Whatever Happened to Harmony Accuracy?

By Joni Bescos, Rich-Tone Chorus, Region 25

Once upon a time in the land of Sweet Adelines (and barbershopping, too), there were five judging categories. One of those categories was named “Harmony and Tone Accuracy.” One judge had only to evaluate the accuracy of the notes sung by the competitor. In fact, the scoresheet included a box full of dots, and the judge was instructed to mark off 1-3 of these dots for each error detected, depending on degree.

Back in those days (the 1950s and early 1960s) our performers generally sang accurately. They didn’t necessarily sing well, but it was accurate! Most of our pioneer leaders lacked training in vocal pedagogy, so vocal skills were generally ignored. Classically trained musicians turned a deaf ear at the mere mention of barbershop harmony because legend had it that we purposely taught our members to sing incorrectly in order to achieve that flat, white, sound produced without a trace of vibrato … but it was generally accurate.

Once upon a time the only recording devices were cumbersome and not easily portable. No iPods, no MP3 devices, no CDs, not even cassette tape recorders. To complicate our lives, we also had no Xerox machines. Like the monks of old, we were limited to copying by hand, one note at a time!

To overcome these hardships we were forced to use our ears. We had to listen and learn our part as it was sung to us. We also listened to the other three parts as they were taught, and somehow, by osmosis, we developed the ability to hear how our part fit into the chord. And it was good! Chords were generally very accurate, with that elusive lock and ring characteristic of the barbershop style.

Today most of us learn our part by downloading it from the chorus’ Web site, or by playing the part tape prepared for us either by our chorus’ musical leadership or by one of the many individuals who produce learning tapes. Most of us do this while driving to work or to rehearsal. Sometimes those tapes or CDs only contain our part; sometimes they include our part predominant, then our part missing so we can sing along and hear how it fits into the chord.
Since the early days we’ve taken the barbershop art form to new heights and have gained the respect of musicians outside our organizations. We’ve learned to sing with good vocal skills. We’ve learned to sing with artistry, moving beyond the “paint-by-number” interpretive plans. We’ve even learned to move while we sing, and to convey the joy of singing with facial animation. But somewhere along the way we forgot that we sing chords four-part harmony — not just part lines.

In two coaching experiences this year I received what I consider the greatest compliment I could be given — I was compared to Lyle Pilcher. More than half of those reading this article will say “who?” Lyle Pilcher was one of the pioneers of this art form. He was not a formally trained musician, but he had a rare sense of musical artistry and an uncanny ear. He instinctively knew the right fixes to make each chord lock and ring. He coached many of our champion quartets, including the Nota-Belles, the Rarities, the 4th Edition, the Tiffanys, and the Sounds of Music, and many of the Barbershop Harmony Society champions.

All of our musical leaders agree that we learn from each other. I credit Nancy Bergman and Renee Craig for helping me to master the art of arranging in the barbershop style. But arrangements are only ink and paper until a performer brings them to life, and I learned much of what I know about that process from exposure to Lyle Pilcher.

But I digress. The comparison to Lyle referred to my talking about the chords we sing, and what it takes to make them come alive. We sing four-part harmony in the barbershop style. Loosely translated that means four notes –one for each voice part– with the melody mostly in the lead, occasionally in the bass (or baritone), and rarely in the tenor. It means the lowest voice part, almost always the bass, usually has one of the strong components of each chord — the root (do) or the fifth (sol), and no chord tone is ever eliminated, even if it means the baritone has to do vocal gymnastics. In textbook harmony it’s OK to have a four-part chord that consists of three dos and one mi because movement is always to the nearest chord tone.

We need to take a step or two backward, retaining what we know about artistry and good vocal skills, and revisit the land of chords. The first step in that process is familiarizing ourselves with the sound of intervals. Chords are composed of stacked intervals. Like a major triad (tonic chord) is a minor third on top of a major third, and a minor triad is a major third on top of a minor third. A barbershop seventh begins with a major third, topped with two minor thirds. Sometimes those who write our music make it more difficult for us, like we almost need a congressional investigation to determine what the chord is. Who could tell at a glance that B#-Fb-G-A# is really a C dominant 7th in disguise? In its published music, Sweet Adelines International requires that chords be notated correctly so they will be easy to identify. We sing CHORDS, not part lines.

Once upon a time harmony accuracy had its own category. Though it’s generally associated with the sound category, harmony accuracy is considered by each of the four judges. Even the showmanship judge knows the performer can’t successfully sell an inaccurate product.

One of the judging questions in this issue (see page 43) deals with “what else can we do” to achieve the ultimate. What we can do is rediscover our ears; we can listen and sing our part in the chord, not just our part. Here’s to harmony accuracy — may it live forever!

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