BARBERSHOP HISTORY-GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ

author: Mark Axelrod, editor of "Blue Chip Chatter," Teaneck, NJ.

Define the following musical terms:

1- Expanded Sound

2- Tonic Chord

3- Pedal tone

4- Overtones

5- Harmonics


Answers to Barbershop History - General Knowledge Quiz:

1- Expanded Sound: The effect resulting from the combined interaction of voices sung with accurate intonation, uniform word sounds in good quality, proper volume relationships that reinforce the more compatible harmonics and combination tones, and with precision, all producing an effect greater than the sum of the individual voice parts. (Axelrod’s interpretation: Do everything just right and the sound will have greater volume and better projection than would seem possible from four singers, or four sections. Put another way…1+1+1+1 = 5 or maybe more).

2- Tonic Chord: A major triad built on the key note of any given scale. In the key of C major, for example, the tonic chord is C-E-G.

3- Pedal Tone: A tone which is sustained while other voices move freely over, under or around it. Pedal tones are most often found in the lowest voice.

4- Overtones: Tones of higher pitch (than the fundamental tone which is being sung) which are present in a regular series in every musical sound and whose presence or absence determines the timbre of that sound.

5- Harmonics - A synonym for overtones


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