Acapella Singing Makes A Comeback

Today, a lot of people have never heard of acapella music. What is it? Well, acapella singing is singing without musical instrumentation. As such, acapella singing comes in a variety of flavors. There's the doo wop of the 1950s, barbershop quartet singing of the early 1900s, medieval Gregorian chant, and the acapella hymns that are still sung today in many churches. Purists say that the word should be spelled a cappella, but acapella is perhaps the most common spelling.

The term "doo-wop" refers to a kind of acapella rhythm and blues music originated by blacks. It grew from gospel music sung in black churches in differing sections of the United States. Doo-wop was distinguished from regular gospel singing because of the added presence of blues elements. In the Thirties and Forties, black ensembles would sing this new type of music on street corners after church and at other times. Quite often their singing was marked by three, four, and sometimes five part harmonies.

These street singers normally didn't have musical instruments, so their singing was performed acapella. Since they didn't have musical instruments, these doo wop singers imitated instruments with vocal background accompaniment with nonsense words, such as "doo wop." That's how this style of acapella music got its name. In the late Fifties, some doo wop groups also used instruments such as piano for accompaniment.

Barbershop quartet singing originated in America. It emerged on the scene during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. It later lost popularity until a revival of barbershop singing came during the Forties and Fifties. The unique sound of barbershop quartets is due to the fact that each note of the melody is replaced by a four-part vocal chord. The quartet is made up of a lead singer (who sings melody), a tenor (who sings higher than the melody), and a baritone and a bass singer (both of whom harmonize below the melody). Even listeners who don't know much about singing can usually recognize the distinctive sound of barbershop quarters at once.

In the early years of Christianity, hymns were nearly always sung acapella. One style of early acapella hymn singing is Gregorian chant. However, Gregorian chants were only one type of acapella hymns. During the 1500s and early 1600s, composers like Palestrina composed complex choral works featuring polyphony, although still normally sung acapella. However, in the late 1600s and after, most churches began using musical accompaniment - particularly the organ - with their singing.

In the past few years, in some circles, Gregorian chant has become popular again. One album, named "Chant," even became an unexpected musical hit in the pop-rock field. A style of singing known as Sacred Harp is still sung acapella. In addition, Mennonite, Amish and Churches of Christ maintain acapella hymn singing in their worship. There are various Church of Christ vocal groups today, such as Hallal, that sing acapella worship songs.

Acapella church singing has adopted a modern tone in many circles. In recent decades, the Christian singing group, Glad, introduced a number of excellent acapella CDs. Unlike more traditional acapella singing, they use modern arrangements and vocal percussion to create a more contemporary pop sound to their singing. Two Christian groups with similar sounds as Glad are Take 6 and Acappella.

So acapella singing covers a wide range, from modern doo wop to ancient acapella hymns.