The Art Of A Cappella: The Groups Who Do It Best

By Elana Goodwin on September 9, 2014

Usually, when people think of music, they think “singing” and then they think “instruments.”

A cappella groups stop at “singing” and make their own instrumental sounds using just their voices and mouths. In recent years, a cappella has gone somewhat mainstream, what with movies like “Pitch Perfect” becoming such a success.

Most colleges across the nation also have at least a few a cappella groups on campus, from Glee Clubs to male or female-only a cappella groups, to all-inclusive sets. Here are some of today’s best collegiate and non-collegiate a cappella groups.

1. Pentatonix. The a cappella group of five twenty-somethings won the third season of the NBC show “The Sing-Off” in 2011, which served as their launchpad into the music industry.

They released their first EP, “PTX, Vol. I” in 2012 and their second, “PTX, Vol. II” in 2013, both of which debuted in the Billboard 200 at numbers 14 and 10, respectively. Their third album, “PTX, Vol. III” is set to release on September 23.

Photo Credit: Pentatonix / Brandon Lyon

The talented group is also reported to appear in the movie about collegiate a cappella, “Pitch Perfect 2,” which will hit theaters in May 2015. Pentatonix’s YouTube channel has over 6.2 million subscribers and their videos have amassed over 555.5 million views.

They’ve covered songs from Gotye’s “Somebody I Used to Know” to Lorde’s “Royals” and have also arranged a cappella medleys of artists and songs, like “The Evolution of Music.” The group is comprised of Scott Hoying, Kirstie Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola.

2. On The Rocks. The all-male University of Oregon a cappella group also competed on “The Sing-Off,” in its second season as well as the International Championship of A Cappella (ICCA).

Photo Credit: On The Rocks / YouTube

They’ve covered songs like Maino and T-Pain’s “All the Above” and Rick Roll’d a New York City subway back in 2010.

On The Rocks was also the first official collegiate a cappella group in the state of Oregon. The group has released five albums: 2002′s self-titled “OTR,” 2003′s “Backgammon Sessions,” 2005′s “Full Coverage,” 2008′s “The Green Room” and 2010′s “A Fifth.”

3. King’s Road. Though the male a cappella trio is relatively new to the a cappella scene, these cuties are going places.

After meeting in the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles in 2012, the three members went on to become featured members of a small a cappella ensemble called The Cuddlers.

Photo Credit: King’s Road A Cappella / YouTube

They then competed with The Cuddlers as contestants on the 2013 Nick Lachey-hosted NBC reality show competition “The Winner Is.” After the show, members Chris Etscheid, David Marenberg and Kris Fitzgerald formed the group King’s Road.

4. Streetcorner Symphony. The all-male six-member a cappella group placed second on “The Sing-Off” in the show’s second season in 2010. They released their first EP “UnPractice Makes Perfect” in 2011 which included covers of Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” and Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.”

Photo Credit: Allen Clark Photography

The group released their second album in 2013, “Southern Autumn Nostalgia,” full of original songs, which also featured various a cappella guest artists on tracks including Pentatonix.

Street Corner Symphony is comprised of Jeremy Lister, Mark McLemore, Jonathan Lister, Richie Lister, Adam Chance and Kurt Zimmerman.

5. Noteworthy. This nine-member all-female a cappella group is made up of Brigham Young University students.

Photo Credit: noteworthy9.com

This collegiate ensemble also appeared on NBC’s “The Sing-Off” during its first season in 2009 and won first place at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) back in 2007, the second all-female group to ever do so.

They’ve covered songs from Muse’s “Madness” to OneRepublic’s “Feel Again” and more. Noteworthy has released four albums: 2006′s “On the Horizon,” 2009′s “Green Means Go,” 2010′s “Defined,” and 2014′s “Unbound.”

6. Mike Tompkins. While only one person, Tompkins manages to be a full a cappella group all on his own.

The artist/producer got his start on YouTube using only his voice and mouth, producing all the instrumental sounds and singing on his own voice-created tracks.

Photo Credit: Mike Tompkins / YouTube

Towards the end of his videos, he typically shows how he made the video by breaking down the different sounds he recorded. His YouTube channel has over 1.2 million subscribers and his videos have garnered more than 187.3 million views.

Tompkins has covered songs from Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” to Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” which was a collaboration with “Pitch Perfect” cast members as well as the general public’s submitted videos. He’s also recorded several a cappella mashups and remixes and went on tour in 2014 with the Jonas Brothers and Karmin.

So check out these amazing a cappella artists and groups who’ve made a cappella an art and have done it so well.

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