Welcome to The Marionaires Barber Shop Chorus

Barbershop music, with its close, unaccompanied four-part harmonies and ringing chords, is a uniquely American folk art. Although no one can say exactly when or where barbershop music began, the growth of the tradition was certainly aided between the 1860's and 1920's by the types of songs popular at the time... songs characterized by sentimental lyrics and uncomplicated melodies that could be harmonized with a variety of four-part chords. One of the distinctive qualities of barbershop harmony is that the melody, sung by the lead voice, is below the tenor harmony. The barbershop style comes from the combination of chord structure, sound delivery and interpretation, which locks the chords to produce overtones. This particular style of music appeared at a time when the BARBERSHOP was the male social center of many communities. 

The Marionaires is the Marion Ohio Chapter of the BARBERSHOP HARMONY SOCIETY, an international organization, and is included in the Johnny Appleseed District of the BHS. The BHS is legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), which was the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form.