Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
A cappella
Abstract
A cappella singing has been a standard in American vocal music for many decades. The first a cappella choir in America is said to be the St. Olaf Choir founded by F. Melius Christiansen. As we progressed through the nineteenth century many other a cappella ensembles formed, such as the Glee club. The start of collegiate a cappella is most often credited to the Whiffenpoofs from Yale. They began in 1909 and are still running today. Also, at this time we began to see the barbershop quartet take form and gain popularity across the country. It was best known for tight harmonies and fun choreographed movements throughout the songs. Barbershop then brought about the Doo-Wop group with song standards such as “The Longest Time”, “In the Still of the Nite”, and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” This then lead into the boom of a cappella on college campuses and the contemporary collegiate a cappella group. “In 1980 there were approximately 110 active groups. By the end of the 1980s, at least 226 groups existed. Within the next decade, 313 new groups had begun—more in the period 1990-99 than in the prior eighty-one years.” Collegiate a cappella was increasing rather rapidly through much of the nineties and was beginning to spread out past the elite universities. Throughout the history of a cappella music in the United States and the a cappella craze across college campuses, this style of singing has become part of many high school choral curriculums. Today you will find many high schools with a cappella choirs, barbershop groups, and maybe even doo-wop. However, the a cappella craze of today on college campuses is the ‘Contemporary (or Pop) a cappella group.’ This type of group is just a continuation of the history of a cappella with its focus on popular music. The use of popular music in the school classroom is not however a widely accepted practice. Contemporary (pop) a cappella is a beneficial and educational performance experience for the school curriculum.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Dr. Yang
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center, Room 246
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
4-16-2014 2:20 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
“We Don’t Need No Instrumentation”: The Educational Benefits of Pop A Cappella
Cedarville, OH
A cappella singing has been a standard in American vocal music for many decades. The first a cappella choir in America is said to be the St. Olaf Choir founded by F. Melius Christiansen. As we progressed through the nineteenth century many other a cappella ensembles formed, such as the Glee club. The start of collegiate a cappella is most often credited to the Whiffenpoofs from Yale. They began in 1909 and are still running today. Also, at this time we began to see the barbershop quartet take form and gain popularity across the country. It was best known for tight harmonies and fun choreographed movements throughout the songs. Barbershop then brought about the Doo-Wop group with song standards such as “The Longest Time”, “In the Still of the Nite”, and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” This then lead into the boom of a cappella on college campuses and the contemporary collegiate a cappella group. “In 1980 there were approximately 110 active groups. By the end of the 1980s, at least 226 groups existed. Within the next decade, 313 new groups had begun—more in the period 1990-99 than in the prior eighty-one years.” Collegiate a cappella was increasing rather rapidly through much of the nineties and was beginning to spread out past the elite universities. Throughout the history of a cappella music in the United States and the a cappella craze across college campuses, this style of singing has become part of many high school choral curriculums. Today you will find many high schools with a cappella choirs, barbershop groups, and maybe even doo-wop. However, the a cappella craze of today on college campuses is the ‘Contemporary (or Pop) a cappella group.’ This type of group is just a continuation of the history of a cappella with its focus on popular music. The use of popular music in the school classroom is not however a widely accepted practice. Contemporary (pop) a cappella is a beneficial and educational performance experience for the school curriculum.
