Barbershop quartet in the range of the classical countertenor range. Lead (often a lower tenor) usually sings the main melody. Baritone often completes the chord with a medium voice, usually slightly below (sometimes above) the lead. Bass always sings and harmonizes the lowest notes, often setting the root of the chord for root position chords, or singing the lowest note of the chord for inverted chords. Barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop genre of singing, which uses four-part harmony without accompaniment by any instruments such as piano, a style called a
Barbershop arranging Barbershop arranging Barbershop arranging is the art of creating arrangements of barbershop music. The Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) and Sweet Adelines International (SAI) have prescribed rules that dictate what is an acceptable arrangement, particularly with regard to singing in competition. This makes barbershop arranging a specialist form of arranging, rarely tackled by those outside Barbershop; likewise, barbershop arrangers tend to be known only for their barbershop arrangements rather than for their work in any other musical form. The following 2 paragraphs from the BHS indicate technical requirements of a barbershop arrangement for use in a BHS contest: “Barbershop harmony is