I've always wondered...

[JanuaryStar]

How come when people sing songs that are in English, they seem to have a better pronunciation than when they speak in English (this isn't always so, but still)?

Or is this just my observation only..?

 

[Sicy]

I've always wondered that too. Meaning, you hear their accents when they speak, but not when they sing.

 

[Thora]

Nope, I've thought of that too. It's a good question!

 

[vivalapopedge]

Very good question, and I've noticed it too



I think I read/heard/saw somewhere that Bono had some sort of voice coaching so that when he sang, he wouldn't have an accent and would sound more American


Or maybe I'm just and made this up

 

[JanuaryStar]

It could be a reason...

But I don't think everybody has voice coaching

Maybe people just try to imitate a star when they sing and that's why they seem to 'lose' their accents for a moment?

 

[fly so high!]

You don't have accents when you sing, we need a Speech pathologist on here to clarify but i'm sure it's because we all have the same voice box, this is also the same reason why babies say "da da" as the first word, it's a universal first word, no matter where you are born!

*exemption* PROCLAIMERS : I'M GONNA BE (500 MILES) this by far unmistakenly scottish!

Whin I wak op yeah I no I'm gonna beeeee
I'm gonna beeee the maan who waks op nixt to yoooo
Whin I go oat yeah I no I'm gonna beeeee
I'm gonna beeeee the maan who goes along with yoooo

If I git dronk yes I no I'm gonna beeee
I'm gonna beeeee the maan who gits dronk nixt to yooo
And uf I haver yeah I no I'm gonna beeee
I'm gonna beeee the maan who's havering to yooooo

(what the hell does "haver" mean?...Anyone?)

Bot I wood wolk 500 (favehondred) males
And I wood wolk 500 more
Just to beeee the maan who wolked 1000 (thowsand) males
Tooo foll doon at your daw!!!!

 

[RavenBlue]

I've always wondered about that as well.

 

[TheQuiet1]

*exemption* PROCLAIMERS : I'M GONNA BE (500 MILES) this by far unmistakenly scottish!

Whin I wak op yeah I no I'm gonna beeeee
I'm gonna beeee the maan who waks op nixt to yoooo
Whin I go oat yeah I no I'm gonna beeeee
I'm gonna beeeee the maan who goes along with yoooo

If I git dronk yes I no I'm gonna beeee
I'm gonna beeeee the maan who gits dronk nixt to yooo
And uf I haver yeah I no I'm gonna beeee
I'm gonna beeee the maan who's havering to yooooo

(what the hell does "haver" mean?...Anyone?)

Bot I wood wolk 500 (favehondred) males
And I wood wolk 500 more
Just to beeee the maan who wolked 1000 (thowsand) males
Tooo foll doon at your daw!!!!

That's the new Scottish national anthem isn't it?

 

[Muggsy]

when I'm signing all the songs in english that I like I notice that the accent disappears under the melody of the song. Besides it is funny to imitate the voice of the singer ( you must hear me singing any Nightwish song ) and that hides the accent even more. Sometimes I feel weird when I have to talk in english because my accent is evident.

 

[Salome]

when singing a song you don't have to think about what you're saying
no worries about grammar or vocabulary
the thought process (often in a mix of ones first language and english) is what messes up the speech

 

[Laura M]

when singing a song you don't have to think about what you're saying

the thought process (often in a mix of ones first language and english) is what messes up the speech

if only other people could hear you complain about madonna trying to sing one line in dutch!!

to sing a song in another language, you don't need to understand it or think about what you're going to say. you'll have someone going over and over the pronunciation with you. i had some people in my classes last year that didn't understand a bit of english and couldn't form a sentence if they were asked a question for example, they also spoke with a very spanish accent. some sounded practically fluent in exercises when they copied what i said however.

 

[UberBeaver]

When native Spanish speakers sing in Spanish, do they all have the same accent? Like would an Argentinian accent, or a Mexican, or a Columbian accent disappear? And if so, what sort of accent do they lean towards - Spain Spanish?

 

[Salome]

madonna messing up our fair language is one the most deregatory things that has happened the last 10 years

 

[Muggsy]

When native Spanish speakers sing in Spanish, do they all have the same accent? Like would an Argentinian accent, or a Mexican, or a Columbian accent disappear? And if so, what sort of accent do they lean towards - Spain Spanish?

No they don't have the same accent.... Usually is easy to find where the singer comes from, specially if they are from Spain or Argentina because of their strong accents. Many female spanish singers, for example, have a very similar way to sing and their voices sound pretty alike, besides their pronunciacion of the C's the Z's and the S's is very particular and easy to identify. Most Colombian singer doesn't have strong accents but if you know the way we speak spanish you would notice, for example, that juanes still has his "paisa" accent, and shakira has a diferent one (anyway both suck haha).

 

[lmjhitman]

i answered it in this thread.

i'm not sure anyone actually read it though.

 

[vaz02]

this happens to people with stutters too , they sing perfectly fine but when you have a convo with them they all over the place.

 

[Irishteen]

I think it kind of depends on the style of music, I think when people sing try to sound like famous people. When people listen to rock music they don't hear an accent and assume that's how it's supposed to be sung. But if you listen to music like Irish country, the accent is clear. People when they are young, will listen to the radio and hear pop music and start to sing the same as they hear and I guess when they are adults it just sticks with them

 

[Eliv8]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006052504606

 

[JanuaryStar]

I'm glad there are so many answers/reasons given... It all sounds more clear to me now Thanks everyone!

madonna messing up our fair language is one the most deregatory things that has happened the last 10 years

I agree!!

 

[stammer476]

i answered it in this thread.

i'm not sure anyone actually read it though.

You are correct!

English is a consonant driven language, and thus the various dialects of English differ in the pronunciation of the vowels while the pronunciation of the consonants remain the same. (Some languages, like Spanish, are vowel-driven, thus making the dialects differ in the consonants).

When singing, emphasis is placed on vowel sounds, causing the vowels to lose their various dialect accents while they are being drawn out.

(I'm studying linguistics )

 

[trevster2k]

Actually, I notice many songs have indistinguishable lyrics anyway regardless if the english is the singers native tongue.

Louie, Louie & Smells Like Teen Spirit anyone?

I am also amazed how easy it is for non-American actors to adapt American accents while when done the other way around, it's usually brutal.

 

[verte76]

This is interesting. I've always wondered about the accent thing with singers too.

 

[Eliv8]

http://forum.interference.com/t155645.html

No merge? Sicy on Vaca?