To get a full understanding of how the Pentatonix made A Cappella Modern and Interesting it is a good idea to know some background about the Pentatonix and A Cappella and then look at five ways.
Who Are The Pentatonix
The Pentatonix are a 5 member A Cappella Group from Arlington, Texas, which originated in 2011.
Have a listen to the Evolution of Music sung by the Pentatonix.
Initially Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying and Kirsten (Kirstie) Maldonado ( back left, back middle, back right in above video ) sang together as a trio. Then Scott decided he wanted to enter the Sing-Off Competition, an American television singing competition featuring A Cappella groups. He asked Kristie and Mitch to join him and needed to find two more people for the show. They found Avriel (Avi) Kaplan (front left) through a mutual friend and Kevin Olusola ( front right ) on YouTube. They sung songs like “Video Killed The Radio Star, Born To Be Wild, Love Lockdown and wowed audiences with their electro-infused style. They won the show with this:
It is interesting to note that the name for the Five Member group PENTATONIX came about because of the musical pentatonic scale that has Five Notes.
What is A Cappella
A Cappella is an Italian word which means “from the chapel” or “in the manner of the chapel” or “as in the church”. It takes it’s roots from early religious music. There have been references to Jewish A Xappella chanting dating back as early as 20 BCE. Hence it has been around for a long time.
For many centuries Christians used no instruments in their worship. With regards to music it simply means singing without instrumental accompaniment as the singing in the early church.
There are various styles of A Cappella which developed in the 2oth and 21st Century
These included
Barbershop Vocal Music
Barbershop vocal music developed in the early 1900’s. It predominantly comprised of 4 male singers each taking on a different part in close harmony. These are called Barbershop Quartets. You could also get Barbershop Chorus sung by choirs.
Female barbershop quartets are often referred to as Sweet Adeline Quartets. A good example of this the female group called The Chordettes. They bought barbershop into the pop mainstream with their song “Mr Sandman“. This piece has minimal accompaniment.
Pop music
Around the middle of the 20th century there were bands and individuals that bought A Cappella closer to pop music. This included music from the Persuasions and Manhattan Transfer. And songs such as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by the Nylons, “For the Longest Time” by Billy Joel ( nearly A Capella ) and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” by Boyz II Men ( entirely A Cappella ).
College A Cappella
College A Cappella was traditional from the beginning of the 20th century until recently where groups sang college-specific songs and other classical repetoire. Later in the century groups started imitating rock instruments with beatboxing or vocal percussion.
Expansion to Many Genres
Today you can hear A Cappella in many genres including punk, hip hop and electronica.
To Sum It Up
A Cappella was a style of music used in church music for many centuries. In the 20th century you could hear A Cappella in Barbershop Vocal Music, Pop Music, College Music and then to many genres of music. The barbershop form had close harmony and later vocal percussion became an essential element.
Five Ways The Pentatonix Made
A Cappella Modern and Interesting
1. They were formed in 2011
Vocal Percussion such as Beatboxing and Bass Rhythms became an essential element in the late 1990’s. And so they could include vocal percussion such as these elements because of when they were formed.
2. The Sound Quality of the Band Members are Strong
You have the Three Melodic Singers each with their own unique voices.
Mitch Grassi is the high pitched Tenor Male Vocalist.
Scott Hoying is the lower Baritone Male Vocalist.
Kirsten ( Kirstie ) Maldonado is the Female Vocalist.
Then there is the bass voice and beatboxer to produce the rhythm and electronic sounds.
Avriel Kaplan ( Avi ) has a beautiful low singing voice and provides the bass guitar or synthesiser sounds.
Kevin Olusola, the beatboxer, does amazing beatbox drum sounds.
Take a listen to Joy To The World.
You will hear the distinct bass and beatboxing sounds together with the melodies and harmonies. The members have turns at soloing the tune as well as providing beautiful harmonies. And this gives the Pentatonix their unique quality which makes them modern and interesting.
3. They Sing a Wide Range of Covers to Cater for all
Audiences
This includes popular music in the top 40’s, Christmas Music and more eclectic tunes from other genres. They arrange the cover songs themselves with their own skill and unique take thus providing quality interesting content.
A few of their albums are:
1. That’s Christmas To Me with songs such as Santa Claus is Coming To Town, Silent Night, Let It Go
2. Pentatonix ( Delux Edition) with songs such as Na Na Na, Misbehavin’, Can’t Sleep Love
3. Pentatonix PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol.1 with songs such as Attention, Finesse and Havana
4. Have High Production Quality
The Pentatonix use audio and video to create high quality effects. Take a look at The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
5. Their Use of Social Media is Strong
You can listen to them widely as an audio or video on You Tube, a modern method of listening and viewing. People must find them interesting as they have thousands of views – a very popular A Cappella group.
So this is the five ways on how The Pentatonix made A Cappella modern and interesting.
Do you enjoy their music?
Take a look at the Pentatonix range of albums and songs here.