Barbershop Connections is Copyright and Database right © 2024 N. & C. Stevens | Privacy Policy
Barbershop Connections is on Facebook. I will post updates there.
11/11/2024 - Jake Bavarsky has been added to the Arranger Page.
09/22/2024 - Mark Stevens has been added to the Arranger Page.
11/11/2024 - Sheet Music Plus links and Sheet Music Direct links are continually being added to arrangements where applicable.
I have been a barbershopper for over 20 years and I am thrilled to share my website with you. My hope is that it will become a great free resource for all Barbershoppers.
For those new to barbershop music, barbershop is a style of unaccompanied (a cappella) vocal music characterized by 4-part harmony.
The four parts consist of a Lead (who sings the melody), a Bass (who sings the low notes), a Tenor (who sings the high notes) and a Baritone (who sings the notes in between that complete the 4 part chord). When all 4 parts are sung in perfect balance and vowels are matched a "ringing" or overtone sound is produced.
Most people associate barbershop with men's barbershop quartets, however, barbershop music can be sung by anyone. It can be sung in a quartet (four singers) or by larger groups (choruses) where each part is sung by many singers.
I started with a current list of arrangers, organizations and learning track resources. I then added a list of choruses from across the different barbershop organizations. Now I am adding arrangements.
Finding the right arrangement is one of the hardest things to do in barbershop. My site has pulled together arrangements from the SAI and BHS catalogs and also included other arrangements.
You can browse a list of songs and find arrangements, list arrangements by arranger or select a type of arrangement. The goal is to make searching for an arrangement easier.
Any song can be sung in the barbershop style, however, in order to do that, the song needs to be "arranged" into the barbershop 4-part harmony style. Barbershop arrangers are the talented people who can take a song and rearrange the chords to make it sound and fit the barbershop style.
Many singers learn songs by listening to Learning Tracks. Each learning track provides a note and word correct rendition of the song for each individual part (bass, baritone, lead or tenor). The other 3 parts are usually sung quietly in the background. This is referred to as a part dominant track. An additional learning track is provided with all 4 parts at equal volume so that you can hear how your part fits into the song. Using learning tracks generally speeds up the process of learning a song and gives the singer an accurate version to sing-along with during the learning process. Please note that although learning tracks are a great learning aid, singers must also purchase legal copies of music and make sure they have the rights to use that music.
Each barbershop organization provides a list of choruses belonging to their organization. My site provides a list of choruses from across all the different organizations. Each chorus website, contact information, rehearsal time and place, organization and director are listed where possible. If you are looking for a chorus, this is the place to find it!
The list of choruses is lengthy so there is a Search Selection feature to help you refine your results. You can search by State/Province, Region/Area/District, Organization, Country, and by either Men's or Women's choruses.
Barbershop is popular around the world and many countries have their own barbershop organizations, many of which preserve the art form and promote traditional barbershop singing.
All of the email addresses and websites have been verified so hopefully there will be no broken links! This is a work in progress so I will be adding more content to the website frequently, and gradually expanding the categories on the site.
If you want anything added, find anything is incorrect or have suggestions, please use the Contact Us page to let me know so that I can get the site updated.
I hope you will find the site useful and that you will share it with other Barbershoppers.
In Harmony
Nicola Stevens
Member of Harmony, Inc.