let’s use the words “ACE IT” as our ultimate goal, and begin with the letter A.

The A stands for accuracy. First and foremost, barbershoppers must be accurate in singing their part. Barbershop music does not lend itself well to improvisation or deviation from the arrangement. Unlike jazz, barbershoppers need to rely on each other’s accuracy and consistency. As a baritone, I need to know that the lead melody line will be sung just as we rehearsed it. I need to know that the bass and the tenor, too, will sing the same song the same way.

Accuracy begins with singing the correct notes that are printed on the arrangement. Not most of the right notes or getting close enough, but every single note sung correctly! Nothing less is acceptable. Period.

An arrangement is a carefully crafted flow of musical chords done in the barbershop style. Each chord is musical. Each note in the chord, therefore, is essential to making that chord musical. It is your job as a barbershop singer to learn the correct notes and words, and ONLY the correct notes and words. Anything else is lazy.

Just listen to any of the topnotch quartets. They don’t have to have medals around their necks to prove my point. When you listen to them sing, you will notice how “clean” their sound is. There are a lot of elements that go into the presentation of a song, but at the core is accuracy. Each voice part sings exactly the right note on the right vowel sound, thereby producing that expanded sound we love to hear.

On the other side of the coin, how many times have we heard quartets or choruses use comedy, choreography, or other gimmick to cover not-so-good singing? We may make excuses in our brains to compensate for the inaccurate tonality by saying “They sure were funny!” or “What a fancy display of footwork!” But just think how much more entertaining that group would be if they also sang up a storm with accurate singing?

So when it comes down to it, accuracy is the fundamental element in good singing. If you don’t sing the correct notes and words, all of the dancing, skits, or techniques won’t mean much. If something is not sounding right, look to lack of accuracy as the culprit. Solve that one and you are on your way toward a total musical experience!

Coming up next, the C.

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