The Revival of the Barbershop Quartet

The Hamilton District Christian High Barbershop Quartet in Chicago circa May 2016 courtesy https://www.facebook.com/youngandsharpquartet/.

My son, Thomas, joined Hamilton District Christian High's barbershop quartet last January.  They sang at our Christmas and Easter assemblies as well as on a Chicago Music Tour in May.  Thomas and another member just graduated but they enjoy barbershopping so much that they plan on continuing to sing with the quartet.  Thus far, Young & Sharp, their new name, has completed one paid gig, for a group of businessmen, and have a wedding lined up.  They even have a uniform consisting of black pants and shirts, red suspenders and bow ties, and straw-boater hats (https://www.facebook.com/youngandsharpquartet/).

In the course of spreading the word about the Young & Sharp, I have discovered that the barbershop quartet has made a comeback in recent years.  Brantford Collegiate Institute and St. John's College both have barbershop quartets in town.  I wanted to find out more about the phenomenon.

Young black Americans sang in quartets for decades before the barbershop quartet caught on.  They would sing on street corners, in parlors and in barbershops.  Historian James Weldon Johnson said that in Jacksonville, Florida:  "Every barbershop seemed to have its own quartet."

Between 1900 and 1919, the barbershop quartet caught on among white Americans.  Dressed in straw-boaters, white shirts and pants, and striped vests, four men would harmonize a cappella songs such as Sweet Adeline, Goodbye My Coney Island Baby and Shine On Harvest Moon.  The four part harmony consisted of:  a lead, who sung the melody; a tenor who harmonized the melody; a baritone who completed the chord, singing just below the lead.

With the jazz era, and the popularity of radio, barbershoppers declined in number.  Songwriters wrote "more sophisticated melodies" which lended themselves to dancing rather than crooning (http://www.acappellafoundation.org/essay/bbshistory.html).

In 1938, two men from Tulsa, Oklahoma, O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall, met up in Kansas City and reminisced about barbershop quartets.  They formed "The Society for the Preservation and Propagation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in the United States.  While only 26 men attended their first meeting, about 150 attended their third meeting where they ended up harmonizing on the rooftop.  A local reporter, sensing a story, interviewed O.C. Cash who claimed they had chapters all over the United States.  Americans started signing up and by the 1940's, they had a revival on their hands.

Famous barbershop quartets over time include:

• The Hayd'n Quartet (early 1900's, also known as The Edison Quartet)
• American Quartet (first quarter of 20th Century)
• The Buffalo Bills (1950 International Quartet Champions)
• The Suntones (1960 International Quartet Champions, regularly appeared on Jackie Gleason Show)
• The Dapper Dans of Disneyland (appeared as The Be Sharps in Simpson's Season 5, Episode 1)
• The Singing Senators (U.S. Senators)
• Nightlife (1996 International Quartet Champions, Los Angeles based)
• Ringmasters (Swedish Quartet, first BHS Champions from outside U.S.)
• Vocal Spectrum (BHS International Champions, 2006)

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Identify Your Major Definite Purpose

"What would be the one thing that would wake you out of bed in the morning and get you fired up for your day?" (www.sourceofinsight.com)

Brian Tracy devotes a chapter to "Your Major Definite Purpose" in his book Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Every Thought Possible   Imagine what you would like to be known for long after you die.  What would you like your tombstone inscription to read?  

Tracy outlines steps to identify your major definite purpose:

1.  It is something that you personally want, not that someone else has suggested.  It should excite you, make you happy.  

2.  It should be clear and specific.  When written down, it should be something that a child could understand.

3.  It should be measurable ex.  I would like to earn $100,000 by June 1, 2016.  Or, as an ESL instructor, I would like to teach ten people how to speak and write English fluently.

4.  It should be believable and achievable (at least 50% success rate).  For instance, if you want to become a millionaire within a year and you have no money in your bank account, such a goal is likely not within your reach.  It might serve to discourage rather than motivate you.

5.  Your major definite goal should be in harmony with all of your other goals.  

6.  Your major definite goal will likely help you achieve many of your other goals.

Don't think that you need to have a paying job to have a purpose.  As Rick Warren says "If you're alive, you have a purpose."  Your purpose might be to raise the next generation as a stay at home mom.  Your purpose might be to help others as a volunteer at your child's school, at the general hospital, at the local playhouse or at the neighbourhood soccer field.   Volunteers really do make the world go round.  Your purpose might be to start a daily blog.  I still derive great joy from mine, even after almost five years of blogging!  Having a purpose makes you feel alive; it gives you a feeling of self-worth.  Everyone needs a major definite purpose.  What's yours?

For more information, read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren at 

http://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Life-Rick-Warren/dp/0310205719.

Chasing Butterflies vs. Digging for Gold

"Realize what you really want.  It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold."  (William Moulton Marsden)





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In his book Goals:  How To Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, author Brian Tracy references a study conducted on a group of Harvard MBA graduates in 1979.  One group upon graduation did not have any specific goals (84%).  The second group had goals, but did not write them down (13%).  The third group wrote down their goals (3%). Ten years later, a follow up study was conducted.  It turned out that the second group, who had goals, was making twice the amount of money of the first group, who was goalless.  The third group, however, who had written down their goals, was making ten times the money of the first two groups!

Brian Tracy says there are seven keys to goal setting:

1.  Goals must be clear, specific and detailed.  Vague statements like:  "I'm going to be a happier person" will not be beneficial to you.  Goals must be written down.  The act of writing it down helps transform what might seem like a pipe dream into a realistic goal.

2.  Goals must be measurable and objective.  A third party should be able to evaluate them.

3.  "Attaching a deadline to each goal is like ending a statement with an exclamation mark!" says Brian Tracy.  A deadline keeps you dedicated to the task at hand.  Goals can be set at one week, one month, six months, one year or five years.  Daily goal setting is also recommended.

4.  Goals should be challenging.  They must take you a bit out of your comfort zone.  At the same time, they should be attainable (50% probability rate).

5.  Goals must be in harmony with your values and with your other goals.  For example, building a successful business and playing golf every afternoon do not go hand in hand.

6.  Goals should be balanced among the many aspects of your life:  career, family, finances, health, spiritual life, community involvement.  A well rounded person is a more happy and fulfilled person.

7.  You must have a major purpose for your life.  You must have one goal that strives towards this purpose.  As you move towards the one major goal, you will likely find yourself achieving the smaller ones as well.

It's up to you how you want to organize your goals, whether in list form or as a chart.  You can write them on a calendar or on multi-coloured notepad paper.  You can save them on your cell phone or IPod or tuck them away in a secret drawer.  I would recommend that you keep them somewhere that is easily accessible and visible to you.  If they are handwritten, use pencil just in case you need to made changes or additions.   Brian Tracy suggests that you revisit your goals frequently to see how you are progressing.

For more information, read:

1.  Motivation and Goals:  How to Set and Achieve Goals and Inspire Others by Jim Cairo (1998) at http://www.amazon.com/Motivation-Goal-Setting-Jim-Cairo/dp/1564143643.

2.  Goal Setting and Self Directed Behavior Change by David A. Kolb and Richard E. Boyatzis (2011) at http://www.amazon.ca/Goal-Setting-Self-Directed-Behavior-Change/dp/1178802795.

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