Editing Barbershop quartet (section)

== Roles of vocal parts ==
As a general rule, barbershop quartets use a [[TTBB]] (tenor—tenor—baritone—bass) arrangement, with the second tenor singing the lead. Since the 1940s, barbershop singers have tuned their [[Seventh chord#Types of seventh chords|seventh chords]] with [[just intonation]] to maximize the [[overtone]]s, yielding a distinctive "ringing" sound.{{sfn|Averill|2003|p=164}} [[File:Maxqt.jpg|thumb|[[Max Q (quartet)|Max Q]], winners of the Barbershop Harmony Society's international barbershop convention in Denver, Colorado, 2007. From left to right: Greg Clancy (tenor), Tony DeRosa (lead), Jeff Oxley (bass) and Gary Lewis (baritone).]]

'''Tenor:''' The [[tenor]] generally harmonizes above the lead, making the part the highest in the quartet. So as not to overpower the lead singer, who carries the tune, the part is often sung in [[falsetto]], which is of a softer quality than singing in the [[modal register]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoch |first1=Matthew |title=A dictionary for the modern singer dictionaries for the modern musician |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham |isbn=978-0-8108-8656-8 |pages=20–21}}</ref> though some quartets do make use of tenors with a softer [[modal voice|full voice]] quality.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McNeil |editor-first1=W.K. |title=Encyclopedia of American gospel music |date=2005 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |location=Hoboken |isbn=1-135-37700-6}}</ref> Notable examples of barbershop quartets which made use of the full-voiced tenor include [[The Buffalo Bills (quartet)|The Buffalo Bills]] and [[Boston Common (quartet)|Boston Common]].<ref>{{cite journal | author= <!-- ? --> | date= Winter 2014 | title= Society Hall of Fame, Class of 2014 |url= http://www.issuu.com/theharmonizer/docs/the_harmonizer_-_nov-dec_2014 | journal= The Harmonizer | location= Nashville |publisher= [[Barbershop Harmony Society]] |access-date= May 12, 2015 |page= 23}}</ref>

The [[vocal range|range]] of a tenor in barbershop music does not necessarily closely correspond to that of a [[tenor]]'s range in Classical repertoire, often being more in the range of the classical [[countertenor]] range.<ref>{{cite web |title=Barbershop quartet singing |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52893/barbershop-quartet-singing |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=May 12, 2015}}</ref>

'''Lead:''' The lead, often a lower or second tenor usually sings the main [[melody]].

'''Baritone:''' The [[baritone]] often completes the [[Chord (music)|chord]] with a medium voice, usually slightly below the lead, but sometimes above it. While the baritone's part by itself does not sound as "melodious" as the other three, the baritone is a fundamental role in the quartet to filling in the missing notes and giving each chord a fuller sound.

'''Bass:''' The [[Bass (voice type)|bass]] always sings and [[Harmonization|harmonizes]] the [[Scale (music)|lowest notes]], often setting the root of the chord for root position chords, or singing the lowest note of the chord for [[inverted chord]]s.