Susan Newman, age 14, of Jackson, Miss., for her question:

WHEN DID BARBERSHOP QUARTET SINGING START?

Barbershop quartet singing is a popular musical tradition that features four part singing by men for fun and fellowship. The term and the style of music dates from the late 1800s when this type of singing actually centered around community barbershops.

The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, Inc., is an organization that started in 1938. It has about 50,000 members today in the United States and Canada. A similar organization for women, known as Sweet Adelines, Inc., was organized in 1947. It has about 30,000 members.

The melody part of the quartet follows the melody of the song. Both the bass and the baritone parts are sung at a lower pitch than the melody. The tenor part is sung at a higher pitch than the melody and forms a distinctive feature of barbershop quartet singing.

Each note of the melody has at least one other note sung in harmony with it. Sometimes the harmony changes several times on a single note of the melody. This change in harmony on a single note is called a "swipe."

Many barbershop quartets adopt special costumes. Often they create their own musical arrangements, using the special talents of their singers.