What is barbershop harmony? Very simple, barbershop differs from the glee club harmonization primarily in that the second tenor or barbershop "lead" usually carries the melody. The first tenor always harmonizes above the lead. The bass serves as the foundation and the baritone or "bari" fills in the spaces. His notes often are above those of the lead. There are usually four notes in each chord. Although the Society has a vast musical library and dozens of members arranging music, all barbershop singers must use their ears in order to fine tune each chord.

   The barbershop chorus is structured in the same fashion as the quartet. There are still just four parts, but all choruses use only a few tenors and baris. Leads and basses predominate the typical chorus.

   This type of harmony was sung in barbershops during the latter part of the 19th century and barbershop quartets were usually part of a typical vaudeville bill. When vaudville was killed by radio, barbershop quartet singing declined until 1938 when Owen Cash, of Tulsa, invited two dozen friends to a barbershop sing on the roof of a hotel on a Sunday afternoon. The music stopped traffic and the wire services picked up the story. Cash was flooded with requests on how to start a barbershop quartet chapter and The Barbershop Harmony Society was on it's way. The Barbershop Harmony Society's headquarters are in Kenosha, Wisconsin where it publishes music, sells tapes and videos, runs schools on the art of barbershop singing across the country, and administers regional and international contests. A week long quartet and chorus contest is held annually in July and is attended by about 10,000 people. Groups are now flourishing in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and Holland. Canadian chapters have been an integral part of the Society since its inception.

   The most famous barbershop quartets have been the Suntones who appeared frequently on the Jackie Gleason TV show when it was produced in Miami and the Buffalo Bills who appeared in the Broadway and movie versions of 'The Music Man' and subsequently were daily performers on the Arthur Godfrey morning radio show.