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Yes (if you want a short answer).For the longer version, get ready for a doozy.First off, I’ve been posting my article recently that I wrote earlier this year explaining to the world what qualifies as a “strong college.” I’ll post it again down below.Secondly, one item that doesn’t copy over from the original source to here relatively well is a list produced by the New York Times. It conducted the following:“Thousands of recruiters, chosen from top companies in 20 countries, were asked to rank universities based on the employability of their graduates. The online survey was compiled by Emerging, a human resources consultancy based in Paris, and Trendence, an institute that researches employer branding, personal marketing and recruitment.”Original source: Global Companies Rank UniversitiesAs you can see from the list, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main holds the #10 position above some amazing Universities I’ll proclaim as stronger in the piece I wrote (which again I’ll post below). Above that, you have #3, #4, #9 all coming from the UK and traditionally considered some of the best institutions in the world. I think anyone would be incredibly happy to attend Cambridge or Oxford.On top of that, #12, #13#15, #16, #18, #20, #27 positions in the top 30 are European. There are many more in the list through the 150th ranked University.With that said, this was again published by a European agency. I would argue they have a Euro-centric perspective. I personally believe that American universities have higher brand value globally. For example, if you compared Goethe vs. Duke, I would argue there is a higher recognition of the latter. So, it also depends on where you believe the value resides? Many of the European Universities are great for employers in the region they are near. However, overall, American Universities have stronger weight minus the OxBridge two, IMHO.Please note, my perspective is based on “brand” and “networking” with your classmates and alumni which ultimately, I believe has the most power as I’ll explain the following. In terms of “actual education,” I don’t think there is an objective set of criteria that can help you decide one school over another.Which Top American Colleges are Truly the Best to Earn a Degree in 2016?For over 20 years, I’ve analyzed the many lists and surveys* about the Top Universities in the United States and the World. A recent inquiry from one of our valued clients reminded me there is significant need to “educate” people in Hong Kong and the world about these rankings and share what I’ve learned. As a result, I’ve decided to aggregate some of my best advice and share it with all of you.It was incredibly important for me to spend this time finally because the landscape is confusing.As you can see from the listing in Wikipedia on College Rankings, there are 19 different rankings they list right away. And these are ONLY the global rankings.If you examine the Regional and National rankings, there are many separate articles that elaborate on how individual nations evaluate higher institutions of education. For example, 3 publications are known to rate colleges in the article on university rankings in the uk: Mayfield University Consultants have created The Complete University Guide, the top UK newspaper regularly publishes a College Guide and The Sunday Times publishes the Good University Guide (and note, this is only one of the 29 different countries they list).The USA has become known for Top UniversitiesAt the same time, the U.S. rankings have become almost the default list of schools for “the world.” As written earlier, the United States supposedly hosts many of the Top Universities. We explain how US universities outdo their european counterparts even using UK based publications. In the same article cited above, the US’s set of rankings was the most exhaustive. It listed 16 different sets of rankings plus a number of “others” which pushes the list to potentially over 20 that are “well known.”There’s the grandaddy of them all: US News & World Report. It’s been around since 1983. This list has so much power that Michael Luca in 2011 claimed that:“The ranking order of universities has been shown to have great effect; a one-rank improvement leads to a 0.9% increase in number of applicants.”In the most recent National Rankings (within the US), they listed Princeton University in New Jersey as #1:And their Top Liberal Arts rankings places Williams College in Massachussetts as #1:While the publication lists their methodology very clearly on their website, do you ever wonder if their location in New York city has anything to do with the fact that all 6 of these Top Universities are in the East Coast? Hmmm…However, if you look at the Top 5 Employers in the world, the #1 company is based in the west coast and founded by two “west coast university” grads. Hmmm (again)…Google was founded by two Stanford graduates. Why is this University which has the lowest admissions rates of all collegesfailing to place in the top 3 in the most recent “grandaddy of all rankings?” Shouldn’t the most sought after university in the world be #1?Also, if you look at the following wired magazine article which analyzes all the universities where Google employs its staff, you can see that it is definitely not Princeton. The schools that “feed” google are the likely candidates like Stanford & UC Berkeley or two other tech behemoths: MIT & Carnegie Mellon. However, UCLA grads also find a way to get into Google more than the average college graduate. However, if you look at the graphic and read the story, you will hear that there are a good number of x-Microsoft employees now at Google. Where do Microsoft employees normally graduate? Well, below, you will see some analysis on the UW and that’s where a significant number of Microsoft staff finished college.In 2003 through approximately 2006, I was the #2 sales person in a Real Estate office in Bellevue, Washington. I sold a $1.75 million dollar home to Adrian Beltre, an MLB all star. In the contract though during the sales process, the seller was this gentleman who was being recruited by Google. He was one of the top minds at Microsoft, but after I “googled” him, I found that the search engine company was being sued by the PC Operating system company for “stealing away” talent from the old wall street darling. Let’s just say it wasn’t going to be the only Microsoft employee that Google stole away. Hundreds, if not thousands of Microsoftees were becoming Googlers, but again, where did the Microsoft employees start? The UW.How about “Visvesvaraya Technological University”? Well, obviously IBM has or its HR recruiters. The graph above clearly shows many somewhat lesser known universities are still good to its graduates.How about Goethe-Univ Frankfurt am Main? The German University ranked #10 in a New York Times list which was compiled by asking recruiters from 20 different nations in terms of the “employability” of their graduates.However, what do “we” seriously mean by the “Top Universities?”Many people don’t realize that it’s not just what our parents or what our friends think are the top institutions of higher learning (unless they are heads of venture capital firms or managers of human resource teams).In actuality, what REALLY matters is what do recruiters or hiring decision makers think? In other realms like venture capital, what really matters is what do the people who are funding startups believe? And if you’re pursuing additional university education, what do the graduate school admissions folks believe are the top universities in the world. It doesn’t exactly matter what you learned, but it truly matters what others believe you may have acquired at your “high quality institution of learning.”So, the above list that identifies the German University should be taken seriously despite the lack of awareness of the institution listed at #10.Obviously, you have heard of the rest of the Top 10:HarvardYaleCambridgeOxfordStanfordMITColumbiaPrincetonImperial CollegeImperial College though? As an American, I didn’t hear about the University until entering the Test Preparation industry. So, despite its top ranking in the UK, is it a school I would take seriously as a Hong Kong or Asian parent?How about Penn State?Well, the Wall Street Journal published an article in 2010 asking which schools were the best according to HR recruiters. They ranked these as the Top Universities they would choose candidates:Penn State UniversityTexas A&MUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignPurdue UniversityArizona State UniversityUniversity of MichiganGeorgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)University of Maryland, College ParkUniversity of FloridaCarnegie Mellon UniversityBrigham Young University (BYU)Ohio State UniversityVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityCornell UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of Wisconsin, MadisonUCLATexas TechNorth Carolina State University, RaleighUniversity of Virginia (Tie for 19th)Rutgers UniversityUniversity of Notre DameMassachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT)University of Southern California (USC)Washington State University (Wazzu)University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Tie for 25th)What REALLY matters as a parent?Another reason why it’s important for me to share this knowledge is because I am also a parent of two future college graduates. My twin boys are 14 years old and I want to give them the opportunities I didn’t have. For 20+ years, I’ve been questioned about my University degree. Despite graduating in the top 10% of my class, receiving multiple accolades and being a nationally ranked debater as a high school candidate (along with obtaining admissions into the #1 University in my area: University of Washington), I decided to attend the University of Puget Sound. The university was in the Top 40 Colleges that Changes Lives. However, it didn’t “change my life” because of its reputation. It changed my life because despite the hundreds of thousands I poured into the tuition and living fees, nobody recognized the institution after they asked me “What University did you attend?” I constantly had to justify my background and prove to my peers who I was. It made me work harder than most. It may have also slowed down my career growth along with limiting my opportunities due to the brand value.And while I want my children to work harder, I don’t want them to be questioned. As a result, I constantly look for the “better institutions” that will help them “open more doors” as I have for many of my past students who have gone onto Stanford, Yale,Seoul National University, Yonsei and many other top universities.So, what are the Universities that will open the doors? I would argue the number one factor is:#1 – Brand Awareness in ANY CountryAs stated earlier, it is critical for a company human resources recruiter or manager to recognize your university. Additionally, you should have “instant respect” from all the other decision makers in the companies or the folks who might be supporting your kids with future companies. Resumes are passed around inside companies when applicants are being screened. The talk many times will be”XYZ graduated from Stanford. We should look at her.” When someone asks “Where did you graduate from?” your answer should instantly garner attention.If your child was to work in North Carolina after college and then want to go and work in possibly Sweden for a few years, what University should she choose? What if she thought coming back to Hong Kong was ideal or maybe even making a pitstop in Australia for a few years? What would be the best education choice for her?Times Education has their “World Reputation Rankings 2015” which defines:The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2015 employ the world’s largest invitation-only academic opinion survey to provide the definitive list of the top 100 most powerful global university brands.The list shows Harvard as #1 (and definitely not surprising):The other 4 on the list are obviously not pushovers for Universities, but again, the Top 4 outrank the University that is the hardest to get in (as far as the USA is concerned) and the one that significantly helped in producing what we all use to even find information about University rankings.For further support in terms of brands HR Managers or CEO’s recognize, using “big data,” The Global Language Monitor tries to:“…understan[d] that new technologies and techniques [are] necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known.”The company has evaluated the top brands in education and have come up with “brand power” lists of the top institutions of higher learning. In a recent report, they quoted the book: “2016 TrendTopper MediaBuzz of the Top 419 College Brands, 10th Edition.” It claimed that public college brands are now dominating the upper echelon. While MIT still claimed the #1 spot, the following public universities landed in the Top 10:University of California, Los Angeles – UCLA (#2)UC Berkeley (#3)UC Davis (#4)UC San Diego (#5)University of Texas, Austin (#7)University of Washington (#9)In its own report, it evaluated “Big Data textual analysis based on billions of webpages, millions of blogs, the top 375,000 global print and electronic media, and new social media formats as they appear.” With this comprehensive gauge, it determined that the top 100 brands were:2014 Rank, University, Rank in 2013Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1Harvard University 2University of California, Berkeley 5University of Chicago 7University of Texas, Austin 8University of California at Los Angeles 14University of California, Davis 18Stanford University 4New York University 15Northwestern University 34University of Pennsylvania 11University of California, San Diego 19University of Washington 13Columbia University 3University of Wisconsin, Madison 16University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 25Princeton University 10Dartmouth College 73University of Virginia 32University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 23Yale University 6University of Minnesota 20Cornell University 9Michigan State University 31Washington University in St. Louis 47Georgia Institute of Technology 21University of Southern California 30Ohio State University, Columbus 12University of Illinois — Urbana, Champaign 26Johns Hopkins University 22Purdue University 28Indiana University, Bloomington 44University of Colorado, Boulder 43George Washington University 38Texas A&M University 40University of California, Santa Barbara 56University of California, Irvine 49Arizona State University 101Boston College 25Boston University 33Georgetown University 35Pennsylvania State University 39University of Georgia 29University of Iowa 36University of Pittsburgh 37University of Miami 45Iowa State University 64Florida State University 46University of Oregon 50Wake Forest University 94University of Missouri, Columbia 58University of Massachusetts, Amherst 66University of Notre Dame 42Rutgers, the State University of NJ 41Carnegie Mellon University 51University of South Carolina, Columbia 55Loyola University Maryland 79American University 70Oregon State University 60California Institute of Technology 53Duke University 24George Mason University 59Rochester Inst. of Technology 98Californis State U, Long Beach 141Virginia Tech 17Brown University 48University of Florida 72Loyola University, Chicago 80Vanderbilt University 57University of Connecticut 179Syracuse University 52Missouri U. of Science and Technology 72University of California, Riverside 69University of Maryland, College Park 63University of Oklahoma 93Brigham Young University, Provo 106University of Arizona 67Central Michigan University 54Washington State University 143Northeastern University 81CUNY-Brooklyn 121Villanova University 89Colorado State University 132University of California, Santa Cruz 68University of Delaware 74University of Rochester 62Howard University 84St. Joseph’s University 133Case Western Reserve University 76University of Tennessee 77Miami University, OH 89Southern Methodist University 87Emory University 71Stony Brook University 88Cal Poly—San Luis Obispo 139University of Alabama 116University of New Hampshire 95University of Phoenix 27University of Kentucky 75Binghamton– SUNY 130Unfortunately, lower branded universities are just not recognized. I saw an advertisement while writing article about the University of Sydney. They displayed a banner with the following:However, why would you want to brag you are 56th? It’s like saying I finished behind 55 others.So…What if my child was not destined to be one of the chosen 5% of Stanford or the other small percentage selected at the other top 4 institutions? Well, as an American and someone who’s focused on these rankings throughout all my career, the following will be a list of Universities that are “recognized” significantly throughout the world.Here are a golden 40 on top of the Prestigious 5 presented earlier (Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT & Stanford).Golden 40 Top Ranked University BrandsThese should be strong enough universities to carry your child throughout life. Their brand power is above many of the ones listed already. The list is not in any specific order per se. However, there are some that might be considered a bit better in terms of brands:University of California, BerkeleyCalifornia Institute of Technology (i.e., Cal Tech)University of ChicagoDuke UniversityUniversity of Texas, AustinUniversity of California at Los AngelesNew York University (i.e., NYU)Northwestern UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania (i.e., UPenn)University of California, San DiegoUniversity of Washington (i.e., UW)Columbia UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin, MadisonUniversity of Michigan, Ann ArborPrinceton UniversityDartmouth CollegeUniversity of VirginiaUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillYale UniversityCornell UniversityWashington University in St. LouisGeorgia Institute of Technology (i.e., Georgia Tech)University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Illinois — Urbana, ChampaignJohns Hopkins UniversityPurdue UniversityUniversity of Colorado, BoulderBoston CollegeBoston UniversityGeorgetown UniversityWake Forest UniversityUniversity of Missouri, ColumbiaUniversity of Notre DameCarnegie Mellon UniversityRochester Inst. of TechnologyVirginia TechBrown UniversityVanderbilt UniversityUniversity of Maryland, College ParkEmory UniversityUniversity Brand’s Impact – Case in Point, the University of WashingtonFor example, in many rankings lists, the University of Washington is not as visible as top ones like Harvard or even Northwestern. However, everywhere I’ve worked from Seoul to Shanghai to here in Hong Kong, the northwest school is recognized as a reputable alma mater. While the admissions rates there are higher than most of the Top 10 or even 20, it deserves its #13 ranking in the Global Language Monitor surveys.Why?Think about it. The first ever president of the United States was George WASHINGTON. The capital of the United States is WASHINGTON, D.C. Also, the University that is commonly confused with the University of Washington (Washington University in St. Louis) is actually quite strong. And since it’s confused with it, the UW gets credit for the latter’s success academically. Also, the Seattle based institution of higher education has received tons of money from its symbolic prodigal “son” Bill Gates. As of January of 2007 (8 years ago) the University received 242 million (USD) in donations and was collecting close to $1 million a day in donations. Also, as a very entreprenuerial city (home of Microsoft, Starbucks, Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more, Nordstroms, Brooks Sports, Costco, MSNBC, Nintendo, PACCAR, R.E.I., Raleigh, Expedia, Brown-Haley [makers of Almond Roca], Callison, Holland America, Alaska Airlines, Safeco, PEMCO, Getty Images, Jones Soda, Cray Supercomputers, T-Mobile, Weyerhaeuser, Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values, ZymoGenetics), the city also produces many other future business leaders at a rapid pace. While quiet at times, it produces some of the most savvy brilliant minds including Gates (as mentioned) or Rich Barton. To top it all off, it also has one of the best Medical schools in the entire country.The other universities in the above list provide very similar value in their regions and throughout the world. In future posts, we’ll explain.#2 – Alumni NetworkWhy did Bill Gates become the richest person in the entire world (and stay there for many of the past 20+ years)? Well, it wasn’t because he was antagonistic like Steve Jobs. Many people attribute jobs as being one of the most brilliant people in recent memory in terms of the technology space, but I would argue it’s Gates regardless of his wealth.From the Wikipedia article about Gates:He is the son of William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. Gates’ ancestral origin includes English, German, and Irish, Scots-Irish. His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates’s maternal grandfather was JW Maxwell, a national bank president.I’ve told this story to many students in my illustrious 10 year teaching career. The main reason is because I point out that Gates was born with a “silver spoon in his mouth.” He didn’t rise from the ghettos of America. He went to Lakeside School – probably the best private school in the Seattle area. His father was the partner of a large law firm and as you can see from the Wiki article, his mom served on the Board of Directors of the United Way. At Lakeside, he met co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen. Allen currently is worth over $17 billion, the 38th richest person in the world. Before he dropped out of Harvard, he met Steve Ballmer who was CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. Basically, Gates networked his company into one of the most powerful companies in the world. Without being able to meet some of the brightest minds in the various education settings he had been connected to, he would most likely have found worst team members and possibly even failed.Harvard, Yale and the many others we’ve listed above have incredible alumni networks. They operate very tightly and filter one another by their own University degree. It’s not a bad filter given that many times their selectivity based on simply the university one attended does vet out very smart and talented people.As popular Harvard professor Steven Pinker wrote:First, an Ivy degree is treated as a certification of intelligence and self-discipline. Apparently adding a few Harvard students to a team raises its average intelligence and makes it more effective at solving problems. That, the employers feel, is more valuable than specific knowledge, which smart people can pick up quickly in any case.Did you know President Obama went to Harvard? How about his wife? Yes, Michelle Obama did as well. It probably didn’t hurt on the way to two terms of President of the most powerful nation on earth that many of his friends were Harvard grads and so were his wife’s.With this said, I would argue the following Top Liberal Arts Colleges also deserve mention:As we wrote before, the “Little Three Ivies:” Williams, Amherst, & Wesleyan.SwarthmoreBowdoinMiddleburyPomonaWellesleyCarletonDavidsonHaverfordVassarHamiltonHarvey MuddSmithWashington and LeeColbyColgateGrinnellBryn MawrColoradoWhitman

The different fossils that can be found on the U.S West Coast are the following:FossilEraList of State Fossils:The majority of the states in the United States have an official state in fossil designation. Several states have fossils unofficially designated thanks to a fossil being designated as the “State Dinosaur” or “State Stone”. There are 7 states without a state fossil designation, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.Alabama State FossilFossil:A reconstructed skull of Basilosaurus, the state fossil of Alabama.Primitive Whale (Basilosaurus cetoides)Age: EoceneYear Designated: 1984Basilosaurus ("king lizard") is a genus of early whale that lived 40 to 34 million years ago in the late Eocene. Basilosaurus represents one of the earliest whales although it is actually descended from land mammals. The front flippers had an elbow joint and the back flippers where hind legs would have been are greatly reduced in size. It's estimated it could reach gigantic sizes of 40-60 feet in length. These ancient whale fossils are most abundant in Alabama but fossil remains of the Basilosaurus cetoides may not be removed from the state without prior written approval of the governor.Alaska State FossilFossil:Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)Age: PleistoceneYear Designated: 1986The Woolly Mammoth or Mammuthus primigenius was a species of mammoth. The common name for the extinct elephant genus Mammuthus. It was about the size of a modern day elephant, covered in fur and lived from 400,000 years ago to as recent as 4,000 years ago. It first evolved in Eurasia and entered Alaska from Siberia over the Bering Land Bridge around 65,000 years ago. It's fossils are frequently found in Alaska by gold miners after being washed out of stream banks.Arizona State FossilFossil:Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum)Age: TriassicYear Designated: 1988Arizona is famous for it's vast petrified forest, so it makes sense that Arizona's state fossil would be the most plentiful species of fossil tree in that forest, Araucarioxylon arizonicum. Petrified wood is fossil wood that has been turn to a fossil via permineralization. That is the organic wood material was replaced with minerals by water after it was buried. The Petrified Forest National Monument is located north of I-40 east of Holbrook and is from the Triassic age, approximately 200 million years ago.Arkansas State FossilFossil:Arkansaurus fridayiAge: Early CretaceousYear Designated: 2017Arkansaurus, a bipedal coelurosaurian dinosaur, is the only dinosaur whose remains have been found in Arkansas. Joe B. Friday discovered the dinosaur's fossilized foot in a gravel pit near Lockesburg in 1972 when he was out looking for a cow.California State FossilFossil:Saber-Toothed Cat (Smilodon californicus)Age: PleistoceneYear Designated: 1974Fossils of the Saber-Toothed Cat (Smilodon californicus) are abundant at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Smilodon is one of the most recognizable of the ferocious saber-toothed cats which roamed the Americas up until 11,000 years ago. They could weight up to 350 kg and had massive, 8 inch long upper canine teeth which they used to prey on large ice age mammals.Colorado State FossilFossil:Dinosaur (Stegosaurus stenops)Age: JurassicYear Designated: 1972The spike-tailed Stegosaurus is one of the most iconic and recognizable dinosaurs. It's rare fossils can be found in the Jurassic aged Morrison Formation of Colorado. It is believed that a typical Stegosaurus weighed five to ten tons but had a brain that was only about 2 ounces (the size of a walnut). But no, it did not have two brains. While probably not the brightest of the dinosaurs it had a formidable array of armored plates, and a spiked tail with which to defend itself.Connecticut State FossilFossil:Dinosaur Tracks (Eubrontes giganteus)Age: JurassicYear Designated: 1991The Connecticut Valley is home to one of the most impressive dinosaur track sites in the world. Tracks of many different types of dinosaurs have been found preserved in the Valley's sandstone dating back to the Early Jurassic. Eubrontes is the name given to the three-toed tracks but no skeletal remains have been found of their creator and the specific genus of dinosaur is not yet known. These tracks were the first known dinosaur fossils to be discovered in North America.Delaware State FossilFossil:Belemnite fossils.Cephalopod (Belemnitella americana)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 1996Belemnites are an extinct group of squid-like cephalopods that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. They had a hard, internal, cone shaped structure that is often preserved as a fossil though it is not technically a shell. They had 10 arms but unlike modern squid these arms had small hooks instead of suckers.Belemnites of the species Belemnitella americana are found abundantly in the exposures of the Mount Laurel Formation along the banks of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The fine-grained sands and silts of the Mount Laurel were deposited in a shallow sea during the Late Cretaceous.Florida State FossilFossil:Agatized Coral (Anthozoa)Age: EoceneYear Designated: 1979 (Designated State Stone)Currently, Florida does not officially recognize a state fossil but it's state stone is actually a fossil, so we'll count it. The state stone, err fossil is agatized coral and the most commonly found type found in Florida is Anthozoa. "Agatized" is a common name given to fossils that have been replaced by silica and contaminate minerals which provide the color. Agate replaced, fossil coral is found in several Florida locations and may have been formed when runoffs of silt rich is clay and silica buried an Eocene aged Coral reef. Some of the first inhabitants of Florida some 5,000 years ago used this agatized coral as a material for making stone tools and points.Georgia State FossilFossil:A large Megalodon Shark tooth found in Georgia.Generic Fossil Shark ToothAge: Cretaceous through MioceneYear Designated: 1976Georgia's state fossil is the fossil shark tooth without any specific species or genus identified. Fossil shark teeth are common in deposits ranging the Cretaceous through the Miocene in Georgia. The reason shark teeth are so common is that sharks shed their teeth frequently during their lifetime and an adult shark may have left behind many thousands of teeth on the seafloor. The most impressive of these fossil shark teeth found in Georgia are those of the Megalodon Shark which can reach lengths in excess of 7 inches long.Hawaii State FossilFossil: No state fossil...Idaho State FossilFossil:Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens)Age: PlioceneYear Designated: 1988The Hagerman Horse was discovered in 1928 by a cattle rancher near Hagerman, Idaho, hence the name. It is one of the oldest horses of the Equus genus appearing 3.5 million years ago and is believed to be very similar to the African Zebra. Nearly 200 fossil horse skeletons have been recovered from the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.Illinois State FossilFossil:Tully Monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium)Age: PennsylvanianYear Designated: 1989The "Tully Monser" (Tullimonstrum gregarium) was a soft-bodied invertebrate of unknown affinities that lived in the the waters of muddy estuaries during the Pennsylvanian period, 300 million years ago. Its fossils have only been found in the Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois, United States. It lacks characteristics of any modern phyla and paleontologists speculate that it may be a representative of a stem group to one of the many phyla of worms.Indiana State FossilFossil: None, but crinoid (Elegantocrinus hemisphaericus) proposedIowa State FossilFossil: No state fossil, lame...Kansas State FossilFossil: Pteranodon(flying reptile) & Tylosaurus (marine reptile)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 2014Kansas, the most recent state to designate a state fossil, decided to make up for being late to the party and designate two. They designated to two reptiles that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway that covered Kansas during the late Cretaceous period. Tylosaurus, a type of Mosasaur was a giant, predatory marine lizard that could reach sizes of up to 50 feet in length. Pteranodon is a type of pterosaurs which included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with wingspans up to 20 ft.Kentucky State FossilFossil:Ordovician brachiopod specimen from Maysville, Kentucky.BrachiopodAge: PaleozoicYear Designated: 1986Brachiopod shells are probably the most commonly found fossils in Kentucky. They are so many different species of fossil brachiopods found in Kentucky, the state simply designated the entire group as the state fossil. Brachiopods are marine animals that superficially resembled clams, but are a completely different phylum with a vastly different internal structure.Louisiana State FossilFossil:Petrified Palmwood (Palmoxylon sp.)Age: OligoceneYear Designated: 1976Petrified palm wood is the Louisiana state fossil and is characterized by prominent rod-like structures within the regular grain of the petrified wood. In Louisiana, petrified palm wood belongs to the genus Palmoxylon. It is found within the Catahoula Formation, which consists almost entirely of sediments deposited within broad, low-lying coastal plains during the Oligocene period about 30 million years ago.Maine State FossilFossil:Fossil Plant (Pertica quadrifaria)Age: DevonianYear Designated: 1985Pertica is a genus of extinct vascular plants of the Early to Middle Devonian (around 420 to 380 million years ago). Pertica quadrifaria (the type species of the genus) was described in 1972 from compression fossils found in the Trout Valley Formation of northern Maine, USA. It was an upright plant which grew to perhaps as much as a 3 feet in height.Maryland State FossilFossil:Gastropod (Ecphora gardnerae)Age: MioceneYear Designated: 1994Ecphora gardnerae is a species of large carnivorous sea snail lived during the Miocene epoch, and became extinct more than five million years ago. The shells are found as fossils in Maryland and Virginia. Ecphora was one of the first fossils from the New World to be illustrated in a scientific work in Europe.Massachusetts State FossilFossil: Undetermined Dinosaur TracksAge: TriassicYear Designated: 1980The Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts is one of the world's richest sources of prehistoric dinosaur tracks. The dinosaur tracks in the Connecticut Valley date from about 180 million to 210 million years ago. They are actually the first recorded dinosaur tracks being first discovered by a farmer's son in the early 1800's. The prints were first thought to be the marks of ancient birds. No one can be certain which dinosaurs made the prints, but it's believed the largest (more than a foot in length) may have been made by Dilophosaurus, a 20-foot long meat-eating dinosaur.Michigan State FossilFossil:Mastodon (Mammut americanum), Petoskey Stone (rugose coral, Hexagonaria percarinata)Age: Pliocene - Pleistocene & DevonianYear Designated: 2002 & 1965Mammut americanum or the American mastodon is the youngest and most widely known member of the genus Mammut. Mastodons where relatives of elephants and mammoths and lived in Michigan during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.In addition the "Petoskey Stone" which is a rock containing fossilized rugose coral (Hexagonaria percarinata) was designated the Michigan state stone in 1965.Petoskey stones are found in the Gravel Point Formation of the Traverse Group. They are fragments of a coral reef that was originally deposited during the Devonian period. The fragments were then natural polished by glaciers and are found over a wide area.The name comes from an Ottawa Indian Chief, Chief Pet-O-Sega. The city of Petoskey, Michigan, is also named after him, and is the center of the area where the stones are found.Minnesota State FossilFossil: No state fossil, lame...Mississippi State FossilFossil:Primitive Whales (Basilosaurus cetoides and Zygorhiza kochii)Age: EoceneYear Designated: 1981Like Alabama, Mississippi has designated a primitive whale (or rather two of them) as their state fossils. Basilosaurus and Zygorhiza are both extinct genus' of basilosaurids whales from the Late Eocene (40-34 million years ago)Missouri State FossilFossil:Crinoid FossilCrinoid (Delocrinus missouriensis)Age: PennsylvanianYear Designated: 1989Crinoids, sometimes commonly referred to as sea lilies are animals not plants. They are echinoderms related to starfish, sea urchins and brittle stars.Montana State FossilFossil:Maiasaura peeblesorum, a hadrosaur from Montana. Drawing by: Nobu TamuraDuck-Billed Dinosaur (Maiasaura peeblesorum)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 1985Maiasaura is a large type of duck-billed dinosaur in Montana during the Upper Cretaceous Period, about 76.7 million years ago. Maiasaura was large, attaining an adult length of about 30 ft and had the typical hadrosaurid flat (duck-billed) beak.. It had a small, spiky crest in front of its eyes, which may have been used in headbutting contests between males during the breeding season.Nebraska State FossilFossil:Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)Age: PleistoceneYear Designated: 1967The mammoth was adopted as the Nebraska state fossil in 1967. The world’s largest Mammoth skeleton, nicknamed ‘Archie’ was discovered in Lincoln County, Nebraska and is currently on display at the University of Nebraska State Museum. Archie is 15 feet tall, 25 feet long and is estimate to have weighed a staggering 7 tons.The mammoth was an elephant but much larger than the modern day version, hence the name. The remains on three different species of Mammoth that roamed the plains during the Pleistocene period have been found in Nebraska.New Hampshire State FossilFossil: None, but Mastodon proposedNevada State FossilFossil:Drawing of Shonisaurus by Nobu TamuraIchthyosaur (Shonisaurus sp.)Age: TriassicYear Designated: 1977, amended 1989Shonisaurus is a gigantic genus of Ichthyosaur that could reach lengths of nearly 50 feet. An Ichthyosaur is an extinct marine reptile resembling a dolphin, with a long pointed head, four flippers, and a vertical tail.In 1928 a large bone-bed of Shonisaurus fossils was discovered near Berlin, Nevada in the Triassic aged Luning Formation. Excavations thirty years later would reveal the remains of 37 large individuals. These were named Shonisaurus, which means "Lizard from the Shoshone Mountains", after the where the fossils were found. This area is now encompassed by Berlin–Ichthyosaur State Park. Ichthyosaur fossils in general were designated as the Nevada state fossil in 1977 and this amended in 1989 to specifically be fossils of Shonisaurus.New Jersey State FossilFossil:Duck-Billed Dinosaur (Hadrosaurus foulkii)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 1991 (State Dinosaur)Hadrosaurus foulkii was a type of duckbilled dinosaur that roamed the forests and swamps along New Jersey's coastline 80 million years ago. It was probably about 25 feet long and 10 feet tall. Hadrosaurs are believed to have stood on their hind legs while grazing, and had a mouthful of hundreds of tiny, blocky teeth that would have functioned to grind leaves and other vegetation.Hadrosaurus foulkii was the dinosaur known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. A of Hadrosaurus foulkii skeleton was discovered in 1858 by William Foulke in a marl pit near Haddonfield, New Jersey. In 1868, it became the first mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world and it was named the state dinosaur of New Jersey in 1991.New Mexico State FossilFossil:Dinosaur (Coelophysis bauri)Age: TriassicYear Designated: 1981Coelophysis bauri is an extinct species of coelophysid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, approximately 200 million years ago. It was a small, theropod dinosaur, about 6 feet in length and only weighing around 50 lbs. It was most likely a carnivore, preying on small reptiles, amphibians and early Triassic mammals.The remains of hundreds of skeletons of Coelophysis were discovered at Ghost Ranch during the 1940s. Because of the large number of remains that have been found it is probably the best known dinosaur of the Triassic. Coelophysis was adopted as the official fossil of New Mexico by law in 1981.New York State FossilFossil:Sea Scorpion (Eurypterus remipes)Age: SilurianYear Designated: 1984Eurypterus is an extinct genus of “Sea Scorpion” that lived during the Silurian Period from around around 432 to 418 million years ago. The first discovered species of the genus was Eurypterus remipes. Eurypterus averaged at about 5 to 9 inches in length and possessed spine-bearing appendages with a large paddle they used for swimming.Eurypterus remipes lived along the bottom of the shallow, brackish sea that covered much of New York over 400 million years ago. The first fossil of Eurypterus was found in 1818 by S. L. Mitchill. It was first thought to be a fossil catfish and wasn’t correctly identified as an arthropod until years later. It was named the official state fossil of NY in 1984.North Carolina State FossilFossil:Megalodon Teeth (Carcharodon megalodon)Age: MioceneYear Designated: 2013The official state fossil of North Carolina is fossilized teeth of the extinct, mega-mouthed shark Carcharocles megalodon. Megalodon is the largest known predator in the history of the planet having been estimated to reach sizes of up to 60 feet long. Huge serrated teeth up to 7 1/2 inches have been discovered. It's a good thing that this gigantic shark went extinct about 2.6 million years ago.Fossil teeth of the Megalodon are relatively common fossils in North Carolina. They are popularly collected by divers in the rivers and offshore after they erode out of the Miocene aged Hawthorn Formation. These fossil teeth were adopted as the official state fossil of North Carolina in 2013.North Dakota State FossilFossil:Teredo Petrified WoodAge: PaleoceneYear Designated: 1967Teredo wood the name that is given to wood that was bored into by small marine mollusks called shipworms. Thus, petrified teredo wood would be the fossils of this wood bearing the distinctive boreholes.During the Paleocene (around 60 million years ago) parts of North Dakota were covered by warm water swamps, similar to Florida today. Sequoias and other trees growing in these swamps fell into the water and were washed out to sea become driftwood. They would then be bored into by the marine shipworms. Under the right conditions this driftwood would become fossilized and replaced with silica through the process of petrification.Teredo petrified wood is a common fossil in the Cannonball formation of South-Central North Dakota. It was designated the North Dakota state fossil in 1967.Ohio State FossilFossil:Trilobite (Isotelus)Age: OrdovicianYear Designated: 1985Isotelus is a genus to large Asaphid trilobite that lived during the Ordovician Period. It’s fossils are common within several formations that outcrop in Southwestern Ohio. The largest Isotelus trilobite to be found in Ohio is about 16 inches long though the largest known trilobite Isotelus rex found in Manitoba, Canada is from the same genus.The most famous specimen of Isotelus from Ohio was discovered in 1919 while digging an outlet tunnel during the construction of the Huffman Dam near Dayton. This giant trilobite specimen measures 14 ½ inches long. A couple elementary school classes in Dayton proposed naming this specimen of the official state fossil. While declining to designate only that specific specimen, the legislature instead passed a bill naming the genus Isotelus in 1985.Oklahoma State FossilFossil:Theropod Dinosaur (Saurophaganax maximus)Age: JurassicYear Designated: 2000Saurophaganax is a genus of allosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (~151 million years old) Morrison Formation of Oklahoma. It was a truly massive predator, estimated to have reached a maximum size of 34-43 feet in length. The first bones of Saurophaganax were found in the early 1930s near Kenton, Oklahoma. Since that time, discoveries have been rare and fragmentary.On April, 14th, 2000 the governor of Oklahoma signed a senate bill designating Saurophaganax maximus as the official Oklahoma state fossilOregon State FossilFossil:Plant - Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia)Age: MioceneYear Designated: 2005The Metasequoia or “Dawn redwood” is a deciduous conifer that flourished from 34 to 5 million years ago. It’s fossils are common in rocks of these ages in Oregon and many other areas of the Pacific Northwest. It was made the official Oregon state fossil in 2005 after intense lobbying by a local fossil enthusiast who presented every legislator with a Metasequoia fossil. It’s an appropriate fossil for the state, because of the states prominent timber heritage.Pennsylvania State FossilFossil:Trilobite (Phacops rana rana)Age: DevonianYear Designated: 1988Phacops may be the most widely recognizable type of trilobite fossil in the world. Phacops rana is a species of the genus that can found in Pennsylvania's Devonian aged rocks. Trilobites are an extinct marine arthropod that occurred abundantly during the Paleozoic era.Phacops rana was named the official state fossil of Pennsylvania in 1988 after being proposed to lawmakers by a elementary school science class.South Carolina State FossilFossil:Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)Age: PleistoceneYear Designated: 2014The Columbian mammoth became the official state fossil of South Carolina in 2014. South Carolina is the sixth state to make a mammoth the state fossil, and the second most recent to official name a state fossil. It almost didn’t happen because of months of delays by creationist lawmakers who tried to add amendments referring to the book of Genesis and God's creation to the law.“The Columbian Mammoth, which was created on the Sixth Day with the other beasts of the field, is designated as the official State Fossil of South Carolina and must be officially referred to as the 'Columbian Mammoth,' which was created on the Sixth Day with the other beasts of the field."It took much pleading by state residents to keep religion out of science but eventually the bill passed free of religious amendments.South Dakota State FossilFossil:Dinosaur (Triceratops horridus)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 1988Prior to 1988 the official state fossil of South Dakota was the cycad, a type of palm like Mesozoic plant. Legislators decided to change it to one of the most recognizable dinosaurs to all-time, Triceratops.The horned dinosaur Triceratops is one of the most common dinosaur fossils in the Cretaceous aged Hell Creek Formation that outcrops in South Dakota. Many fine specimens of this large, rhinocerous looking herbivore have been discovered in South Dakota. Read more about Triceratops.Rhode Island State FossilFossil: No state fossil, lame...Tennessee State FossilFossil:Bivalve Mollusc (Pterotrigonia thoracica)Age: CretaceousYear Designated: 1998Pterorigonia is an extinct genus of that is a common fossil in the Cretaceous aged rocks in West Tennessee. About 70 million years ago, much of Tennessee was covered by a shallow sea. In 1998 Pterorigonia thoracica was named as the official state fossil of the state.Texas State FossilFossil:Sauropod Dinosaur (Paluxysaurus jonesi) & Petrified Palm Wood (Palmoxylon sp)Age: Cretaceous & OligoceneYear Designated: 2009 (State Dinosaur) & 1969 (State Stone)The Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur Paluxysaurus jonesi is estimated to have been about 60 feet long, 26 feet of that being it’s long neck. It is a relative of Brachiosaurus & Camarasaurus and its tracks can be viewed at Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. Complete skeletons of this dinosaur are unknown, and most material is fragmentary.Originally the official state dinosaur was Pleurocoelus but that designation only lasted seven years when the bones were determined to have come from a different genus and species, Paluxysaurus jonesi. In 2009 Governor Rick Perry signed House Concurrent Resolution No changing the name of the state dinosaur to match.Texas's state stone, petrified Palmoxylon wood also happens to be a fossil.Utah State FossilFossil:Theropod Dinosaur (Allosaurusfragilis)Age: JurassicYear Designated: 1988Allosaurus is a well-known predatory dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period and probably hunted in packs. It averaged about 25-30 feet in length and is the most common dinosaur fossil found in the Morrison Formation that outcrops in Eastern Utah. Over 60 skeletons, representing both adults and juveniles of the species have been found in one quarry in Utah along. It’s skull could reach up to 3 feet in length with backwardly curving teeth. It could open its jaw very wide and it has been theorized that it used it’s upper jaw like a hatchet to attach prey.The Allosaurus was designated the Utah State Fossil in 1988.Vermont State FossilFossil:Delphinapterus leucas skeleton on display. Image Credit: AV DezignWhale (Delphinapterus leucas) & Mount Holly mammoth tooth and tuskAge: PleistoceneYear Designated: 1993 (State terrestrial fossil) & 2014 (State marine fossil)Vermont has two state fossils designated, a state terrestrial (land) fossil and a state marine fossil.The “Mount Holly mammoth” was designated as the state terrestrial fossil in 2014. Discovered in 1848, the Mount Holly Mammoth consists of a partial mammoth found in a peat bog on Mt. Holly while making an excavation for a railroad."In making this excavation, the workmen found at the bottom of the bed, resting upon gravel which separated it from the rock below, a huge tooth. The depth of the peat at that place was eleven feet. Soon afterwards one of the tusks was found, about eighty feet from the place of the tooth mentioned above, which was a grinder. Subsequently the other tusk and several of the bones of the animal were found near the same place. These bones and teeth were submitted to the inspection of Professor Agassiz, who pronounced them to be extinct species of elephant. The directors of the R.& B.R.R. to whom they belong, placed them in the museum of the University of Vermont, for preservation, and for the illustration of our fossil geology.”In 1993 a fossil beluga whale skeleton was designated as the official Vermont Marine Fossil. Vermont is the only state that designates a fossil symbol from a species that still exists today.Virginia State FossilFossil:Bivalve Scallop (Chesapecten jeffersonius)Age: PlioceneYear Designated: 1993The prehistoric scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius holds the distinction of being the first fossil illustrated in a scientific publication from North America in 1687. It would later be named in honor Thomas Jefferson because of his interest in natural history and to celebrate the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the US. Fossils of this 4 million year old shellfish are commonly found in streams and beaches of Southeastern Virginia. It is an index fossil for the Lower Yorktown Formation.In 1993 is was officially adopted at the Virginia state fossil.Washington State FossilFossil:Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) & Petrified WoodAge: Pleistocene & MioceneYear Designated: 1998 & 1975Washington is one of six states to have a mammoth, designated as their state fossil, but Washington was one of the first to do so. So, it’s the other states being unoriginal. Petrified wood (a fossil) is also designated as the state stone. Fossilized remains of the Columbian mammoth were found on the Olympic Peninsula in Western Washington and petrified wood at several localities in Eastern Washington.West Virginia State FossilFossil:Giant Ground Sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonnii)Age: PleistoceneYear Designated: 2008Megalonyx jeffersonii is an extinct giant ground sloth that lived in North America from the Late Miocene (10 million years ago) through the Pleistocene (11k years ago) It was nearly 10 feet high and weight up to a ton. It is one of the most unusual North American ice-age mammals. It had thick hair that enabled the species to endure colder temperatures and range farther north than other ground sloths. It’s name latin for “Great Claw” from the fact that it had a giant claw.Like the state fossil of Virginia the species is named after fossil lover and third president of the United State, Thomas Jefferson. His lecture on Megalonyx to the American Philosophical Society in 1797 marked the beginning of vertebrate paleontology in North America. In 2008 Megalonyx jeffersonii was officially adopted as the West Virginia state fossil.Wisconsin State FossilFossil:Trilobite (Calymene celebra)Age: SilurianYear Designated: 1985In 1985 the trilobite Calymene celebra was adopted as the official Wisconsin state fossil. Trilobites are extinct marine arthropods which dominated the seas during the Paleozoic period. Calymene celebra lived during the Silurian period, at a time when warm, shallow seas covered the state. Its fossils are common in the vast Niagara dolomite outcroppings which are exposed in the state.Wyoming State FossilFossil:Fossil FIsh (Knightia) & Dinosaur (Triceratops)Age: Eocene & CretaceousYear Designated: 1987 & 1994Wyoming has both a state fossil, designated in 1987 and a state dinosaur designated in 1994.Knightia a genus of fossil herring was designated at the official state fossil. 45-50 million years ago, several large, freshwater lakes covered the Southwestern part of Wyoming, as well as areas of Utah and Colorado. Periodically there were mass die-offs of fish in the lake, potentially caused by volcanic eruptions, temperature fluctuations, or algal blooms. A low oxygen environment at the bottom of the lake allowed for beautiful preservation of these fish as fossils. Today these fossils are found in huge numbers at several quarries near Kemmerer, WY. Knightia is the most common of the fossil fish from the Green River Formation.RELATED ARTICLESAlaska State Fossil - Woolly MammothAbout Mammoth MolarsTexas State Fossil(s) - Petrified Palmwood & PaluxysaurusNevada State Fossil - Ichthyosaur (Shonisaurus popularis)Wyoming State Fossil - Fossil Fish (Knightia)Alabama State Fossil - Basilosaurus

Jump to navigationJump to searchFor other uses, see A cappella (disambiguation).A cappellaStylistic originsChurch musicGregorian chantingmadrigalsCultural originsJewish and Christian worshipTypical instrumentsVocalsvocal percussionbeatboxingbody percussionlive loopinginstrument mimicrySubgenresBarbershop musiccollegiate a cappellapuirt à beulA cappella (/ˌækəˈpɛlə/ US: /ˌɑːkə-/,Italian:[a kapˈpɛlla]; Italian for "in the manner of the chapel")[1]music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is usually accompanied singing. The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music.[1]The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.[2]Contents1Religious origins1.1Christian1.1.1Byzantine Rite1.1.2Opposition to instruments in worship1.1.3Acceptance of instruments in worship1.2Jewish2In the United States2.1Recording artists2.2Musical theatre2.3Barbershop style2.4Amateur and high school3In other countries3.1Pakistan3.2Sri Lanka3.3Sweden3.4United Kingdom4Collegiate5Emulating instruments6See also7Notes8Footnotes9References10External linksReligious origins[edit]A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed and zemirot. Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance. The madrigal, up until its development in the early Baroque into an instrumentally-accompanied form, is also usually in a cappella form. Jewish and Early Christian music was largely a cappella,[3]although as noted by the Psalms some songs were accompanied by string instruments[4][citation needed]and this practice has continued in both of these religions as well as in Islam.Christian[edit]The polyphony of Christian a cappella music began to develop in Europe around the late 15th century AD, with compositions by Josquin des Prez.[5]The early a cappella polyphonies may have had an accompanying instrument, although this instrument would merely double the singers' parts and was not independent. By the 16th century, a cappella polyphony had further developed, but gradually, the cantata began to take the place of a cappella forms.[5]16th century a cappella polyphony, nonetheless, continued to influence church composers throughout this period and to the present day. Recent evidence has shown that some of the early pieces by Palestrina, such as what was written for the Sistine Chapel was intended to be accompanied by an organ "doubling" some or all of the voices.[5]Such is seen in the life of Palestrina becoming a major influence on Bach, most notably in the Mass in B Minor.Other composers that utilized the a cappella style, if only for the occasional piece, were Claudio Monteverdi and his masterpiece, Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata (A lover's tears at his beloved's grave), which was composed in 1610,[6]and Andrea Gabrieli when upon his death it was discovered many choral pieces, one of which was in the unaccompanied style.[7]Learning from the preceding two composeres, Heinrich Schütz utilized the a cappella style in numerous pieces, chief among these were the pieces in the oratorio style, which were traditionally performed during the Easter week and dealt with the religious subject matter of that week, such as Christ's suffering and the Passion. Five of Schutz's Historien were Easter pieces, and of these the latter three, which dealt with the passion from three different viewpoints, those of Matthew, Luke and John, were all done a cappella style. This was a near requirement for this type of piece, and the parts of the crowd were sung while the solo parts which were the quoted parts from either Christ or the authors were performed in a plainchant.[8]Byzantine Rite[edit]In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, the music performed in the liturgies is exclusively sung without instrumental accompaniment. Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "The service is sung, even though there may be no choir... In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and instrumental music is not found."[9]This a cappella behavior arises from strict interpretation of Psalms 150, which states, Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.[10]In keeping with this philosophy, early Russian musika which started appearing in the late 17th century, in what was known as khorovïye kontsertï (choral concertos) made a cappella adaptations of Venetian-styled pieces, such as the treatise, Grammatika musikiyskaya (1675), by Nikolai Diletsky.[11]Divine Liturgies and Western Rite masses composed by famous composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Arkhangelsky, and Mykola Leontovych are fine examples of this.Opposition to instruments in worship[edit]Present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment include some Presbyterian churches devoted to the regulative principle of worship, Old Regular Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, Churches of Christ, Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma), the Old German Baptist Brethren, Doukhobors the Byzantine Rite and the Amish, Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites. Certain high church services and other musical events in liturgical churches (such as the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Divine Service) may be a cappella, a practice remaining from apostolic times. Many Mennonites also conduct some or all of their services without instruments. Sacred Harp, a type of folk music, is an a cappella style of religious singing with shape notes, usually sung at singing conventions.Opponents of musical instruments in the Christian worship believe that such opposition is supported by the Christian scriptures and Church history. The scriptures typically referenced are Matthew 26:30; Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12, 13:15; James 5:13, which show examples and exhortations for Christians to sing.[12]There is no reference to instrumental music in early church worship in the New Testament, or in the worship of churches for the first six centuries.[13][14]Several reasons have been posited throughout church history for the absence of instrumental music in church worship.[nb 1]Christians who believe in a cappella music today believe that in the Israelite worship assembly during Temple worship only the Priests of Levi sang, played, and offered animal sacrifices, whereas in the church era, all Christians are commanded to sing praises to God. They believe that if God wanted instrumental music in New Testament worship, He would have commanded not just singing, but singing and playing like he did in the Hebrew scriptures.The first recorded example of a musical instrument in Roman Catholic worship was a pipe organ introduced by Pope Vitalian into a cathedral in Rome around 670.[16][nb 2]Instruments have divided Christendom since their introduction into worship. They were considered a Catholic innovation, not widely practiced until the 18th century, and were opposed vigorously in worship by a number of Protestant Reformers, including Martin Luther (1483–1546),[18]Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin (1509–1564)[19]and John Wesley (1703–1791).[20]Alexander Campbell referred to the use of an instrument in worship as "a cow bell in a concert".[21]In Sir Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian, the heroine, Jeanie Deans, a Scottish Presbyterian, writes to her father about the church situation she has found in England (bold added):The folk here are civil, and, like the barbarians unto the holy apostle, have shown me much kindness; and there are a sort of chosen people in the land, for they have some kirks without organs that are like ours, and are called meeting-houses, where the minister preaches without a gown.[22]Acceptance of instruments in worship[edit]Those who do not adhere to the regulative principle of interpreting Christian scripture, believe that limiting praise to the unaccompanied chant of the early church is not commanded in scripture, and that churches in any age are free to offer their songs with or without musical instruments.Those who subscribe to this interpretation believe that since the Christian scriptures never counter instrumental language with any negative judgment on instruments, opposition to instruments instead comes from an interpretation of history. There is no written opposition to musical instruments in any setting in the first century and a half of Christian churches (AD 33 to 180).[23]The use of instruments for Christian worship during this period is also undocumented. Toward the end of the 2nd century, Christians began condemning the instruments themselves.[24]Those who oppose instruments today believe these Church Fathers had a better understanding of God's desire for the church,[citation needed]but there are significant differences between the teachings of these Church Fathers and Christian opposition to instruments today.Modern Christians typically believe it is acceptable to play instruments or to attend weddings, funerals, banquets, etc., where instruments are heard playing religious music. The Church Fathers made no exceptions.[24] Since the New Testament never condemns instruments themselves, much less in any of these settings, it is believed that "the church Fathers go beyond the New Testament in pronouncing a negative judgment on musical instruments."[25]Written opposition to instruments in worship began near the turn of the 5th century.[26] Modern opponents of instruments typically do not make the same assessment of instruments as these writers,[nb 3] who argued that God had allowed David the "evil" of using musical instruments in praise.[29] While the Old Testament teaches that God specifically asked for musical instruments,[30] modern concern is for worship based on the New Testament.Since "a cappella" singing brought a new polyphony (more than one note at a time) with instrumental accompaniment, it is not surprising that Protestant reformers who opposed the instruments (such as Calvin and Zwingli) also opposed the polyphony.[31]While Zwingli was destroying organs in Switzerland – Luther called him a fanatic – the Church of England was burning books of polyphony.[32]Some Holiness Churches such as the Free Methodist Church opposed the use of musical instruments in church worship until the mid-20th century. The Free Methodist Church allowed for local church decision on the use of either an organ or piano in the 1943 Conference before lifting the ban entirely in 1955.Jewish[edit]While worship in the Temple in Jerusalem included musical instruments (2 Chronicles 29:25–29:27), traditional Jewish religious services in the Synagogue, both before and after the last destruction of the Temple, did not include musical instruments[33]given the practice of scriptural cantillation.[34]The use of musical instruments is traditionally forbidden on the Sabbath out of concern that players would be tempted to repair (or tune) their instruments, which is forbidden on those days. (This prohibition has been relaxed in many Reform and some Conservative congregations.) Similarly, when Jewish families and larger groups sing traditional Sabbath songs known as zemirot outside the context of formal religious services, they usually do so a cappella, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations on the Sabbath sometimes feature entertainment by a cappella ensembles. During the Three Weeks musical instruments are prohibited. Many Jews consider a portion of the 49-day period of the counting of the omer between Passover and Shavuot to be a time of semi-mourning and instrumental music is not allowed during that time.[35]This has led to a tradition of a cappella singing sometimes known as sefirah music.[36]The popularization of the Jewish chant may be found in the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo, born 20 BC. Weaving together Jewish and Greek thought, Philo promoted praise without instruments, and taught that "silent singing" (without even vocal chords) was better still.[37]This view parted with the Jewish scriptures, where Israel offered praise with instruments by God's own command (2 Chronicles 29:25). The shofar is the only temple instrument still being used today in the synagogue,[38]and it is only used from Rosh Chodesh Elul through the end of Yom Kippur. The shofar is used by itself, without any vocal accompaniment, and is limited to a very strictly defined set of sounds and specific places in the synagogue service.[39]However, silver trumpets, as described in Numbers 10:1-10, have been made in recent years and used in prayer services at the Western Wall.[40]In the United States[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2013)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The Hullabahoos, an a cappella group at the University of Virginia, were featured in the movie Pitch PerfectPeter Christian Lutkin, dean of the Northwestern University School of Music, helped popularize a cappella music in the United States by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was "the first permanent organization of its kind in America."[41][42]An a cappella tradition was begun in 1911 by F. Melius Christiansen, a music faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.[43]The St. Olaf College Choir was established as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church, where Christiansen was organist and the choir was composed, at least partially, of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a tradition of a cappella choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota), Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois), Wartburg College(Waverly, Iowa), Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota), Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), and Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota). The choirs typically range from 40 to 80 singers and are recognized for their efforts to perfect blend, intonation, phrasing and pitch in a large choral setting.[44][45]Movements in modern a cappella over the past century include barbershop and doo wop. The Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines International, and Harmony Inc. host educational events including Harmony University, Directors University, and the International Educational Symposium, and international contests and conventions, recognizing international champion choruses and quartets.Many a cappella groups can be found in high schools and colleges. There are amateur Barbershop Harmony Society and professional groups that sing a cappella exclusively. Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to emulate instruments; others are more traditional and focus on harmonizing. A cappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses.The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) is a membership option for former students, whose funds support hosted competitions and events.[46][47]A cappella music was popularized between the late 2000s and the early to mid-2010s with media hits such as the 2009–2014 TV show The Sing-Off and the musical comedy film series Pitch Perfect.Recording artists[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)In July 1943, as a result of the American Federation of Musicians boycott of US recording studios, the a cappella vocal group The Song Spinners had a best-seller with "Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer". In the 1950s, several recording groups, notably The Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen, introduced complex jazz harmonies to a cappella performances. The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performances in the 1960s. Frank Zappa loves Doo wop and A cappella, so Zappa released The Persuasions' first album from his label in 1970.[48]In 1983, an a cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of Yazoo's (known in the US as Yaz) "Only You". A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin, Huey Lewis and the News, All-4-One, The Nylons, Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, and *NSYNC.[citation needed]Contemporary a cappella includes many vocal groups and bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock/gospel sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. Examples of such professional groups include Straight No Chaser, Pentatonix, The House Jacks, Rockapella, Mosaic, Home Freeand M-pact. There also remains a strong a cappella presence within Christian music, as some denominations purposefully do not use instruments during worship. Examples of such groups are Take 6, Glad and Acappella. Arrangements of popular music for small a cappella ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or polyphonic accompaniment.A cappella can also describe the isolated vocal track(s) from a multitrack recording that originally included instrumentation.[citation needed]These vocal tracks may be remixed or put onto vinyl records for DJs, or released to the public so that fans can remix them. One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z's Black Album, which Danger Mouse mixed with The Beatles' White Album to create The Grey Album.On their 1966 album titled Album, Peter, Paul and Mary included the song "Norman Normal." All the sounds on that song, both vocals and instruments, were created by Paul's voice, with no actual instruments used.[49]In 2013, an artist by the name Smooth McGroove rose to prominence with his style of a cappella music.[50]He is best known for his a cappella covers of video gamemusic tracks on YouTube.[51]in 2015, an a cappella version of Jerusalem by multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier was selected for Beats by Dre "The Game Starts Here" for the England Rugby World Cup campaign.[52][53]Musical theatre[edit]A cappella has been used as the sole orchestration for original works of musical theatre that have had commercial runs Off-Broadway (theatres in New York City with 99 to 500 seats) only four times. The first was Avenue X which opened on 28 January 1994 and ran for 77 performances. It was produced by Playwrights Horizons with book by John Jiler, music and lyrics by Ray Leslee. The musical style of the show's score was primarily Doo-Wop as the plot revolved around Doo-Wop group singers of the 1960s.[54][55]In 2001, The Kinsey Sicks, produced and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway hit, "DRAGAPELLA! Starring the Kinsey Sicks" at New York's legendary Studio 54. That production received a nomination for a Lucille Lortel award as Best Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Lyrics. It was directed by Glenn Casale with original music and lyrics by Ben Schatz.[56]The a cappella musical Perfect Harmony, a comedy about two high school a cappella groups vying to win the National championship, made its Off Broadway debut at Theatre Row's Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City in October, 2010 after a successful out-of-town run at the Stoneham Theatre, in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Perfect Harmony features the hit music of The Jackson 5, Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Marvin Gaye, Scandal, Tiffany, The Romantics, The Pretenders, The Temptations, The Contours, The Commodores, Tommy James & the Shondells and The Partridge Family, and has been compared to a cross between Altar Boyz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.[57][58]The fourth a cappella musical to appear Off-Broadway, In Transit, premiered 5 October 2010 and was produced by Primary Stages with book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth. Set primarily in the New York City subway system its score features an eclectic mix of musical genres (including jazz, hip hop, Latin, rock, and country). In Transit incorporates vocal beat boxing into its contemporary a cappella arrangements through the use of a subway beat boxer character. Beat boxer and actor Chesney Snow performed this role for the 2010 Primary Stages production.[59]According to the show's website, it is scheduled to reopen for an open-ended commercial run in the Fall of 2011. In 2011, the production received four Lucille Lortel Award nominations including Outstanding Musical, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations, as well as five Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical and won for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.In December 2016, In Transit became the first a cappella musical on Broadway.[60]Barbershop style[edit]Main article: Barbershop musicThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2018)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Barbershop music is one of several uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in barber shops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Today the BHS has about 22,000 members in approximately 800 chapters across the United States and Canada,[61][62]and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries.[63]The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style.In 1945, the first formal women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines, was formed. In 1953, Sweet Adelines became an international organization, although it didn't change its name to Sweet Adelines International until 1991. The membership of nearly 25,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses.In 1959, a second women's barbershop organization started as a break off from Sweet Adelines due to ideological differences. Based on democratic principles which continue to this day, Harmony, Inc. is smaller than its counterpart, but has an atmosphere of friendship and competition. With about 2,500 members in the United States and Canada, Harmony, Inc. uses the same rules in contest that the Barbershop Harmony Society uses. Harmony, Inc. is registered in Providence, Rhode Island.Amateur and high school[edit]The popularity of a cappella among high schools and amateurs was revived by television shows and movies such as Glee and Pitch Perfect. High school groups have conductors or student leaders who keep the tempo for the group.In other countries[edit]This section needs expansion.You can help by adding to it.(May 2013)Pakistan[edit]The musical show Strepsils Stereo is credited for introducing the art of a cappella in Pakistan.[64]Sri Lanka[edit]Composer Dinesh Subasinghe became the first Sri Lankan to write a cappella pieces for SATB choirs. He wrote "The Princes of the Lost Tribe" and "Ancient Queen of Somawathee" for Menaka De Shabandu and Bridget Halpe's choirs, respectively, based on historical incidents in ancient Sri Lanka.[65][66][67]Voice Print is also a professional a cappella music group in Sri Lanka.[68]Sweden[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The European a cappella tradition is especially strong in the countries around the Baltic and perhaps most so in Sweden as described by Richard Sparks in his doctoral thesis The Swedish Choral Miracle in 2000.[69]Swedish a cappella choirs have over the last 25 years won around 25% of the annual prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (EGP) that despite its name is open to choirs from all over the world (see list of laureates in the Wikipedia article on the EGP competition).The reasons for the strong Swedish dominance are as explained by Richard Sparks manifold; suffice to say here that there is a long-standing tradition, an unsusually large proportion of the populations (5% is often cited) regularly sing in choirs, the Swedish choral director Eric Ericson had an enormous impact on a cappella choral development not only in Sweden but around the world, and finally there are a large number of very popular primary and secondary schools ('music schools') with high admission standards based on auditions that combine a rigid academic regimen with high level choral singing on every school day, a system that started with Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm in 1939 but has spread over the country.United Kingdom[edit]The Oxford Alternotives, the oldest a cappella group at the University of Oxford in the UKThis section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The Sweet Nothings are one of the University of Exeter's eight a cappella groups. They are one of the oldest and most successful girl groups in the UKA cappella has gained attention in the UK in recent years, with many groups forming at British universities by students seeking an alternative singing pursuit to traditional choral and chapel singing. This movement has been bolstered by organisations such as The Voice Festival UK.Collegiate[edit]Main articles: Collegiate a cappella, List of collegiate a cappella groups, and List of collegiate a cappella groups in the UKThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)It is not clear exactly where collegiate a cappella began. The Rensselyrics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (formerly known as the RPI Glee Club), established in 1873 is perhaps the oldest known collegiate a cappella group.[70][additional citation(s) needed]However the longest continuously-singing group is probably The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University,[71]which was formed in 1909 and once included Cole Porter as a member.[71]Collegiate a cappella groups grew throughout the 20th century. Some notable historical groups formed along the way include Colgate University's The Colgate 13 (1942), Dartmouth College's Aires (1946), Cornell University's Cayuga's Waiters (1949) and The Hangovers (1968), the University of Maine Maine Steiners (1958), the Columbia University Kingsmen (1949), the Jabberwocks of Brown University (1949), and the University of RochesterYellowJackets (1956).All-women a cappella groups followed shortly, frequently as a parody of the men's groups: the Smiffenpoofs of Smith College(1936), The Shwiffs of Connecticut College (The She-Whiffenpoofs, 1944), and The Chattertocks of Brown University (1951). A cappella groups exploded in popularity beginning in the 1990s, fueled in part by a change in style popularized by the Tufts University Beelzebubs and the Boston University Dear Abbeys. The new style used voices to emulate modern rock instruments, including vocal percussion/"beatboxing". Some larger universities now have multiple groups. Groups often join one another in on-campus concerts, such as the Georgetown Chimes' Cherry Tree Massacre, a 3-weekend a cappella festival held each February since 1975, where over a hundred collegiate groups have appeared, as well as International Quartet Champions The Boston Common and the contemporary commercial a cappella group Rockapella. Co-ed groups have produced many up-and-coming and major artists, including John Legend, an alumnus of the Counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania, and Sara Bareilles, an alumna of Awaken A Cappella at University of California, Los Angeles. Mira Sorvino is an alumna of the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones of Harvard College, where she had the solo on Only You by Yaz.A cappella is gaining popularity among South Asians with the emergence of primarily Hindi-English College groups. The first South Asian a cappella group was Penn Masala, founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania. Co-ed South Asian a cappella groups are also gaining in popularity. The first co-ed south Asian a cappella was Anokha, from the University of Maryland, formed in 2001. Also, Dil se, another co-ed a cappella from UC Berkeley, hosts the "Anahat" competition at the University of California, Berkeley annually. Maize Mirchi, the co-ed a cappella group from the University of Michigan hosts "Sa Re Ga Ma Pella", an annual South Asian a cappella invitational with various groups from the Midwest. Another South Asian group from the Midwest is Chai Town who is based in the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.Jewish-interest groups such as Queens College's Tizmoret, Tufts University's Shir Appeal, University of Chicago's Rhythm and Jews, Binghamton University's Kaskeset, Ohio State University's Meshuganotes, Rutgers University's Kol Halayla, New York University's Ani V'Ata and Yale University's Magevet are also gaining popularity across the U.S.[72][73][74]Increased interest in modern a cappella (particularly collegiate a cappella) can be seen in the growth of awards such as the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (overseen by the Contemporary A Cappella Society) and competitions such as the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella for college groups and the Harmony Sweepstakes for all groups. In December 2009, a new television competition series called The Sing-Off aired on NBC. The show featured eight a cappella groups from the United States and Puerto Rico vying for the prize of $100,000 and a recording contract with Epic Records/Sony Music. The show was judged by Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman, and Nicole Scherzinger and was won by an all-male group from Puerto Rico called Nota. The show returned for a second, third and fourth season, won by Committed, Pentatonix and Home Free respectively.Each year, hundreds of Collegiate a cappella groups submit their strongest songs in a competition to be on The Best of College A Cappella (BOCA), an album compilation of tracks from the best college a cappella groups around the world. The album is produced by Varsity Vocals – which also produces the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella – and Deke Sharon. ). According to ethnomusicologist Joshua S. Dunchan, "BOCA carries considerable cache and respect within the field despite the appearance of other compilations in part, perhaps, because of its longevity and the prestige of the individuals behind it."[75]Collegiate a cappella groups may also submit their tracks to Voices Only, a two-disc series released at the beginning of each school year. A Voices Only album has been released every year since 2005.[76]In addition, all women's a cappella groups can send their strongest song tracks to the Women's A Cappella Association (WACA) for its annual best of women's a cappella album. WACA offers another medium for women's voices to receive recognition and has released an album every year since 2014, featuring women's groups from across the United States.[77]Emulating instruments[edit]This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)In addition to singing words, some a cappella singers also emulate instrumentation by reproducing instrumental sounds with their vocal cords and mouth, often pitched using specialised pitch pipes. One of the earliest 20th century practitioners of this method were The Mills Brothers whose early recordings of the 1930s clearly stated on the label that all instrumentation was done vocally. More recently, "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited was sung a cappella to the instrumentation on the comedy television series Tompkins Square. Another famous example of emulating instrumentation instead of singing the words is the theme song for The New Addams Familyseries on Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family). Groups such as Vocal Sampling and Undivided emulate Latin rhythms a cappella. In the 1960s, the Swingle Singers used their voices to emulate musical instruments to Baroque and Classical music. Vocal artist Bobby McFerrin is famous for his instrumental emulation. A cappella group Naturally Seven recreates entire songs using vocal tones for every instrument.The Swingle Singers used nonsense words to sound like instruments, but have been known to produce non-verbal versions of musical instruments. Beatboxing, more accurately known as vocal percussion, is a technique used in a cappella music popularized by the hip-hop community, where rap is often performed a cappella also. The advent of vocal percussion added new dimensions to the a cappella genre and has become very prevalent in modern arrangements.[78]Jazz vocalist Petra Hadenused a four-track recorder to produce an a cappella version of The Who Sell Out including the instruments and fake advertisements on her album Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out in 2005. Haden has also released a cappella versions of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller".Christian rock group Relient K recorded the song "Plead the Fifth" a cappella on its album Five Score and Seven Years Ago. The group recorded lead singer Matt Thiessen making drum noises and played them with an electronic drum machine to record the song.See also[edit]Look up a cappella in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.Barbershop music – four-part a cappella (in close harmony)Collegiate a cappellaThe Contemporary A Cappella SocietyHarmony Sweepstakes A Cappella FestivalHome Free – quintet, winners of NBC's Sing-Off Season 4List of collegiate a cappella groupsList of professional a cappella groupsList of university a cappella groups in the United KingdomStraight No Chaser – 10 man a cappella ground founded at Indiana UniversitySweet Adelines InternationalNotes[edit]^ The absence of instrumental music is rooted in various hermeneutic principles (ways of interpreting the Bible) which determine what is appropriate for worship. Among such principles are the regulative principle of worship (Ulrich Zwingli), Sola scriptura (Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli), and the history of hymn in "Christianity". Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences between the old (Law of Moses) and the new (Jesus and the Apostles) covenants, emphasizing that the majority of the practices from the Law of Moses were replaced by the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. The absence of instrumental music in early church worship is significant given the abundance of Hebrew Bible references and commands to worship God with harp, lyre and cymbal. After several hundred years of Tabernacle worship without references to instrumental music, King David (ca 1500 BC) introduced musical instruments into Temple worship reportedly because of a commandment from God, complete with who was to sing, who was to play, and what instruments were to be used.[15]^ McKinnon maintained that the organ was the first instrument to be introduced into worship and the next was the trumpet. He noted accounts of an organ being sent from Byzantium to Pippin in 757, and another to Charlemagne in 812.[17]^ Rather than calling the use of instruments "evil", modern opposition typically uses terms like "unspiritual"[27] or an Old Testament "shadow".[28]