County Connection Harmony Chorus
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What is Barbershop
Barbershop is unaccompanied four part harmony singing originating in the southern United States.During the
'Gay 90's' of the 19th century, and the early part of the 20th century,
the barber's shop was the place to 'hang out'. Here dapper young
fellows
continued the tradition of singing, though this time without
instruments. Their singing spilled out onto the streets where the style
became known as 'Lamppost' or 'Kerbstone' Harmony. Soon no minstrel,
vaudeville or music hall show was complete without a barbershop quartet
as one of its acts.
Today Barbershop lends itself to many genres of music, using
traditional chord patterns, inversions and 'packaging' (ie.
introduction, verse, chorus and tag).
As the popularity of barbershop has grown it is no longer
restricted to male quartets, but the barbershop harmony four voice
parts are still called by their traditional names:
lead (melody line)
bariton(harmonise above or below the melody line)
bass (low harmony)
We are affiliated to Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performances.
This independent, non-profit music education association is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women. The international membership of nearly 30,000 women, both choruses and quartets sing four-part a cappella harmony in English.
Sweet Adelines International was founded in 1945 by Edna Mae Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma when she invited a group of women into her home to who were all interested in singing barbershop harmony. From that meeting grew the nucleus of what became Sweet Adelines International.
Within four years, the organization had grown to 1,500 members singing in 35 chapters and 60 quartets in 14 different states. They adopted bylaws, elected national officers and created a system for adjudicating national annual competitions to select the best women's barbershop quartet.