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You love music? Then you’ve come to the right organization. Sweet Adelines International takes singing to the next level—not simply a single melody but rather four-part, a cappella harmony—music created from four different voice parts that beautifully blend into one chord. Stunning and challenging, all in one!

Barbershop singing is one of the trickiest yet most rewarding accomplishments of a vocal ensemble. Imagine this: you’re singing a song with three other harmonizing ladies, each hitting the perfect pitch when bam—you hear it. An overtone vibration, a resonant ring, a different sound than any one tone being sung by any one singer! This overtone produces a visceral experience and is unique only to four-part barbershop harmonies!

Although the voice parts in women's barbershop harmony have different names and functions than they do in other SATB or SSAA vocal styles, the foundation is the same—beautiful music, stunning chords and a passion to create the intangible, moving essence of music that brings us together.

Here are the basics:

1. You need to be able to sing in tune.
2. You need to be able to hear those around you and blend your voice with theirs, as our organization emphasizes ensemble singing, not a solo-building group.
3. You need to be able to eventually hold your own—that is, you will need to be able to sing your own part when surrounded by those who don’t. In a barbershop ensemble, there are many times when you are singing while standing by someone who isn’t singing your part.
4. You will probably want to begin a normal warm-up routine at home before you practice. This will be good for your voice, and depending on what you choose to do for warm-ups, you can specifically work on many different skills at once (e.g., flexibility, range, breath control, dynamic [volume] control, etc.).  
5. In order to keep your level consistent and/or improve, you will want to make sure you have a plan for practicing the songs at home, either with the help of learning tracks or not. It’s just like exercising the body—if you do it on a regular basis, you will reap the benefits, and if you don’t, you’ll definitely see the decline.