Barbershop music is all about harmony in the form of unaccompanied vocal music sung in four parts.

The lead takes the melody with the tenor harmonising above the melody and the bass harmonising below the melody while the baritone adds embellishments to the chord.

Barbershop songs come from a wide range of genres. Almost any melodic tune can be given the barbershop treatment as can be seen from the wide range of styles in the barbershop repertoire – these vary from old style music hall tunes to more recent pop and folk melodies.

This makes barbershop music very accessible as a listening experience, however perfecting the sound does require a serious amount of practice!

This is because, while the song may be familiar, the added ingredient for barbershop lies in the musical arrangement.

The arranger builds the chords using the four voices to achieve perfectly tuned chords and this – when performed to perfection!- is what gives barbershop music it’s appeal.