1- What is the definition of a swipe?
2- Define "medalist" in an international quartet or chorus competition.
3- Name the first medalist quartet from the Mid Atlantic District, and the year of this competition. For extra credit, in what year did this same quartet become the international quartet champion? (More local/district information.)
Answers to Barbershop History-General Knowledge Quiz:
1- Firstly, a swipe should not be confused with a glissando. They are not the same. A glissando is a seamless merging or sliding of pitches in a continuum of ascending or descending notes, one into the next. A swipe is when two or more notes (the more the merrier) are sung on a single syllable. Swipes can be phenomenally complex and go on and on. Perhaps the most impressive swipe in all of barbershop occurs on the word "die," in the tag of the famous rendition of "Goodbye Dixie Goodbye" by the Dealer's Choice. Check it out. It's an absolute mind blower.
2- To be a medalist, a quartet or chorus must place 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th in an international competition.
3- New Jersey's own Garden State Quartet placed 5th in the 1944 internationals, thus becoming the MAD's first medalist quartet. Then, in the 1946 internationals, this same quartet took the gold, thereby adding the distinction of being the MAD's first international quartet champion to its distinguished resume.