BARBERSHOP SLANG
BARBERSHOP SLANG (Written with tongue firmly planted in cheek.)
A
A & R Analysis and Recommendation. Often called Aggravation and Ridicule.
Afterglow A cast party after the show.
After – Afterglow A smaller, more private party that takes place after an afterglow.
AHSOW Ancient Harmonious Society of Woodshedders.
Ambigesturous The ability to perform the chores moves from either side of the risers
B
Barbershop 7th A flat 7th chord used frequently in barbershop arrangements. (e.g., C – E – G – Bb)
Barbershop Brats Children of barber shoppers, who often become members – a precious commodity.
Barbershop Squat A physical stance at the end of a song that looks amateurish and hokey.
Barbershop Widow / Widower The spouse of a very active barbershopper who doesn’t participate in the hobby.
Barber Speak A method of speaking a song as if one was singing the part.
Barbersteens Teenaged children of barber shoppers – the smartest of all.
Barbertots Young children of barber shoppers – also a precious commodity.
Bell Chord Notes sung on successive beats, as in “Bye, Bye, Blues” by the Suntones.
Belt When a man takes his chest voice up into his head voice range – AKA Sing loudly.
Bipartite / Tripartite Able to sing multiple voice parts.
Bisectional A person that can sing more than one voice part . . . hopefully, not simultaneously.
Blead A fifth voice part consisting of part lead and part baritone, usually sung by a member who has been absent for a while.
Borneo Barbershop An exercise where the bass is sung an octave high OR the tenor an octave low.
Breathing Dips Singers who breathe where they are not supposed to
Bust a Chord Singing.
C
Car Toy The cassette tape or CD one carries in the car to learn one’s part. Directors use this method to describe a phrase of a song they want a section to work on in the car . . . with repetition.
Cascade A musical device where a unison note spreads to form a chord. Also called “waterfall.”
Chameleon A person who can sing all four parts.
Chestnut An old, familiar song.
Chorditorium A convention afterglow where non-qualifying quartets can strut their stuff.
Chordus Interruptus When the director stops the chorus just before a paint-peeling tag.
Chordworship Holding a chord longer than necessary just to enjoy it..
Chorus Dips Singers who do exactly the opposite of what the director asks.
Coning Adjusting volume inversely with pitch to balance a chord.
Cookie A pitch-pipe
Crank Sing loudly.
Crow A self-confessed non-singer who performs mundane chores nobody else wants to do. See Invaluable.
D
Diction Dips Singers who exaggerate the hard consonants.
Diphthong Dips Singers who over-emphasize the diphthongs.
E
Edge Beginning of the music score.
Eagles A politically correct term of “Crows.”
Ear Candy An audible overtone or harmonic that produces an especially pleasing chord.
F
Fettucine Singing Sliding between notes when clean intervals are dictated.
Fifth Wheel Uninvited singing along with (or near) a quartet. Considered poor manners.
Float Blending a part into a chord gracefully. Usually tenor.
G
Gang Singing A collection of singers that are not an organized unit.
Garbage Part A negative term for the baritone part.
Glimmer An after, after, after-glow.
Groaner A bad joke, story or pun.
Grundy See Scissors Movement
Gut-Buster A robust up-tune.
H
Hang Ten Standing on the risers with ten toes over the edge.
Honker A person who sings loudly and/or in a garish manner. Often a bass singer.
Hospitality Room A party room at a convention for informal entertainment, socializing, and stale pretzels.
Hum Spot The placement of one’s voice that makes the mask resonate.
K
Kibber An endearing term for a barber shopper that prefers to Keep It Barbershop!
L
Laser Lungs A singer, usually a tenor, who sings high notes very loudly and out-of-balance.
Lead Dodging The art of woodshedding the baritone part. Also called Lead Avoidance.
Leaner A person that does not have the courage or ability to sing on his/her own, or is not well rehearsed in the music.
Line Singing Each part gets into a line and rotates singing as a quartet.
M
Mic Testers A quartet or chorus which sings at the beginning of a contest to ensure the sound systems’ performance.
O
Oh Yeah . . . An utterance from the chorus, when the director says, “For the 2000th time, you’re supposed to get soft here.”
Oh Yeah Song A song with an unfamiliar verse and a very familiar chorus. Refers to audience’s comments as chorus begins.
Onion Skin A minute adjustment in pitch.
Opus Interruptus When the hotel security guard stops you in the middle of a song. Usually occurs at 3 am, Sunday morning.
Out-of-Spots Singing without music in front of you.
P
Patter A verbose variation on the theme of a refrain, as in “Down Our Way.” Also jokes and stuff between songs.
Peeling Paint Locking-and-ringing a chord.
Pick-Up Quartet Any four singers, not an established quartet, singing a song they commonly know.
Ping Focused, bright ringing sound.
Polecat Referring to a collection of common songs for any/every barbershopper, such as “Heart of My Heart” or “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.”
Post A note, long in duration, sung usually by a lead singer, around which a tag is formed.
R
Riser Rat Any chorus member who is not in the front row.
Round Robin An activity wherein four or more wood shedders sit in a circle and progressively rotate voice parts.
S
Scissors Movement Two voice parts that cross each other, while the other two voice parts sustain, leading to an inversion of the chord.
Shoulder-Raiser A listeners physical reaction to a singer who doesn’t quite reach his/her note.
Singlish A method of singing a song as if one was speaking the part, phonetically connective.
Skunk Song A melody essentially useless for woodshedding purposes because of an existing familiar arrangement.
Slab To sing slowly through a measure chord by chord, also called blocking.
Singing Around After a contest or show quartets travel around singing in various places or rooms.
Spank Great vocal execution as in “Boy, that lead spanks!”
T
Tag The ending of a song often added as an afterthought can can be sung independently from the song.
Tag Quartet Four singers begin a song and one-by-one are replaced by a new singer – tagged out, if you will.
Tear Jerker A tender, sentimental ballad that evokes emotion.
Tiddly A musical embellishment, usually by a baritone.
Toe-Tapper An up-tune with great rhythmic pulse.
Train Wreck When one or more parts sing a wrong note and the resulting chord sounds like a railway calamity.
V
VLQ Very Large Quartet – or mini-chorus, if you will.
W
Wall of Sound Seamless, continuous vocalization.
Whomp-Ping Ratio The ratio of resonance to ping in the voice.
Woodshed To improvise your part in a song.
Y
Yawner A very boring and poor performance of a song.
Yodel-Chorus A phenomenon in woodshedding, where two voices land on the same note and simultaneously move to the missing part.