vocal - barbershop
- American Popular Song - From paper presented by Howard S. Becker at a 1994 conference discussing the structure of the standard popular song along with its history, songwriters, musicians, and singers. Bibliography.
- American Popular Song - Message board and directories of singers, songwriters, movies, and shows.
- AMG: Vocal Music - Overview of the genre, essay, key artists and albums, and recent releases.
- Craig's BigBands and BigNames - Historic reviews and photos from performers of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Includes old time radio broadcast, quiz, and message board.
- Ian Whitcomb's Literary Corner - Includes articles on Rudy Vallee, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, and the first crooners.
- JD Hay's Crooners - Library of songs in WAV format, including those by several pop artists and a 1950s collection.
- Jukebox: American Popular Music in the 1930s - Includes 40 audio files, with background and commentary.
- Parlor Songs - Collection of popular and classical sheet music from the 1800's to the 1940's, cover art, audio samples, composer biographies, and articles on the history, styles, and themes.
- Wikipedia: Melodic Music - Defines "melodic" genre as the vocal-oriented popular American music style that came after big band music but before rock and roll, as exemplified by singers like Perry Como and Margaret Whiting.
- Acid reflux - Information on reflux and voice disorders from the center for voice disorders, specialists in the evaluation and care of larynx and voice disorders.
- The Afterglow Lounge - A resource for Barbershop Singers. Contains Tags, Desktop Wallpapers and Graphics
- Barbershop FAQ and Pointers - Answer to questions and links to other barbershop sites.
- Barbershop.net - Internet Service Provider geared specifically towards barbershop. A portion of the subscription goes back to the Barbershop Harmony society.
- Evergreen District Web Hosting - Webspace for barbershop websites hosted by the Evergreen District of SPEBSQSA.
- Harmonize.com - Free hosting for barbershop websites. Also has a directory of barbershop websites.
- Metropolis' Online Pitch Pipe - MP3 recordings of chromatic pitches. A resource for Barbershop and other A Cappella (Acappella, Acapella or A capella) singers, groups, etc.
- Simpsons Barbershop Quartet Episode - Episode [9F21] Homer's Barbershop Quartet - the Be Sharps.
- SPEBSQSA Update - News from SPEBSQSA Headquarters
- The Station - Provides information about barbershop quartets and barbershopping around the world. Highlights include information on international champion quartets and the MBNA America college quartet contest.
Vocal music is music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music (e.g. the wordless women's choir in the final movement of Holst's The Planets). Music without any instrumental accompaniment is often referred to as a cappella.
The interest in vocal music is typically carried by the use of lyrics, although there are some notable examples of vocal music that are performed (in part or completely) using non-linguistic syllables or noises, either in imitation of other sounds or in the abstract. A short piece of vocal music with lyrics is broadly termed a song.
Vocal music is probably the oldest form of music, since it does not require any other instruments other than the human voice. All musical cultures have some form of vocal music. Language and music employ the same basic material, though they differ in primary purpose.
Yodeling (or yodelling) is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from from the vocal chest register (or "chest voice") to the head register (or "head voice"), making a high-low-high-low sound. This vocal technique is found in many cultures throughout the world.
In Swiss folk music, it was probably developed in the Swiss Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks, and it later became a part of the traditional music of the region. In Persian and Azeri Classical musics, singers frequently use tahrir, a yodeling technique that oscillates on neighbor tones. In Georgian traditional music, yodelling takes the form of krimanchuli technique. In Central Africa, Pygmy singers use yodels within their elaborate polyphonic singing. Yodeling is often used in American bluegrass and country music.
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