Having successfully made its way to the list of most popular musical concepts, A Cappella is a trending genre of music in which there is no instrumental accompaniment; music that is purely based on vocals and arrangement of rich sounds from the mouth. In Italian, the term A Cappella translates to “in the manner of the chapel” and is said to have laid it’s foundation in a religious setting in the early 16th century. It is remarkable that this ingenious form of music has not been lost, even in an era of electronic sounds.
A Cappella earned its popularity with barbershop quartets, who would sing melodious four-part harmonies, in matching suits for their performances. Today, The Barbershop Harmony Society keeps the love of these popular A Cappella groups alive. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, groups like The Persuasions and The Manhattan Transfer introduced pop music to this ancient style of singing, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Nylons being one of the most popular songs.
Till very recently, only Ivy League institutions and liberal art colleges had groups performing A Cappella. However, the growth of A Cappella through the internet, radio and tv shows/movies such as Glee and Pitch Perfect has significantly encouraged musicians to explore the techniques and depth of A Cappella. ‘Beat boxing’ is undeniably one of the most popular variations of A Cappella, which involves producing a war of complimentary beats to the words of a song.
A Cappella has not only had a major influence all over the Western world, but has also found its way into Indian music. Penn Masala, the world’s first South Asian A Cappella group, was formed by students from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. The distinct character of Penn Masala was their desire to portray the experience of growing up with Eastern and Western cultures. Their innovative incorporation of Indian music into A Cappella has led to 9 album releases, along with an AMA for Best Soundtrack in 2015.
A huge shoutout to Penn Masala for inspiring and encouraging creative development of music from different genres!
A Cappella is indeed an incredible genre of music that continues to evolve and transform the world. It beautifully portrays the innate musical element in us and definitely deserves to be celebrated more!
— Anuhya Katta
Chords & Co. 