Like most performing artists, Sweet Adelines have a language all their own. We’ve listed some barbershop definitions to help you become familiar with our “lingo.”
What follows is a quick snapshot of terms you may come across on the website, and you will almost certainly hear many of these concepts or phrases bounced around during rehearsal. In the meantime, consider this link as a crash course for the casual observer. https://sweetadelines.com/about/barbershop-101
A cappella: Vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.
Afterglow: A party following a barbershop performance where members and guests get together to socialize and sing.
Arrangement: Songs arranged in the barbershop style.
Arranger: An artist familiar with barbershop harmony who tailors the composer’s work to fit the barbershop style.
Ballad: Tender, sweet, reminiscent song.
Baritone: The 4th note in the chord which creates the barbershop sound. The baritone is one of the middle voice parts and has essentially the same range as the lead part. Baritones sing above and below the lead notes, depending on location of the melody line. Baritones must be flexible and very accurate. This part is written in the bass clef, an octave lower than it is meant to be sung.
Bass: In barbershop music, the bass is the strong harmony part of the bottom of the chord. The bass must sing with as much authority as the lead and provides a firm foundation for the coneshaped sound. Usually, the bass note is the root or the fifth of the chord. Ideally, the bass and lead work as a team, establishing a strong and accurate relationship. This part is written in the bass clef, an octave lower than it is meant to be sung.
Bubbling: An exercise used to help energize the voice, warm-up or cool-down the voice, stretch and extend your vocal range, smooth out register transitions, and restore a tired or sick voice. This is an important part of our vocal warmups in MNC. Its purpose is to allow for air to flow more freely when we are singing words.
Chest Voice: The lower range of voice (low register).
Chord: A chord consists of at least 3 tones that form a triad.
Chorus Mentor: New members may be paired with a Chorus Mentor to build a relationship with a chorus veteran who will encourage, guide and deliver information. The Chorus Mentor may remain a resource for the new members’ first full year.
Chorus Position: The proper posture for singing. Feet are about shoulder-width apart, knees are flexed, bottom is tucked under, shoulders are relaxed, sternum is lifted, chin is level to the floor, and hands are placed on side seams and raised and slightly lifted.
Coaching: A person outside our chorus who is brought in to help improve our performance either vocally or visually.
Competition: Annual regional contest held in the spring between choruses and between quartets in the Region. It is judged by a panel of judges certified by our International organization in the categories of Sound, Expression, Music and Showmanship.
Composer: Artist who creates a song.
Cone/coning: The visual picture of how the four parts are balanced in a barbershop chord; the art of adjusting to maintain the proper balance of a barbershop chord. Harmonic balance in barbershop is stacked in a cone shape, not a cylindrical shape, as with traditional choral music. Barbershop harmony has a different balance of voices than traditional harmony. The higher the voice part, the less intensity and weight the singer applies to her vocal output, creating a harmonic “cone structure” rather than a cylindrical shape.
Convention: An assembly of persons for a common purpose. In Sweet Adelines, we have Regional Conventions, which are held once a year between March & May. We also have an International Convention held in the fall every year. The conventions are in conjunction with our Regional & International Competitions.
Crescendo: A slow increase in volume.
Decrescendo: A gradual decrease in volume.
Diphthong: Two vowel sounds sung on one note, with the greatest stress on the first vowel (NO=oh-oo; MY=mah-ee; EYES=ah-eez). It is important that the chorus turns its diphthongs at the same time in order to stay in sync or create a unison sound.
Director: The person who supervises our music, rehearsals, and performances. The musical leader of a chorus.
Down the Tiles: Standing straight on the risers looking at the audience. This means we are not facing the Director…but standing straight on the risers looking at the audience & keep the director in your peripheral vision. The term “Mirror” is also used as an alternate.
Dual Member: A member who belongs to two or more Sweet Adeline choruses.
Dynamic Contrast: Planned volume changes to enhance performance of song.
Edge: The beginning of the very first measure of a song.
Forward Motion: Sense of lyrical flow, with vocal line moving toward something in anticipation, especially in ballads.
Head Voice: The upper range of voice (upper register).
Hard Palate: Firm part of the roof of the mouth.
Inside Smile: Lifting of the soft palate.
International Headquarters: Corporate offices of Sweet Adelines International are located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Intro: The beginning of a song. Most barbershop arrangements have an intro before the verse.
Lead: The melody is generally carried in the lead part. This voice part is generally best suited to strong first altos and second sopranos. The lead must sing with authority, clarity, and with consistent quality throughout her range.
Learning Tracks: A tool we use to help us learn new music. Our learning tracks can be found on our website.
Lethargian: Theatre term meaning moving and acting as if in slow motion.
Lift: Raising the facial mask, eyebrows, soft palate, your sternum, and your ribcage. It can also mean to continue supporting your sound at the ends of phrases. Singing with a lifted countenance is singing with your upper face lifted and engaged.
Lock and Ring: The ultimate barbershop sound. To achieve it requires excellence in all phases of singing – a good musical arrangement, good vocal technique, well balanced and blended voices and accuracy of intonation. In combination, these qualities can create an audible overtone that sends a chill up the spine of singers and listeners alike.
Matched Vowels: Pronouncing A, E, I, O, U in the same manner.
Mid-Size Chorus: A Sweet Adeline chorus made up of 31-60 singers.
Off the Paper: Being able to sing your part without referring to the music.
Onion Skin: A mental image of the levels of tuning for the notes in a chord (i.e., singing a little higher or lower.)
Overtone: Unsung tone heard above the highest tone of a properly balanced and matched chord. It is an audible note that is higher than, and different from, the four pitches being sung by a chorus or quartet. See the definition of “Ringing Chord” below.
Pick-up: To begin singing at a particular phrase or section of a song.
Pitch Pipe: A devise used to indicate either the pitch of a song or the starting note.
Progression: Sequence of chords.
PVI: Means Personal Vocal Instruction. The purpose of a PVI is to build and reinforce vocal skills, as well as review music or work through any rough spots a member may be experiencing with a particular song in the repertoire.
Quartet: Four people singing together, one of each voice part.
Queens of Harmony: International winners of the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Competitions.
Region: GOC is part of Region 13. Sweet Adelines worldwide is organized into regions.
Ring: The brilliant, bright “forward” sound in the voice that must be present to generate an overtone. The defining characteristic of the barbershop style is the ringing chord, one in which certain overtones of the four voices reinforce each other, sometimes so strongly that the overtone is perceived by the listener as a distinct tone, even though none of the voices are singing that tone.
Ringing a Chord: When all four parts sing their notes with proper tuning and identical vowel sounds, a “ring” or 5th note “overtone” will be produced.
Sectionals: Small workshops/rehearsals for each voice section.
Section Leader: Section leads (not be confused with the “lead” voice part) are members of the music team that oversee the education and training of each voice part.
Showmanship: This is the performance part of our singing – the WOW factor, the visual movement we put to our songs.
Small chorus: A Sweet Adeline chorus made up of 15-30 singers.
Sweet Adelines: A worldwide organization of singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performance.
Swipe: Additional notes added between one note and the next note, sliding up or down the scale.
Synchronization: The art of singing together with uniform attacks, releases, and breathing.
Tag: The end of a song, usually an additional line or two that has been added as a finishing touch to any type of song. It is the climax or ending of a barbershop arrangement. The phrase “to tag” is also used to describe singing a short phrase of a song with all voice parts present.
Tenor: The highest voice part in barbershop singing; it is a harmony part above the melody. Tenors must sing lightly and clearly without covering the melody sung by the lead part.
Tonal Center: The key of a song represents the tonal center.
Tone: The sound you produce.
Uptune: Song with a definite, fast rhythm.
Vibrato: Excessive wavering of pitch over and under the tone.
Woodshedding: Singing proper barbershop chords by ear. No written notes used.
Choreography and Visual Communication Terms
Choreography (choreo): Unified movement of the chorus to enhance the performance of the song.
Chorus Position: Downstage foot slightly in front of the other foot, facing the director.
Jazz Hands: Hands stiff, fingers spread.
Release/Unhook: Usually at the end of a song on director’s cue.
Restate: Reestablishing a strong, commanding posture.
Ripple: Same principle as a wave. Choreographed move that starts at one side of the chorus and travels to the other side.
Split Move: half the Chorus moves in one direction, the other half in the opposite direction.
Stage left: The left side of the chorus when you are standing on the risers.
Stage right: The right side of the chorus when you are standing on the risers.
Toe the Risers: Standing forward with toes at the front edge of the riser.