Terminology

The information included here combines general barbershop terminology along with those terms that are used primarily in Chorus. As a new member, do not feel that you have to “memorize” these terms, they are here for you to refer to them should you need some clarification during a rehearsal. Should you hear a term not listed on here please let the music staff know so that in can be included. For our seasoned members, most of these you will have heard at one time or another, however they are here for clarification purposes and to help us all “speak the same language”

  • Afterglow – Cast party after a show or performance.
  • All-in-One – A one-piece undergarment sometimes worn under our costumes.
  • All Skate – all parts singing together
  • Back Beat (or Up-beat) – When a note is sung on the half beat. i.e.1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
  • Bell chord – notes sung on successive beats as in the song Mr. Sandman
  • “Break a Leg!” – Said to wish someone “Good Luck” in a performance.
  • Bubbling (or trilling) – A vocal exercise using the lips to relax the lips, jaw, and throat, to open resonators, and to produce a resonant sound. (We are using raspberries now more so than the bubbling)
  • Carry Through (CT) – where two phrases or words are connected by lifting the sound as it rides on a column of air – there is no breath to be taken at this spot.
  • Chord worshiping – holding a chord longer than necessary just to enjoy it
  • Chorus breathing – Taking a quick breath in other than a planned breathing place so as not to run out of air at the end of the phrase. Chorus breathing is done by leaving out a word or syllable or breathing while holding the vowel of a word. It is NOT done between words (which causes phrases to be out-of-sync.)
  • Chorus Performance – Singing for an audience where each member may choose to participate – but if they sign up they are expected to be there
  • Circle of Fifths – the name given to an arrangement of the twelve keys, situated such that each successive note is a fifth above (or below, if the movement is in the opposite direction) the one that precedes it; hence starting with C: G, D, A, and F (or, in the opposite direction, from E: A, D, G, and C)
  • Contest (also known as regional contest) – Annual performance where a few brave men and women have the nerve to write down on paper what they think of our singing The one performance that we expect everyone to participate in to get feedback on the musical skills we’ve worked on as a team.
  • Coning – The art of adjusting the sound to maintain the proper balance of a barbershop chord. Church or glee club music is balanced cylindrically, i.e. all voices sing with equal weight and intensity. Barbershop chords are balanced more like an orchestra when the bass sings with more weight and intensity and as we build the chord upwards, each voice sings with less weight and intensity. Within your own part, as you sing higher, your voice should become lighter with more head tone. As you sing lower, your voice should become broader with more chest tone. (It should never be all one or the other!)
  • CP or Chorus Position – Standing with good posture and the outside foot slightly in front and “hanging five” (toes) over the front edge of the risers. (See also – Hanging Five)
  • Crescendo and Decrescendo – Crescendo is gradually increasing in volume and Decrescendo is gradually decreasing in volume.
  • Diphthong – Two vowel sounds sung on one note, with greatest stress on the first vowel. For example, the vowel in “day” is actually an “eh” followed by “ee”.
  • Double – Two parts on the same note – sometimes incorrect when one part is singing a wrong note that’s the same note sung by another part. Or sometimes correct when it’s the same note sung an octave apart.
  • Down Beat – When a note is sung on the beat, i.e. in 4/4 time1 & 2 & 3 & 4.
  • Downstage – Toward the front of the stage (nearest to the audience).
  • DT – down the tiles – Facing the audience with the body/shoulders perpendicular to the front of the stage
  • Dynamic contrast – Planned volume changes to enhance the performance of a song. (See Spike and Velvet for specific definitions)
  • We are working toward using the following:

Soft Velvet
Medium Velvet
Loud Velvet
Medium Spike
Loud Spike

  • Ear candy – an audible overtone or harmonic
  • Embellishment – any arranging effect, technique, or device that enlivens the texture of the harmony, e.g. swipe, modulation, cascade effect, echo
  • Expanded sound – this is the most popular term for the vibrant group sound that results from the production and reinforcement of overlapping overtones; this effect is not unlike that of additional singers on higher notes
  • Forward motion – Sense of lyrical flow, with vocal line movement toward something in anticipation, especially in a ballad.
  • From the edge – Starting the song from the beginning
  • Gang singing – to sing with a group that is not an organized unit; sometimes used as a pejorative for heavy, loud, unskilled singing
  • Glide – initial word / vowel sound in a diphthong proceeding the target vowel as in the word “you“. The “glide” is “ee” and the target vowel is “OO”.
  • Hang five (or “toe-ing the risers”) – Standing with the outside foot forward to the front edge of the risers.
  • Hanger – a note, long in duration, sung usually by a lead singer, around which a tag is formed
  • Head voice (or Head register) – Singing using the upper range of the voice.
  • Horizontal Vocal Line – Singing vowel to vowel. The musical term for the desired style of delivery is “legato”, defined as “a basic style of vocal technique, consisting of a seemingly uninterrupted flowing vocal line with corresponding non-interfering articulation and pronunciation” Choppiness within words and phrases results when a legato delivery is not present. The effect of singing a flowing phrase should be similar to the kind of connection of tone that would be achieved if a melodic line were sung on a sustained “ah”.
  • Hospitality room – a party room at a convention for informal entertainment and socializing
  • Hum spot – the placement of one’s voice that makes the mask resonate
  • Inside Smile – Lifting of the soft palate, with a twinkle in your eye.
  • International (Contest) – Summer competition that includes the winners of the previous district contests
  • Interval – The distance between two notes.
  • Harmonic Interval – the distance between two notes sung at the same time
  • Melodic Interval – the distance between two notes sung consecutively
  • Intro. (or the Edge) – The beginning of the song.
  • Key – Letter name of the note on the scale in which a song is written. This note is blown on the pitch pipe.
  • Leading Tone – The 7th step of the scale (or “ti”) is the most important note in the chord prior to a key change and must be heard to create the sound of the new key.
  • Lifted phrase ending – To have enough air at the end of the phrase to keep the tone fully supported and energized so as to not let the phrase just die out. To sing all phrases as if they were a question. This is accomplished by a steady stream of air and sending the sound up and out!
  • Lock-and-Ring – similar to lock-in, this term also denotes the resultant harmony, which has a ringing quality rich in overtones (see “expanded sound” and “unit sound”)
  • Mask – The facial muscles under the eyes into the temple, around the nose, in the lip area, and from the temples down to the chin.
  • Octave – An interval of an 8th, with the lower and upper notes having the same letter name.
  • “Off Paper” – Being able to sing your part without using the sheet music.
  • Onion skins – The small tuning adjustments needed for locking a chord.
  • Overtone – Unsung tone heard above the highest tone of a properly balance and matched chord.
  • Performance – an engagement or a gig for a chorus or quartet
  • Performance Ready – Being both Vocally and Visually Qualified
  • Physical warm-ups – Warming up the body to provide a suitable environment for the singing mechanism to operate.
  • Pick-up – Beginning of a phrase sung by only one voice/part.
  • Pick-up quartet – any four singers, not an established quartet, singing a song they commonly know
  • Ping – focused, bright ringing sound
  • Pitch Pipe – the instrument used to provide the pitch for a chorus or quartet
  • POD – Performance On Demand – time during rehearsals where a group of 3 or more songs are performed “as if” the group were singing in front of a live audience. MC work may or may not be incorporated.
  • Progression – A sequence of chords.
  • Pythagorean tuning (also called P Tuning) – tuning system used in Barbershop music enhancing the creation of overtones. Example in Pythagorean Tuning the 3, 6 and 7th degrees of the scale is sung/tuned higher than that of singing with a piano. (for the VERY CURIOUS click on the links for more information to read the differences between the three different types of tuning including Equal Temperment and Just Intonation)
  • Quartet – In barbershop a foursome consisting of a Tenor, Lead, Baritone and Bass. Etiquette dictates that when a quartet is singing – you don’t want to “sing along” unless they have expressly asked you to do so.
  • Raspberry – A vocal exercise using the tongue to relax the lips, jaw, and throat, to open resonators, and to produce a resonant sound.
  • Resonators – Any of the cavities or parts of the vocal tract that serve to reinforce and enrich the phonated tones of the singing voice.
  • Ringing chords – When a barbershop chord is perfectly balanced and in tune, overtones are produced and an exciting “ringing” sound results.
  • Ripple (or wave) – A visual move that starts on one side of the risers and travels to the other side (and sometimes back again).
  • Section Leader(s) – In larger choruses with multiple singers in each voice part these are Individuals appointed by the director to oversee the education and team spirit of a specific section
  • Soft palate – The soft, squishy area on the roof of your mouth near the back (behind the hard palate).
  • Singable consonants – Singable consonants are m,n,l and ng – also r if it’s sung correctly. They should be sung with as much vocal energy at the vowel preceding and/or following them.
  • Singlish – a method of singing a song as if one was speaking the part, phonetically connective
  • Spike – dynamic levels achieved by singing with the sound more forward in the mask
  • Sweet spot – the optimum range in one vocal range
  • Swipe – Two or more chords used to embellish a melody note, sung on one word or syllable.
  • Syncopation – When a note is held through the down beat and sung on the back beat. When syncopation occurs, there is a definite change in rhythm.
  • Tag – The section at the end of the song that has been added by the arranger to give a sense of completeness.
  • Target Vowel – Sustained musical sound
  • Tuning – Refers to the ability to sing both “in key” and “on pitch.” In tune singing occurs when accurate singing happens. This is a combination of correct notes, timing, matched vowels/consonants and resonance. Out of tune singing also occurs when the performer is singing a pitch that is relatively correct, but has failed to tune that pitch so that the chord “locks” in total accuracy.
  • Undertone – an additional note in a chord (beyond the four being sung) that manifests itself somewhere below the top note being sung; this phenomenon seems to be much rarer than the occurrence of the overtone
  • Unison – Two or more parts singing the same note.
  • Unit sound – an ideal in quartet or choral sound production that results from balance, blend, intonation, controlled vowel production, and expression
  • Vanishing Vowel – the word  / vowel sound that FOLLOWS the Target Vowel in a diphthong or triphthong as in the word I [AH-ee] or way [oo-EH-ee] is the “vanish”. Being aware of the existence of this word sound is often enough emphasis – it is the consistent execution that will keep the word BYE from sounding like BAH.
  • Velvet – dynamic level achieved using more air in the sound as to almost seem breathy (still supported)
  • Vibrato – A wavering in the vocal tone that keeps chords from locking and ringing.
  • Visually Qualified – Being “present” and emotionally engaged in the performance of a song including the seemless execution of any planned moves
  • VLQ – an acronym for very large quartet or mini-chorus, if you will
  • Vocal warm-ups – Getting the voice ready to sing, and our ears listening to each other.
  • Vocally Qualified – Having demonstrated the knowledge and performance ability of a piece of music, this always includes the correct notes and words (target vowels). It may include the breath and dynamic plan.
  • Wall of sound – seamless, continuous vocalization
  • Woodshedding – The art of singing barbershop harmony “by ear” without a written musical arrangement.