Barbershop Boost: How Barbershop Builds Better Choirs

Saturday, January 24, 2026
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM

Description
Discover how barbershop music can strengthen your school choir’s sound, blend, and overall musicianship! Barbershop’s unique focus on tuning, vowel matching, and close harmony creates an ideal training ground for improving choral precision and ensemble cohesion. In this interactive session, you’ll explore practical techniques drawn from barbershop singing that can help your choir develop better listening skills, stronger vocal independence, and a more unified sound. Walk away with new exercises, warm-ups, and teaching strategies that you can easily integrate into your choral rehearsals — and watch your choir’s musicality soar!
Speakers
Jessica Murphy
Learning Objective 1
Develop Choral Tuning and Blend – Understand how the overtone-rich nature of barbershop harmony improves vowel matching and chord tuning, leading to a more balanced and resonant choral sound.
Learning Objective 2
Enhance Listening and Vocal Independence – Learn techniques to strengthen part awareness and individual responsibility within the ensemble, improving balance and intonation
Learning Objective 3
Apply Barbershop Techniques in Rehearsals – Gain practical exercises and warm-ups inspired by barbershop singing to improve your choir’s unity, dynamics, and overall musicianship.
Session Level
Middle School/Junior High, High School