Music Theory, Race, and the Barbershop Harmony Society

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines how music theory has historically been utilized within the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) to influence and affirm the Society’s social and political values, in particular as they relate to whiteness, racial segregation, and racial discrimination in the United States. As evidence, the chapter cites Society-published style treatises written by barbershop practitioners with insider knowledge of their communities. The work of these practitioners determines the rules of the barbershop style for an international community of musicians. After introducing the concept of “invented traditions,” the chapter then discusses the Society’s early definitions of the barbershop style and culture; its practices of segregation and discrimination during the civil rights era (and the corresponding musical preservationism); and concludes with reflections on its present-day “Everyone in Harmony” diversity initiative (2017–).

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