Are you a fan of all types of music? Then this topic might be interesting to you. We focus here on telling you more about acapella music, a very popular way of singing these days, especially in TV shows and films. What is it and how did it start?
Acapella music is simply defined as group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. In other words, no guitars, no pianos, no windunstrements, no percussion, no nothing, only vocal cords.
Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to sound like actual musical instruments. Acappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses, How did this peculiar genre start then?
For the first 1000 years of Christianity, all hymns in the church were sung without instrumental accompaniment. This style of singing came to be known as acappella (also spelled as “a cappella”), meaning, “of the church” or “in the style of the church.”
Other sources confirm this detail stating that acappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music. In fact, Gregorian chant is a good example of acappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance.
It was a good and convenient way to perform music indeed, not needing anything but your voice. In the United States, Peter Christian Lutkin, dean of the Northwestern University School of Music, helped popularize this type of music by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was “the first permanent organization of its kind in America.”
Since then, acapella music has become more and more popular. In fact, these days, many acappella groups can be found in high schools and colleges. Today we even have artists who focus more on singing acappella style, such as Pentatonix, Noteworthy, Exit 245, and No Instruments Allowed.
Do you have an acapella band and you’d like to share what you can do to the world? Why not share it here?
Leave a Reply