LABBS follows the judging programme and categories as devised by the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). As the makeup and geography is very different to the North American based society, we have our own adapted versions of contest rules that suit our membership and contest cycle, as well as guidance for our Contest Administration judges and a bespoke admin and policies section for the E&J.
Scoring category descriptions are essentially the same as we stay in line with the BHS, therefore these are direct extracts from the BHS Handbook, used with their permission. They describe in some detail what the judges are looking for, so it is a good idea for competitors, quartets, music teams and chorus directors to be somewhat familiar with their content, as well as keeping up to date with any amendments each year.
The category descriptions are contained in a separate document below and are referred to from the relevant sections in our Contest & Judging Handbook, which can be considered the master document and which also contains the contest rules, published separately for convenient reference.
LABBS Contest rules are reviewed and revised on an annual basis, to keep in step with the judging programme of the BHS as well as new developments within LABBS.
*Referenced by the LABBS C&J Handbook 2024, includes Musicality/Performance/Singing judging category descriptions and position papers.
In the C&J Handbook, the Administration and Policies of the Education & Judging Committee, Applicant regulations (section D, page 38) refers to Annexes 1-5. These can be found on the Judging in LABBS page of this website.
Scoring category descriptions are essentially the same as we stay in line with the BHS, therefore these are direct extracts from the BHS Handbook, used with their permission. They describe in some detail what the judges are looking for, so it is a good idea for competitors, quartets, music teams and chorus directors to be somewhat familiar with their content, as well as keeping up to date with any amendments each year.
The category descriptions are contained in a separate document below and are referred to from the relevant sections in our Contest & Judging Handbook, which can be considered the master document and which also contains the contest rules, published separately for convenient reference.
LABBS Contest rules are reviewed and revised on an annual basis, to keep in step with the judging programme of the BHS as well as new developments within LABBS.
Latest versions
The Contest Rules and Contest & Judging Handbook for the 2024 contest cycle can be downloaded below.
Provisions for ALL contests run by LABBS are now in the same document (including Mixed Quartets).
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LABBS Official Contest Rules 2024 |
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LABBS Contest and Judging Handbook 2024 |
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Extract* of BHS Contest and Judging Handbook version 15.4 - November 2023 |
*Referenced by the LABBS C&J Handbook 2024, includes Musicality/Performance/Singing judging category descriptions and position papers.
In the C&J Handbook, the Administration and Policies of the Education & Judging Committee, Applicant regulations (section D, page 38) refers to Annexes 1-5. These can be found on the Judging in LABBS page of this website.
