Cheat Sheet:

Roots of A Cappella

A cappella conjures up a variety of images – from those squeaky madrigals in junior high school, to barbershop quartets, doo-wop groups, beatboxers and The Whiffenpoofs.

In this article, we’ll give you some basics about the history of a cappella and its most influential interpreters.

A more or less acceptable description a cappella is vocal music without instrumental accompaniment, an all-vocal performance of music.

In the Beginning

A cappella is rooted in religious music from early Judaism to Christianity (think Gregorian Chants, for example) and Islam.    Much of the sacred music of the Renaissance was a cappella.

“Instrumental worship” was not popular until the 18th century and even today, there are sects and groups that eschew the use of instruments. The most traditional Jewish services do not allow musical instruments for fear that musicians would, on occasion, need to repair their instruments on a holy day in which “work” is forbidden.  Some present day Presbyterian churches and Mennonite sects also follow a voices-only form of worship.  (This is in sharp contrast to the growth of the contemporary Christian church with amplified praise bands.)

Barbershop Music
When most of us think of barbershop music or barbershop quartets, we think of Caucasian men sporting moustaches and straw hats, wearing 1890s garb, singing “Sweet Adeline”. 

The history of barbershop music, though, takes us back to African American gospel quartets that practiced tight harmonies, often performing in barbershops in the early 20th century.  The Mills Brothers, an immensely popular pop/jazz vocal group in the 1940s, recorded three barbershop albums.  Born into the tradition, their father (a barbershop owner) founded an early quartet, The Four Kings of Harmony.

Barbershop music experienced a revival in the middle of the 20th century. According to some sources, there are over 80,000 barbershop singers around the world, most of whom are members of three major organizations.   While their repertoire has grown, barbershop staples still include chestnuts like “Down By the Old Mill Stream” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”.

A Cappella Goes to College
Collegiate a cappella was born in 1909 when the Yale Glee Club spawned The Whiffenpoofs.  “The Whiffenpoof Song” went on to become the most covered a cappella collegiate song in history.

Yale wasn’t alone in fostering a cappella groups on college campuses.   In fact, as early as 1911, Midwest colleges including St. Olaf, Concordia, Augustana and Augsburg followed suit with choruses of 40-80 singers perfecting bend, intonation, pitch and phrasing.  

Today, there are over 1,000 a cappella groups on college campuses throughout the United States.  Some of these groups have produced popular solo artists — John Legend, for instance, performed with the Counterparts, a University of Pennsylvania group.  There are popular Hindi, Arabic, and Punjabi groups at leading American universities.  A cappella has also taken root with University-born groups like Navi Redd in Africa.

Doo Wop and Beyond
A cappella and popular music met at the crossroads of jazz and pop, as we’ve discussed, in the 1940s with vocal groups like the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots.  But think about Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong’s scat singing – and there’s another contemporary interpretation.

“ Among the most popular artists in the mid-1950s were the Clovers, Drifters, Harptones and Moonglows.”

In the 1950s, a musical phenomenon took root in doo-wop groups.  These groups were typified by four or five members – bass, baritone, tenor and lead, often singing in three or four-part harmony.   The term “doo-wop” described the often nonsensical words sung by the backing vocalists.  (Consider, for example, rock and roll’s later “rama-lama-ding-dong”.)  Doo-wop music was invariably about love or romance gone sad, if not bad  - and fused jazz, swing, country and gospel riffs.    Among the most popular artist in the mid-1950s were the Clovers, Drifters, Harptones and Moonglows.   According to one music reviewer, “the artists started young and burned out early”, often underfinanced and exploited by unscrupulous promoters and record labels.

“Most credit The Persuasions and the UK’s The King’s Singers for resurrecting a dying art.”

A cappella music enjoyed a considerable rebirth in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s with artists such as The Manhattan Transfer.  Most credit The Persuasions and the UK’s The King’s Singers for resurrecting a dying art and making possible careers for artists like Bobby McFerrin, Take 6, The Nylons and Boyz II Men.

A cappella is probably as popular today as it has even been.  In addition to countless a cappella societies and organizations (see the Resource Room at the end of this article), beatboxing (vocal percussion) has become a fixture in pop/rock music.  And as artists release vocal tracks for fan remixes, a cappella continues to take on new textures and new directions a century after the heavenly strains of The Whiffenpoof  Song – in itself a lyrical remix of a Rudyard Kipling verse.