Program

Introduction

Our induction program aims to help new starters become full members of the chorus of the Barbershop Harmony Club of Canberra, the Canberra Chordsmen. This document explains the level of commitment in time, money and effort required to become and remain a full member of the chorus.

Do I need to be able to read music?

Being able to read music is a great help but it is not essential. Learning CDs and tapes are provided with the sheet music. Members are expected use these to learn their parts at home, with weekly group practice being devoted mainly to sectional singing (all members of a particular part singing together) and chorus singing (all parts singing together).

Do I need to have a great voice or to have singing experience?

Of course, a great voice is an asset, but most of our members have ordinary singing voices and just enjoy singing. When you gather ordinary voices into a chorus or quartet, the whole becomes greater that the sum of the parts. No singing experience is required.

However, you would need to be able to memorise all your parts in an entire performance repertoire to be able to perform with the chorus in public. Note accuracy is essential, as well as the ability to hold your own notes when singing simultaneously with other parts.

Is barbershop singing expensive?

There is no charge until you pass a vocal audition (if required) and are offered membership. Quarterly subscriptions then become payable. They are currently $60, which includes membership of the Australian Association of the Men Barbershop Singers (AAMBS). Student rates are half that of ordinary members.

When you become a member of the club, you may need to spend extra money on a uniform to be able to perform with the chorus in public. Currently, the performance uniform is a long-sleeved black shirt, a pair of black trousers, and black shoes.

Vocal range assessment

The first step is for our music team to assess your voice and determine which of the four parts that make up our style of singing will best suit you. The assessment takes only a few minutes while you sing some notes for us to assess your vocal range.

A low, resonant voice would usually indicate the Bass part for you.

A mid- to high-range voice would suggest the Lead (or melody) part.

If you read music or have a natural ear for it, you may be assessed as a Baritone or a Tenor.

From there, you may be introduced to a 'buddy'. The buddy will sing the same part and is essentially the person who will help you become a member of the chorus.

Vocal audition

Once you have been assigned to a voice part, you will need to demonstrate that you are able to learn and sing songs in the barbershop style. This is known as the 'vocal audition' and is essentially an entrance test for club membership. Under special circumstances, such as when you have come to the group already equipped with extensive singing experience and outstanding skills, the requirement to audition may be waived by the music director with support from the music committee.

To prepare for the vocal audition you will be given some standard Barbershop songs to learn from Polecat Song Book with appropriate teach tapes or CDs. Within six weeks (less if you are ready), you will be expected to have learned at least two songs in your voice part and be able to sing them without reference to the sheet music. The vocal audition is done with you recording into a hand held tape recorder while the chorus is singing normally. A member of the music team will assess the tape to determine if you will be suitable for chorus membership.

Before you can be auditioned, you must specifically tell the music director that you are ready to audition. Most people pass the audition on their first attempt. If you do not pass the first time, you may be asked to work on specific areas before a further audition. An outright rejection would be a very rare outcome. You will be given a private written assessment on the outcome of this audition, endorsed by the music director.

Admission to the club

When you have passed the vocal audition, you will be offered membership of the club. If you choose to join, you will be liable for the membership subscription due at that point. This is determined on a pro-rata of the quarterly dues. When it is paid, you will be placed on the club and AAMBS membership registers.

Admission to the chorus

Club membership entitles you to rehearse with the chorus every week. However, to be able to perform with the chorus in public, you must have the required uniform - currently a long-sleeved black shirt, a pair of black trousers, and black shoes - and, in the opinion of the music director, you must be competent in the planned performance repertoire.

Rehearsal nights

Our rehearsal nights are Thursdays at the Woden Senior Citizens Club, corner of Melrose Drive and Corinna tStreet, Woden. Rehearsal nights usually consist of warm-ups, tag singing, repertoire practice, learning new songs, evaluations, quartet singing, club announcements. Coffee, tea and biscuits are provided at the interval for a small charge.

Rehearsals start with a short period of exercises to focus the singer’s mental readiness and to physically prepare him for the musical task ahead. These exercises are usually varied each week and cover many aspects of good vocal production, such as posture, breath management, vowel matching, pitch accuracy, etc.

Voice parts

Tenor : The highest voice part, and usually ranges from B below middle C up to C above middle C. A classic tenor does not always qualify as a barbershop tenor unless the heavy tenor quality can be kept under control. A barbershop tenor is usually required to sing with a light, airy voice.

Lead : Usually sings the melody line and requires a voice range between C below middle C and G above. This is the usual tenor range in an SATB (soprano-alto-tenor-bass) choir. In a barbershop quartet (as opposed to a barbershop chorus), a lead voice is required to be strong and forward-sounding.

Baritone: Although the range is similar to that of the lead, this part sometimes sings above the lead, matching that voice, and at other times below, supporting the bass. This is a challenging part and some musical knowledge is an advantage.

Bass: The lowest voice part with a range of two Fs below middle C to middle C. Sings below the Baritone and requires a deep resonant voice. Regarded as the “engine room” of the voice parts.

Evaluation process

All members of the chorus need to be competent in the current repertoire. To sing at public performances, each member must be evaluated and “passed” by the music director for each song.

The evaluation process is very similar to the vocal audition in that you sing into a hand-held voice recorder whilst the chorus sings around you. No referral to the sheet music is allowed so that all notes and words must be memorised.

Sheet music

Sheet music, teach tapes and CDs are held by the BHCC Librarian. Copies are issued for learning purposes and you should keep an indexed pack of sheet music that can be quickly accessed on rehearsal nights. Remember, all music remains the property of the club. Notations on the score must be made in pencil and the music must be returned to the Librarian if you leave. Do not photocopy sheet music – that is illegal.

Visitor packs

Visitor Packs are available for anyone who visits from Barbershop choruses interstate or from abroad or for anyone who just wants to see and hear what we do. The idea is that the pack contains the current repertoire for them to follow on the night. These packs are handed back to the Librarian on completion of the visit.

Quartets

The club encourages quartet singing, because it reinforces the need to be competent in your part and to sing well enough to develop an ear for tuning, balance and matching. Quartets may be “official”, in that they are recognised by the club and registered with AAMBS, or they may be informal. In either case, they are not permitted to perform in public without the approval of the music director. The music team is available to help in the coaching of quartets.

Note that if any quartet is performing or even just rehearsing, it is considered bad manners to interrupt or add your own voice to the singing unless requested to do so. This is called “fifth wheeling”.

For the technically minded

Barbershop arrangements are sung as series of chords and it is rare for a solo to last for more than one measure. Barbershop chords are constructed by stacking thirds. A third is the musical interval between DOH and ME in the familiar DOH/RAY/ME/FAH etc scale. The intervals 1-3-5 (DOH-ME-SOH) produce a Major chord. Most Barbershop songs end with a major chord.

The most important chord, however is the 1-3-5-flatted7 or Dominant 7^th which characterizes the Barbershop sound. When you hear this chord, you expect a major chord to follow it to resolve the sequence, though occasionally a minor chord will do the job nicely. The Dominant 7^th, often referred to as the Barbershop 7^th is used quite liberally in good arrangements. A third of the chords in songs for barbershop competition must be Barbershop 7^ths.

Tuning up

Barbershop is always sung unaccompanied or “a capella”. In practice, we usually sing a tune-up chord before the start of each song. This tune-up chord is usually the major chord in the key in which the music is written. First, the pitch is blown on a pitch pipe to give the DOH (root) of the scale. Everyone sings the same note (usually an Ooh sound). The Lead Section stays on that note while the other parts then “split”: the Bass section sings the same note but down an octave, the Baritone sings the 5^th interval of the scale above the Bass, and the Tenor sings the 3^rd above the Lead. This produces the major chord structure of “root-third-fifth”, with Leads and Basses doubling on the root.

Notes sung by each part in the tune-up are not necessarily that part’s first note of the song. The reason we tune is to give a sense of pitch, and establish the “tonal centre”, the major chord being the easiest to tune to whereas the first chord in the song is often difficult to sing in isolation.

Conclusion

The smiling faces you will see around you at practice and, often, in performance, are evidence that singing great harmonies well is a thoroughly pleasurable experience. We welcome you to share that pleasure and, more often than not, give it to those for whom we perform.