Music & the Spoken Word: In Harmony with Others
Contributed By Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Men sing a hymn in harmony during a sacrament meeting performance.
Editor's note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This message was given July 7, 2019.
There are many things in life that can be done alone. You can play a piano alone—or a violin or guitar or any other musical instrument. You can sing a solo, give a speech, or recite a poem alone. But then there are other things—some of the most beautiful—that simply can’t be done alone. For example, you can’t sing barbershop alone. Barbershop singing, by definition, involves joining with others in vocal harmony. It’s about music, but it’s also about community—about working together to create a thing of beauty.
Many historians trace the history of barbershop singing to the 1880s and ’90s when African American musicians started adding multipart harmonies to popular contemporary songs. Over several generations, a unique style emerged, and the unmistakable sound we know as barbershop began to take shape (see “Roots of Barbershop Harmony,” barbershop.org).
How do you describe that sound? It isn’t easy. Some would say you have to experience it. As one barbershop singer said: “When you’re singing, the sound around you is incredible. You feel like you’re being carried away with it. It’s absolutely inspiring. … The chords ring and you feel like you’re being swallowed up by the music itself” (Robert A. Stebbins, in The Barbershop Singer: Inside the Social World of a Musical Hobby [1996], 64).
For many, the music is only part of the experience. Relationships, to them, are inseparable from the sound. It’s friendship, as much as music, that keeps them singing. One expert has written that “barbershoppers feel a strong fellowship—a wave of warmth and friendliness—when they sing together. An important facet of the fun and personal enrichment gained from barbershop singing … is its camaraderie“ (Stebbins, The Barbershop Singer, 66).
Something magical happens anytime people come together with a shared passion. Whenever they have a sincere interest in doing something meaningful and a heartfelt willingness to cooperate rather than compete, they accomplish things that would not be possible working alone.
No, you can’t do barbershop alone, and you can’t do life alone either. We need each other. We need friendship and fellowship. We all do better—we all live happier and more peaceful lives—when we are in harmony with others.
Tuning in …
The Music & the Spoken Word broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL Radio 1160 AM/102.7 FM, ksl.com, KSL X-stream, BYU-TV, BYU Radio, BYU-TV International, CBS Radio Network, Dish Network, DirecTV, SiriusXM Radio (Channel 43), thetabernaclechoir.org and youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoiratTempleSquare. The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. mountain standard time on many of these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.org/schedules.
