We are an international, mixed gender group who love to sing and have fun. We currently have 30 members and plenty more room to expand. Both beginners and more experienced singers are welcome. Our repertoire is quite diverse and includes some older classics such as: “When I Fall in Love” and “Java Jive” and more modern pieces such as; “Africa”, “Besame Mucho”, ”Happy Together” and ”The Climb”. We recently added our first Portuguese song.
For more information please send us an email: admin@bellaacapella.pt
“The only criteria for joining is that you must be able to sing reasonably in tune. Music is all in English, which is the language used in rehearsals. Although it’s helpful, you don’t have to be able to read music as we have a range of materials for all of our songs, with the individual parts in them.” Rob Does, MD
History of Barbershop
In the last half of the 19th century, Barbershop quartets originated when African American men would improvise harmony while waiting for a hair cut. This generated a new style of close harmony singing without instruments. Later, white minstrel-singers adopted the style and in the early days of the recording industry their performances were recorded and sold. Early standards included songs such as “Shine on harvest Moon” and “Hello my Baby” and “Sweet Adeline”. Barbershop singing is a style of “A cappella” or unaccompanied vocal music. It is characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note.
The Four Voices:
Due to its male origins, the voice parts are traditionally named after men: The ‘Tenor’ is the highest voice and harmonizes above the melody. The ‘Lead’ part sings the melody line. The ‘Baritone’ part sings the next lowest part and completes the chord, usually below the lead. The ‘Bass’ part is the lowest and supports the chord. Each of the four parts has its own role.
