Why British Singers Lose Their Accents When Singing. Amy asks Why is it that when you hear a British musician sing, their accent disappears Mick Jagger, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Ed Sheeran, Phil Collins and George Michael all grew up in or near London and have very recognizably British accents. Once on stage, they sing like someone who grew up in New England rather than old. Yet another example is Adele, who has a lovely speaking voice, a very heavy cockney accent, yet her singing pipes do not indicate her dialect. One might argue that Adeles speaking and singing voices were two different people if listening without visuals. Going beyond the British, we see the same thing with other non American musicians, such as the Swedish band ABBA, and many others singing in English, yet from various places around the world. It seems like no matter where youre from, if youre singing in English, youre probably singing with an American accent, unless youre actively trying to retain your native accent, which some groups do. There are several reasons we notice accents disappearing in song, and why those singing accents seem to default to American. In a nutshell, it has a lot to do with phonetics, the pace at which they sing and speak, and the air pressure from ones vocal chords. As far as why American and not some other accent, its simply because the generic American accent is fairly neutral. Even American singers, if they have, for instance, a strong New Yorker or perhaps a Hillbilly accent, will also tend to lose their specific accent, gravitating more towards neutral English, unless they are actively trying not to, as many Country singers might. For the specific details, well turn to linguist and author, David Crystal, from Northern Ireland. According to Crystal, a songs melody cancels out the intonations of speech, followed by the beat of the music cancelling out the rhythm of speech. Once this takes place, singers are forced to stress syllables as they are accented in the music, which forces singers to elongate their vowels. Singers who speak with an accent, but sing it without, arent trying to throw their voice to be deceptive or to appeal to a different market they are simply singing in a way that naturally comes easiest, which happens to be a more neutral way of speaking, which also just so happens to be the core of what many people consider an American accent. To put it in another way, its the pace of the music that affects the pace of the singers delivery. A persons accent is easily detectable when they are speaking at normal speed. When singing, the pace is often slower. Words are drawn out and more powerfully pronounced and the accent becomes more neutral. Another factor is that the air pressure we use to make sounds is much greater when we sing. Those who sing have to learn to breathe correctly to sustain notes for the right amount of time, and singing requires the air passages to expand and become larger. This changes the quality of the sound. As a result, regional accents can disappear because syllables are stretched out and stresses fall differently than in normal speech. So, once again, this all adds up to singing accents becoming more neutral. So at this point, you might be wondering if the musicians actually know they are losing their accents when they sing. Working in radio, Ive contemplated how accents seem to disappear over my 2. Luke Plunkett. Luke Plunkett is a Contributing Editor based in Canberra, Australia. He has written a book on cosplay, designed a game about airplanes, and also runs. The Artist Shop is most happy to welcome aboard one of the most successful of all independent labels, Rykodisc, on the occasion of their 15th anniversary. Note After this interview taped, Monday, David Cassidy was ordered to spend five years on probation after pleading no contest to a drunken driving charge. Comments on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Comment using your Facebook profile, or by registering at this site. You must be registered and log in to add a permanently.
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