“Yeah, I used to sing in the high school choir. It was fun, but I haven’t really sung since then.”

“I was in a choir at my church when I was little but other than that, I’ve only sung in the shower. I like to sing, though, I really do.”

If you’ve ever heard yourself saying something similar, there is a singer in you that is waiting for another chance to be heard. All you need is that chance and perhaps a little encouragement. It’s time to knock the rust off your “pipes,” be brave, and go find a group of singers to join.

Barbershop singers are some of the coolest, most helpful, most optimistic and community-minded people you will ever meet. Their attitude: everyone can sing! That was mine, too, even before I encountered the Barbershop Universe where not only do they SAY it, they SING it. Walk up to 4 guys at a barbershop conference and I dare you to tell them you don’t sing; they’ll have you holding your own part on a “tag” within 5 minutes (no brag, just fact!). After that, if you aren’t convinced, they’ll teach you another one, and eventually hand you a folder of music and show you to your seat. It’s really that easy.

Barbershop music is crafted so that it’s beginner-friendly. That’s not saying that all barbershop arrangements are easy: they’re NOT! But most of us have grown up listening to music on the radio, on TV, everywhere and we have learned what to expect in a song. Most popular songs follow a tried-and-true structure that we’ve all heard a thousand times, and barbershop music takes advantage of that unconscious knowledge. You may not think you know much about music (“can’t read music,” “really don’t see any reason to learn to read music”) but you do.

Find a barbershop group and go find out just how much you DO know about music. It’s time you had some fun singing!