Take 6: Behind the Scenes of Quartets
By: Whitney Holmes
Origin of Quartets
Quartets originated in the black church following the American Civil War and Emancipation . The quartet “era” is typically broken up into three sub-eras or three periods in which different types of quartets became popular in America. These sub-eras are the Jubilee period (1880-1929), the transitional period (1930-1945), and the gospel period (1946-1969). Europeans defined quartets of simply having a group of four men in a singing group; however, African Americans considered quartets to be a group of 4-6 people, typically men, that sang in 4 different parts a cappella or with very little instruments.
Elements of Jubilee Quartets
There are several types of Jubilee Quartets that became well known in America. One of the most well known types is the University jubilee quartet. University quartets began at black higher education institutions, now HBCUS, following the Civil War. Hampton University, Atlanta University, and Fisk University were some of the schools that were known for their quartets. Quartets were often times used as a way to bring attention and money to the schools. Minstrel Jubilee quartets were another type of jubilee quartet that was developed by whites. The purpose of these quartets were to imitate, mock, and humiliate blacks. Barbershop community quartets originated in the black community during the 1880s. They included harmonization with spirituals, folk songs, and the most popular songs of the era in which they were in. These groups started off as recreational groups then became more professional as time passed by.
Take 6
Quartets became more and more common in both black and white America. Quartets were also common for quite some time, ongoing for several decades. One quartet that developed during the 1980s was the Take 6 quartet. Take 6 is a gospel a cappella group with 6 male members that were known for integrating jazz with spiritual lyrics. Historically, quartets played a major role in the church which led to them involving into gospel groups with a twist. The group originated at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, but they later became well-known across the entire country. Take 6 has received multiple Grammy awards, Soul Train awards, and other musical awards. They have also performed for and with notable artists such as Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, and Ray Charles.
Commodification
At the beginning, quartets were known as performers and the only way to hear them was to be in their presence. That began to church during the second decade of the 20th century. With the innovation of technology, quartets became very commercialized. This also made the spread of musical groups faster and listening more convenient for their target audiences. Radio broadcasting significantly impacted the listening style of quartet audiences. Quartet groups began to record their songs, and radio stations played them typically on Sunday mornings. The Southernairies, were the first African American quartet to be broadcasted on radio. The combination of quartet broadcasting becoming more popular in America and the spiritual lyrics within quartet music, eventually lead to the crossover to gospel radio. Quartets began in the black church, and often times incorporated spiritual lyrics within the music so it became a key influence on what became gospel music.
What do I think?
Quartets have clearly played a significant role in African American history and music history in general. Not only did they provide great entertainment for the people of that era, but they influenced many of the modern genres of musical styles we have today. Today, traditional quartets are not very common amongst mainstream America; however, I believe that many R&B boy bands and groups got some of their styles from quartets. There are several R&B groups such as New Edition and Cameo that have the quartet appearance such as wearing suits and having 4-6 men in the group, but the groups typically do not have 4 different harmonizing parts. The idea of harmonization and having several parts however is very common in the Gospel genre.
