Barbershop music encompass both men's and women's singing in the barbershop style – in quartets and choruses. Sweet Adelines International and Harmony, Inc. are two women's barbershop singing organizations that operate globally and in North America, respectively. Other women's organizations include the Ladies Association of Barbershop Singers (LABBS) in the United Kingdom, the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers (SABS) in Spain, and the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers (IABS) in Ireland. A barbershop quartet is an ensemble of four people who sing a cappella in the exacting barbershop music genre. In North America most male barbershop quartet singers belong to the Barbershop
Barbershop music devoutly wished by those of us who love Barbershop harmony. If you ask us to explain why we love it so, we are hard put to answer; that's where our faith takes over." Averill notes too the use of the language of addiction, "there's this great big chord that gets people hooked." An early manual was entitled "A Handbook for Adeline Addicts". He notes too that "barbershoppers almost never speak of 'singing' a chord, but almost always draw on a discourse of physical work and exertion; thus, they 'hit', 'chop', 'ring', 'crack', 'swipe', and 'bust.' Vocal harmony is interpreted as