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HARMONY HOW-TO How to be agreat barbershop baritone oW to be a great baritone starts with how to be a bet­
do the reverse: ge t quie ter for six and then getting
ter baritone. Application of the below principles can
loude r for six. Repeat at half steps up or down as
enhance your enjoyment of the hobby and will make
needed. Nex t, try more adva nced versions where
barbershop harmony more enj oyable for those with
you become stead ily more bass-like or more tenor­
like for those first six bea ts. Notice the repeated use
whom you sing. These tips are directed to the quartet
of "sl ightly. " Neve r sing to any extreme that intro­
baritone, but most of them apply to chorus
work, too.
~ duces tension or stra in. Sing as loud or soft (or
~. as bass- o r teno r-like) as you can while keep­
At·home preparation
ing yo ur to ne relaxed and pretty.
The best thing you can do is to strive
to consistently create a beautiful tone
Making the most of rehearsal
that is freel y produced and well sup­
N ow comes the really fun stuffl A q uartet bari's
main role is to weave the threads of three dif­
ported. You must be more aware of
what's going on as the quartet sings and
ferent duets into the fabric of the quartet's unit
grow your ability to have your voice behave
sound. Bari is barbe rshop harmony's most unique
voice pan. At any moment in the song, you should be
as you'd like. Most of your effort needs to be spent at
ready to duet with yoW' bass, lead or tenor. At rehears­
home in preparation. Once that becomes habit, you
can do some very enj oyable work at q uartet rehearsal.
al, take the time to duet each song with each part.
Learn some music theory. Your awareness will grow
Bass duet. Become aware of how yo ur proximity
tremendously when you study you r music. Leam what
to his notes changes th roughout the song. As you ap­
part of eac h chord you're singing. This helps with
proach his notes, try to have your voice sow1d as much
like his as it can while singing relaxed and in good
tW1ing, but mainly teaches you how to balance each
q uality. (That tip alone goes a long way.) A lso, as your
chord so it'll ring. The Society's Theory ofBarbershop
notes approach the bass notes, try to match his vol­
Harmony publication (Harmony Marketplace, item
ume, which usually means becoming a bit louder. Be
#403 7) is a good beginning. The H armony UniverSity
music theOlY courses are also available for free at vvww.
aware of when yo u're singing a root/5th relationship or
an octave with your bass so that your great match on
barbershop.OIg w1der the education tab.
Learn and apply these rules of thumb. Sing a bit loud­ these chords really pops the oveltones.
er the lower you sing and a bit quieter the higher you
sing. Even better, sing more li ke a bass the lower you
Your music Team At Work
sing, more like a lead in the mid range , and more like
AUDITIONING METHOD STA NDARDIZED AND SIMPUFIED
a tenor in your uppe r range. Note the "pillar" chords,
Te-nor. Le,Qd and 8ar.5 :liudhion
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or the held chords. Are you high or low in your range)
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Adjust accordingly. Are you singing the root or 5th
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of the chord) Then sing slightly more bass-like. Are
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you singing the 3rd or 7th or another less fo undational
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0note? S ing slightly mo re tenor-like.
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Sing a bit every day. Only then will your voice be­
Le-ads ~i ll be: comidtrc d (Of membershi p i( thcy recognize the, melody.
have as you'd like. Vocalize throughout yo ur range in a
Tho!oe wbo ,,:(u3!1 't hi t the fi rst n(l(c after he~rini tht pi lch re,~i ... e b<mtli pciNJ..
Those who rc.:II d'l n\(:'U'wrt " :n P:-CP<'T key \to·ill be cons.idered (0:' s.~l i oQ !u ~ '(.
free and rela-'{ed way. This can be as simple a5 singing
Tc-nor! l... Bast'S mlk.i n, it to mQj.ure Z ....·ill be: c on~ e r e4 (Of m!mb<:rship.
sca les, but be sure to stay loose. On the lower third of
T t-.Ok makin g it to tf'.cUfJre J ""'ill be: con ~idcccd tOf S«li on ludt r.
UI~ \boK m3k;. i ~s. lt 10 :n.u surc 4 will bc. .h<tspitaliz.ed immc:dilttly­
'your range, rela-x and produce a ringing, bass- like tone
(4Ift er ~ ign in & them up. of cou: t.c) .
Barhon~ audition (simpUr:i('d)
.
without any pushing or tension. In the midd le third,
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focus on making a lead-like sound that rings and is st ill
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Richard warm and pretty. Most of us struggle with our upper
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Lewellen range, which needs the most relaxation as you produce
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Harmony a pleasing, tenor-like tone. Again, sing quieter as you
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medalist wilh
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rrlewellen@
gmail.com
8
go higher. That bell-like tenor sound is idea l.
Fine tune vocal color and volume. H ere's a useful
exe rcise: start ing on C in your middle range , sing
six beats on a count of 12, getting slightl y louder on
each beat. On the last six beats ge t slightly quieter
until on 12 yo u're back where you started. Then
The HARM ON IZER c. MOl/ JUlie 2012
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Origin unknown. If you know the guy who created it,
we'd like to shake his hand .
Lead duet. In these duets, you need to
know when your notes are pretty close
to his, when you're quite a bit below
him, and when he's low and you're
high. The closer you are to the lead, the
more you need to sound like his twin.
When just slightly above him, take a
little of the edge off so he doesn't have
to fight to be easily heard. When right
below him, volume is less of a worry
because the higher note is more easily
heard; but still be sure to not out-sing
him. When quite a bit below him,
you're probably better off focusing on
the bass duet. When he's low and you're
high, you'll be keying in to the tenor.
(Incidentally, the main reason any
voice part duets with the lead is to
sound more like his voice, to try to treat
each word sound the same way he does,
and to be exactly in synch with his tim­
ing. Duets help each part support the
lead's artistic approach.)
Tenor duet. Many fear this duet be­
cause so many tenor notes seem to clash
with the baritone notes. If you strive to
make this duet the most beautiful, your
quartet will sOLmd wonderful. Again, be
aware of when your notes approach his.
When you're up near the tenor and the
lead is down near the bass, try to sound
like your tenor. In the trademark Bar­
bershop 7th Chord, the tenor has the
root of the chord, the baritone (or lead)
is one note below him on the 7th, the
lead (or baritone) is quite a bit lower
on the 3rd, and the bass is down low on
the 5th. The singers of the root and 7th
need to sow1d like twins and be equal
in volume. Generally, the baritone sing­
ing near the tenor wcmts to match his
tone and volume.
Mark your music. Use highlighters of
three different colors to mark where you
should focus on the bass, lead or tenor
duets. If it's not clear which guy to stick
with, go with the lead.
mid range, and a bass in your lower
range. At rehearsal, you can fine-tw1e
this to sound iike your tenor, lead and
bass. If you also know what part of the
chord you're singing, you can give a
little extra to the root any time and
strengthen the 5th of the chord, espe­
cially when singing below the lead.
When weaving these duets through
the song becomes second nature, you'll
be able to focus on performing artisti­
cally from the heart. 111en you'll truly
be on the path to becoming a great
baritone.
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Be sure the lead is always heard.
Sometimes, everyone is low and the
lead is below you. Here you Just need to
make sure that the lead is easily heard.
Sometimes everyone is up high and the
temptation is to sing really loud. You
don't need to. Just sing as rela'Xed and
pretty as you can.
Summary
You'll tend to sound more like a tenor
in your upper range, like a lead in your
lvloy/lul1e 2012
The HARMONIZER
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