SPEBSQSA

Broadly speaking, a cappella means “without instruments, voices only.” Barbershop might be considered a subset of that description, which would also include some choral singing, some doo-wop and gospel, and widely known modern a cappella groups like Pentatonix.

The term “barbershop” is thought to come from the fact that barbershops at that time had long served in England and the U.S. as social gathering places for men and for making music, both instrumental and vocal.

SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America).

A style of singing in parts for small groups, usually four singers of the same sex (“barbershop quartets”). The notes sung by the voices are usually close to each other in pitch, resulting in “tight” chords, or “close” harmony.

The term a cappella means “singing without instrumental accompaniment”; a capella music uses only the human voice to produce the sounds they sing.

Scholars once thought all "chapel style" music written before the 1600s was performed a cappella, but modern research has revealed that instruments might have doubled or substituted for some voices back then. Today a cappella describes a purely vocal performance.

While the traditional barbershop quartet included only male singers, contemporary quartets can include any gender combination. All-female barbershop quartets were often called beauty shop quartets, a term that has fallen out of favor.

You can use the noun quartet to describe your four-person singing group, and you can also use it to talk about the piece of music you're performing, if it's written specifically for four voices or instruments.

Barbershop is a style of arranging in close, four part, a cappella harmony; it is not an era, style of music, or genre. The melody is usually in the second voice with harmony above and below.

All-female barbershop quartets were often called beauty shop quartets, a term that has fallen out of favor. The voice parts for women's and mixed barbershop groups use the same names as those for male groups since the roles perform similar functions in the quartet although the vocal ranges may be different.

A capella singing also helps singers learn how to rely on their ear rather than an accompanist/pianist/background instrumentalist. They have to rely on their ear to tell them whether they are in tune or not and, which note to start on. Further, they use the muscle memory of their vocal cords to find those pitches.

A cappella (/ˌɑː kəˈpɛlə/, UK also /ˌæ -/, Italian: [a kkapˈpɛlla]; lit. 'in the style of the chapel') music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this fashion.