A_cappella

{{Two other uses|the vocal technique|the Todd Rundgren album|A Cappella (album)|the all-male Contemporary Christian vocal group|Acappella (group)}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2007}}

'''''A cappella''''' (Italian: “at the chapel” or Latin: "From the chapel/choir") [[music]] is [[vocal music]] or [[singing]] without [[musical instrument|instrumental]] [[accompaniment]], or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ''A cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] [[polyphony]] and [[Baroque (music)|Baroque]] [[concertato]] style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music.<ref>{{GroveOnline|A cappella|William C. Holmes|March 22|2007}}</ref> In modern usage, ''a cappella'' often refers to an all-vocal performance of any style, including [[Barbershop quartet|barbershop]], [[doo wop]], and modern pop/rock.

==Religious traditions==
''A cappella'' music originally was, and still often is, used in [[church music]]. [[Gregorian chant]] is an example of ''a cappella'' singing, as is the majority of sacred vocal music from the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]]. The [[madrigal (music)|madrigal]], up until its development in the early [[Baroque music|Baroque]] into an instrumentally-accompanied form, is also usually an ''a cappella'' form.

===Christian===
Present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment include some [[Presbyterian]] churches devoted to the [[regulative principle of worship]], [[Old Regular Baptist]]s, [[Primitive Baptist]]s, [[Plymouth Brethren]], most congregations among the [[Church of Christ|churches of Christ]], the [[Old German Baptist Brethren]] , the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Christian Church and the [[Amish]]. Many [[Mennonite]]s also conduct some or all of their services without instruments. [[Sacred Harp]], a type of religious "folk" music, is an ''a cappella'' style of religious singing, but is more often sung at singing conventions than at church services.

Christian ''a cappella'' [[polyphony]] began to be developed in Europe around the late 1400s; early works are often identified with [[Josquin des Prez]]. The early ''a cappella''s seem to have had an accompanying instrument, although this instrument doubled the singers and were not independent. By the 1500s, ''a cappella'' [[polyphony]] had been fully developed; [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina]]'s works are considered excellent examples. After Palestrina, the [[cantata]] began to take ''a cappella''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s place.<ref>[http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9003189 "a cappella"]. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 2, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>

===Jewish===
Traditional [[Judaism|Jewish]] religious services do not include musical instruments. The use of instruments is traditionally forbidden on the Sabbath out of concern that players would be tempted to repair their instruments, which is forbidden on those days. (This prohibition has been relaxed in many Reform and some Conservative congregations.) Similarly, when Jewish families and larger groups sing traditional Sabbath songs known as ''[[zemirot]]'' outside the context of formal religious services, they usually do so ''a cappella'', and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations on the Sabbath sometimes feature entertainment by ''a cappella'' ensembles. Moreover, many Jews consider the 49-day period of the [[Counting of the Omer|counting of the omer]] between Passover and Shavuot to be a time of semi-mourning when instrumental music is not allowed. This has led to a tradition of ''a cappella'' singing sometimes known as ''sefirah'' music.<ref name="Shircago"> [http://www.shircago.com/jewish-a-cappella-omer.php Shircago, ''Jewish A Cappella and Sefirat Omer''].</ref>

===Muslim===
Some [[Muslim]]s have also adopted the idiom of ''a cappella'' music. Muslim ''a cappella'' songs are called ''[[anasheed]]''.

== ''A cappella'' in the United States==
A strong and prominent ''a cappella'' tradition was begun in the midwest part of the United States in 1911 by F. Melius Christiansen, a music faculty member at St. Olaf college in Northfield, Minnesota. The St. Olaf College Choir was established as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church, where Christiansen was organist and the choir was composed at least partially of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a rich tradition of ''a cappella'' choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), Luther College (Decorah, IA), Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN), Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), and Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN). The choirs typically range from 40 singers to 80 and are recognized for their efforts to perfect blend, intonation, phrasing, and pitch in a large choral setting.

Major movements in modern ''a cappella'' over the past century include [[Barbershop music|Barbershop]] and [[doo wop]]. The [[Barbershop Harmony Society]], [[Sweet Adelines International]], and Harmony Inc. host educational events including Harmony College, Directors College, and the International Educational Symposium, and international contests and conventions, recognizing international champion [[List of chorus champions by year|choruses]] and [[List of quartet champions by year|quartets]].

The [[King's Singers]] are credited with promoting interest in small-group ''a cappella'' performances in the 1960s. In 1983 an ''a cappella'' group known as [[The Flying Pickets]] had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of [[Yazoo (band)|Yazoo]]'s (known in the US as [[Yaz]]) [[Only You]]. ''A cappella'' music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as [[The Manhattan Transfer]], but it was [[The Persuasions]] who saved the dying art and opened the door for such artists as [[Bobby McFerrin]], [[Huey Lewis and the News]], [[All 4 One]], [[The Nylons]] and [[Boyz II Men]]. Jerry Lawson, former lead singer, arranger and producer of The Persuasions left The Persuasions after 40 years and in 2007 released his 23 albums with his new a cappella group Jerry Lawson and Talk of The Town.

===Recording artists===
One of the legendary 50's R&B groups were the Nutmegs, who were also known as the "Rajahs of acappella". They were the first of these groups to proudly showcase an ''a cappella'' format which became their trademark. Later, many other groups recorded at least one ''a cappella'' song. The Classics, singers of "Till then", scored a very popular ''a cappella'' hit, "I Apologize". Later in the 1970s, [[The Belmonts]] released a seminal a cappella album entitled ''Cigars, Acappella, Candy'',<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.music-hills.com/The-Belmonts/Cigars-Acappella-Candy-B000002H8O.htm
|title = The Belmonts – Cigars, Acappella, Candy
|accessdate = 2007-09-13
|publisher = Music Hills
}}</ref> which is representative of the genre.

Contemporary ''a cappella'' includes many vocal bands who add [[vocal percussion]] or [[beatboxing]] to create a pop/rock sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. One such group is [[Rockapella]]. There also remains a strong ''a cappella'' presence within Christian music, as some denominations purposefully do not use instruments during worship. An emerging such singing group has the name [[Acappella (group)|Acappella]].

Arrangements of popular music for small ''a cappella'' ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or [[Polyphony|polyphonic]] accompaniment.

''A cappella'' can also describe the practice of using just the vocal track(s) from a [[multitrack]], instrumental recording to be [[remix]]ed or put onto vinyl records for DJs. Artists sometimes release the vocal tracks of their popular songs so that fans can remix them. One such example is the ''a cappella'' release of [[Jay-Z]]'s [[The Black Album (Jay-Z album)|Black Album]], which [[Danger Mouse]] mixed with the [[Beatles]]' [[The White Album|White Album]] to create [[The Grey Album]].

''A cappella''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s growth is not limited to live performance, with hundreds of recorded ''a cappella'' albums produced over the past decade. As of December 2006, the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB) had reviewed over 660 ''a cappella'' albums since 1994, and its popular discussion forum had over 900 users and 19,000 articles.

==Collegiate ''a cappella''==
{{main|collegiate a cappella}}
{{see also|List of collegiate a cappella groups}}
This prominence, as well as a change in the style — voices used as modern rock instruments, including [[vocal percussion]]/"[[beatboxing]]" — helped fuel an explosion in collegiate a cappella. Some larger universities now have a dozen groups or more, and the total number of college groups grew from 250 circa 1990 to over 1,000 now. One of the oldest collegiate ''a cappella'' groups is [[The Whiffenpoofs]] of [[Yale University]]<ref name=Yale>{{cite web
|url = http://www.singers.com/collegiate/whiffenpoofs.html
|title = The Yale Whiffenpoofs
|accessdate = 2007-09-14
|publisher = United Singers International
}}</ref>, formed in 1909, which once included [[Cole Porter]] as a member.<ref name=Yale /> In 2006, [[Columbia University]]'s Kingsmen were featured in the film [[The Good German]]. The groups often join one another in on-campus concerts, such as the Chimes' Cherry Tree Massacre, a 3-weekend ''a cappella'' festival held each February since 1975, where over a hundred collegiate groups have appeared, as well as [[List of quartet champions by year|International Quartet Champions]] [[Boston Common (quartet)|The Boston Common]], and the contemporary commercial ''a cappella'' group [[Rockapella]].

''A cappella'' is gaining popularity among [[South Asian]] youth with the emergence of primarily Hindi-English College groups. Examples of all-male groups include [[Penn Masala]] at the University of Pennsylvania and Raagapella at Stanford. All-female groups are less common, but still exist. An example of an all-female group is [[Illini Chandani]], from the [[University of Illinois]]. Co-ed South Asian a cappella groups are also gaining popularity. [[Ektaal]], founded in 1999 within the [[University of Virginia]], recently went co-ed in 2006, but prior to that, was an all-female group. Several similar groups exist at other colleges. These groups have attained significant critical acclaim with their distinct style of mixing songs and applying ''a cappella'' to styles of different cultures. [[Penn Masala]] has songs in [[Hindi]], [[Arabic]], [[English language|English]], [[Punjabi]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], with lyrics from different languages in the same song. Many South Asian a cappella groups compete annually at Anahat, the first and only South Asian a cappella competition in the U.S. This event is organized by [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]]'s Indus Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucberkeleyindus.com/anahat.html |title=Anahat |accessdate=2007-11-20 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley Indus}}</ref>

Increased interest in modern ''a cappella'' (particularly collegiate ''a cappella'') can be seen in the growth of awards such as the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (overseen by the [[Contemporary A Cappella Society]]) and competitions such as the [[International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella]] for college groups and the [[Harmony Sweepstakes]] for all groups.

==Emulating instruments==
In addition to singing words, some ''a cappella'' singers also emulate instrumentation by reproducing the melody with their [[vocal cords]]. For instance, "[[Twilight Zone (dance song)|Twilight Zone]]" by [[2 Unlimited]] was sung ''a cappella'' to the instrumentation on the comedy [[television series]] ''[[Tompkins Square (television)|Tompkins Square]]''. Another famous example of emulating instrumentation instead of singing the words is the theme song for ''[[The New Addams Family]]'' series on [[Fox Family Channel]] (now [[ABC Family]]). Groups such as [[Vocal Sampling]] and Undivided emulate Latin rhythms ''a cappella''. In the 1960's, the Swingle Singers used their voices to emulate musical instruments to Baroque and Classical music. Vocal artist [[Bobby McFerrin]] is famous for his instrumental emulation, and [[Deke Sharon]] has taught seminars on how to sing a variety of instrumental sounds.

The [[Swingle Singers]] used non-sense words to sound like instruments, but have been known to produce non-verbal versions of musical instruments. Like the other groups, examples of their music can be found on You Tube. [[Beatboxing]] is a form of ''a cappella'' music popular in the [[hip-hop]] community, where [[rapping|rap]] is often performed ''a cappella'' also.

==References==
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==See also==
*[[Collegiate a cappella]]
*[[List of collegiate a cappella groups]]
*[[List of professional a cappella groups]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.casa.org/index.php Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA)]
* [http://www.rarb.org/ The Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB)]
* [http://www.voicesonlyacappella.com/ Voices Only, Annual compilation cd of collegiate a cappella.]
* [http://www.vocalsource.net/ VocalSource - A Cappella Recording Community]
* [http://www.acappellanews.com/ A Cappella News - a blog with news on vocal harmony]
* [http://www.a-cappella.org.sg/ The A Cappella Society (Singapore)]
* [http://www.a-cappella.com/ A-Cappella.com, a U.S. source of a cappella products]
* [http://www.singers.com/ Primarily A Cappella, a U.S. source of a cappella products]
* [http://www.acapellas4u.co.uk/ Acapellas4U, community based discussion of acapellas and vocal extraction]
* [http://www.blacklabelled.com BlackLabelled, a website dedicated to acapellas news and files]

[[Category:Music genres]]
[[Category:Singing]]
[[Category:Vocal music]]
[[Category:A cappella musical groups| ]]

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