Guest Night
Guest Night at a Glance
Who: The Harbor Sounds Chorus and anyone of good character who is interested in singing with us or learning more about barbershop harmony. You do not need to sing to attend! You may participate in whatever way you feel most comfortable.
What: A guest night! This is a rehearsal that is specifically designed with new singers in mind. If you can't make it, you're always welcome to attend rehearsals on a different night. We sing year-round, but May is a terrific time to join us as we ramp up for our fall show and regional convention.
When: 7 pm - 9 pm, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Feel free to show up early and leave late!
Where: Bay City Western High School - 500 W Midland Rd, Auburn, MI 48611. We are in the choir room near door 7. There will be signage directing you to the northeast parking lot and a map below.
Why: Singing in the shower is fun, but it's even more fun singing with others! We want to share the joy of singing with our community and provide a low-stress opportunity for people to come and see why there are over 70,000 barbershop singers worldwide.
Once you get to Bay City Western High School, you can use the below map to help you find the choir room where we rehearse. If you have trouble finding it, give us a call at 608-572-9557 and we can help!
Why Harbor Sounds?
Harbor Sounds provides several unique opportunities for vocalists that cannot be found in other ensembles within the Great Lakes Bay Region. There are many choirs near us in Saginaw, Bay City, Midland, and the surrounding area, but we have differentiated ourselves by:
Focusing on life-long learning. You're never too old or experienced to learn new tricks. We spend a portion of each rehearsal on music and vocal education. We also frequently bring in world-class coaching through the Barbershop Harmony Society to help our chorus and our members grow.
Being a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. We're part of the largest musical organization in the world and our members have access to significant musical resources and social networks.
Singing modern, contemporary music in the English language. Repertoire is more fun to sing and listen to when both the singers and audiences recognize the song.
Requiring that all of our music is a cappella. This places a special emphasis on perfect intonation and musical expression from the chorus.
Encouraging quartets. The chorus serves as an ideal environment to meet other motivated singers in the Tri-City Area, in Michigan, and around the world so you can form small ensembles. These quartets can compete, benefit from coaching, and sing on our shows!
Giving singers a voice in the chorus. Our monthly board meetings are open to all members and annual board member elections allow members to steer the direction of the chorus and make their voices heard.
Being excellent to each other. You won't find a friendlier group of people and the chorus often meets up after each rehearsal to grab a drink and sing some old songs.
A normal music calendar for this choir includes a competition in the fall, an annual show, and several community performances throughout the Great Bay Lakes Region.
What to Expect On January 15th
Before Rehearsal: We'll have a packet of information and sheet music for the night so you can hit the ground running. We'll also pair you up with a singing buddy that shares your voice part so they can help you learn the music and answer any questions you may have. In barbershop, voice parts are a little different from the classical SATB. A description of the voice parts and their ranges are shown below. If you don't know your range, arrive early and we'll help you find it!
During Rehearsal: We'll start with some stretching and warmups to get the body, voice, and mind ready for singing. After warmups, we'll work on a few songs (Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Country Roads). This can be a little daunting if you don't know how to read sheet music, which is why we also purchase learning tracks to help our members learn their part. These learning tracks are recordings of each song that have your part a little louder than the other voices so you can hear what notes and words you should be singing. Many members enjoy listening to them while in the car on their way to rehearsal! If you'd like, you can click on the link for each of the above songs to listen to the learning tracks ahead of time. We'll also teach a tag. A tag is the end of a song that's used as a social activity in barbershop. They're quick to teach and you can quickly have four singers putting out a pretty good quartet sound. Finally, we'll have the chorus sing a few songs for you so you can hear how the group sounds.
Near the end of the rehearsal, our director will share some background on the chorus and open the time up for questions. Finally, we'll end the rehearsal with the Barbershop Harmony Society's motto, Keep The Whole World Singing.
After Rehearsal: Stick around and sing some tags with us after rehearsal! After each rehearsal, several members usually meet at O's for additional singing and socialization.
Voice Parts:
We sing a cappella music in four parts. Lead and bass are recommended for beginners, but pick whatever part you feel most comfortable singing!
Tenor - Upper Harmonies - High Part
(Similar to Alto 1 in Classical Music)
Lead - Melody - Upper Middle Part
(Similar to Tenor 1 in Classical Music)
Baritone - Anti-Melody - Lower Middle Part
(Similar to Tenor 2 in Classical Music)
Bass - Foundation - Low Part
(Similar to Bass 1 in Classical Music)
FAQ
I see mostly men in these pictures. Can women join? Yes! We are proud to have several women in the chorus and would love to have more. Historically, the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) was a male-only organization. In 2018, BHS opened its doors to allow "Everyone in Harmony" and the Harbor Sounds Chorus enthusiastically responded. We're proud to be a mixed (male and female) barbershop chorus and would love to have you sing with us.
I'm a soprano and the highest part (tenor) is kind of low. What's the plan? Although the highest part is called "Tenor", it's actually closer to Alto 1. However, we understand that this may still be too low for some voices. Inclusion of all voices is important to us and we're actively working to accommodate our members' vocal ranges by rekeying and rearranging pieces as needed. As the number of treble-voiced members (or potential members!) grows, we plan on moving to higher-voiced arrangements with more traditional SATB voicings.
I can’t read music, is that okay? You are in good company. We have learning tracks for each of our songs where you can hear your part alone or amplified. This is also useful for memorization!
This is a barbershop chorus… what about barbershop quartets? Quartets are still alive and well! We have two registered quartets within the chorus that perform with and without Harbor Sounds. This chorus is a great resource for building a quartet!
I can't sing, can I still watch? Yes! If you'd just like to watch and listen, you're welcome to do so. If you're feeling brave part-way through the rehearsal and change your mind, you're also welcome to join us on the risers.
Can I join if I'm still in school? Yes! We would love to have you. If you're under 18, please have a parent/guardian present or contact us ahead of time to ensure we are upholding our youth policy.
Want more info? Reach out through our contact page!