Barbershop quartet 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 cappella. It consists of a lead, the vocal part which generally carries the tune/melody; a bass, the part which provides the bass line to the melody; a tenor, the part which harmonizes above the lead; and a baritone, the part that completes the chord with the note not being sung by the lead, bass, or tenor singers. The baritone can sing either above or
British Association of Barbershop Singers British Association of Barbershop Singers The British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) is a British organisation of male barbershop singers. It was formed in 1974 and is affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society. Every year the association runs two contests in parallel for barbershop choruses and quartets as part of the BABS Annual Convention. The British convention is the largest barbershop convention of its kind outside of North America. The chorus competition is currently held over one day, while the quartet competition is spread over the convention weekend (with a preliminary round to eliminate all but the top 16 quartets