ACC News

Barbershop Harmonies are as old as, well... barbershops! The predictable and intricate chords surrounding a simple melody is as common today as it was 75 years ago. Today's singers of this wonderful American art form of acapella singing have expanded the parameters so that it is being sung not just by quartets in barbershops (i.e. living rooms, high schools, churches, street corners) but by large groups of men and woman all over the world and in some of the finest auditoriums. It remains gender separate but equal, but adapts to quartets, double quartets, small choruses and large choruses. So what has made this simple (but not easy) genre of music so durable and adaptable?
Barbershop music is unique because if sung correctly it can produce overtones which you can hear and sometimes feel while singing. Singing the same vowel tones with accuracy and a resonated delivery can make the chord lock and ring? and produces an overtone that can be heard. (The most common overtone is the octave of the root of the chord.) These overtones give it a synergy that increases the sound and excites both the audience and singer. The ring or buzz can often be felt in the body of the singer! This is why we teach not only accurate singing, but American vowel pronunciation. Because our singers have varying backgrounds in vowel pronunciations, we practice the correct barbershop vowels at every rehearsal. That is one of the reasons you will always understand our words when we sing.
When the Sound of New England Chorus began 17 years ago our goal was to sing barbershop with passion and joy and also to educate members and prospective members in all of the components of good singing. We didn't need members who could read music (although that doesn't hurt!) but members who would develop an ear for the harmonies and a desire to learn to sing them properly. Our parent organization, Sweet Adelines International, is a worldwide organization of women singing barbershop and they have developed many educational materials, classes, coaches, arrangements and training programs that we can draw on to keep improving our craft. Our Chorus Director, Marion Devokaitas, has been learning right along with the members, but since she was already a trained teacher with some singing experience when we began, she was able to adapt to and soak up all of the information she needed to perfect her directing skills and teach the chorus what they needed to know at every rehearsal.
So, let's consider the new member coming into the chorus. She has already proven to the audition team that she can memorize notes and words accurately and has decided, together with the Director what part she should be singing. There are four to choose from; The Lead Voice who sings the melody( it's sung in mid-range similar to an alto), The Tenor who sings harmony above the melody (soprano range), the Bass who sings the low harmony (down to about an D or E below middle C) and the baritone who sings mostly in the mid range both above and below the Lead. Notice I mentioned memorizing all notes and words? That's right, because we don't just stand on the risers and hold up our song books. We learn our parts at home from recorded part tapes? and sing them from memory at rehearsal. This becomes easier and easier as you get used to the routine AND it frees up your body to do the choreography and to focus on the Director and sometimes the audience! We dance while we sing! Now we only have a few inches of riser to work with so we aren't exactly like a Broadway musical, but we are fun to watch and let me tell you, it's a lot more fun to move while you are singing!
One of the highlights of the year is to go to a competition. There are 32 Regional Competitions held all over the world so that most choruses can attend one, and they must sing two songs that are judged by four International judges. SONE is lucky to have their Regional contest in the Springfield, Ma Symphony Hall so it requires little traveling to attend each spring. Now, if you win the Regional Competition you are then eligible to compete in an International Competition. Our chorus has won Regional several times and, lately, competed in International contests held in Honolulu in 2008 and Seattle in 2010. Preparing for these contests are fun, exciting, tiring, and challenging but when we received the 14th placement out of 33 contestants at the competition in Seattle last fall, it was an incredibly exciting experience. So now we have fun telling people we are this year, the 14th best chorus out of 500+ choruses in our organization! But as we're fond of saying, we don't just Harmonize the Wall?, referring to our rehearsal hall, we take our music to community gatherings, benefit shows, tribute occasions, hospitals, city halls and shopping malls! Our website listed below, has all of our upcoming performances and dates, and contact information for individuals and groups. Oh, yes, and a few chords in the barbershop style to listen to and costumes to check out!
Finally, you might like to know that our chorus has women of all ages (20+ to 80+), all sizes, all colors, all races and religions. We become good friends, sometimes even life-long friends as we sing and work together. We have seen wall-flowers turn in to stage divas, and we've seen women who have never worn a costume or makeup shock their husbands or boyfriends with their new and fantastic stage presence. We are given the freedom to grow vocally and to broaden our outlook on just what amateurs can do. We sing songs that were written in the '20s and '30s and songs you just heard on American Idol?! And it pleases us no end when our audience comment to us after the show Wow! I never knew that that was barbershop!? We welcome you to visit us at our rehearsal hall on any Tuesday night in Bloomfield, Ct (check our website for directions: www.soundofnewendgland.com) where we will be happy to sing for you and we encourage you to join us on the risers for a trial run. You'll go away singing our latest song as you drive home, guaranteed!