Editing A cappella (section)

===Barbershop style===
{{main|Barbershop music}}
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2018}}
[[Barbershop music]] is one of several uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in [[barber]] shops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to the [[Barbershop Harmony Society]] (BHS). Today the BHS has about 22,000 members in approximately 800 chapters across the United States and Canada,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.lakegeorgeexaminer.com/barbershop-harmony-society-keep-whole-world-singing-lake-george/ |newspaper=The Lake George Examiner |date=19 April 2017 |access-date=2 December 2017 |title=Barbershop Harmony Society to 'keep the whole world singing' in Lake George |first=Gillian |last=Burdett |quote=the Society has 22,000 members }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnecd.com/blog/36/finding-harmony-in-nashville |publisher=Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development |date=13 July 2015 |access-date=2 December 2017 |website=tnecd.com |quote=800 chapters across the U.S. and Canada |title=Finding Harmony in Nashville }}</ref> and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barbershop.org/about-us/affiliates/ |title=Barbershop is universal; here are the contacts for our official affiliates |access-date=2 December 2017 |publisher=Barbershop Harmony Society }}</ref> The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style.

In 1945, the first formal women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines, was formed. In 1953, Sweet Adelines became an international organization, although it did not change its name to [[Sweet Adelines International]] until 1991. The membership of nearly 25,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses.

In 1959, a second women's barbershop organization started as a break off from Sweet Adelines due to ideological differences. Based on democratic principles which continue to this day, [http://www.harmonyinc.org Harmony, Inc.] is smaller than its counterpart, but has an atmosphere of friendship and competition. With about 2,500 members in the United States and Canada, Harmony, Inc. uses the same rules in contest that the Barbershop Harmony Society uses. Harmony, Inc. is registered in Providence, Rhode Island.