Okay, this is something I’ve never understood. How on earth do singers with accents sing without accents? I should’ve made this into one of my ‘random, burning questions’, but I’m starting to think that category might be stupid and I recently posted one. So, I didn’t. Besides, I really like this title. The reason will be obvious soon enough.
Iggy Azalea, the pop/rap sensation from Australia, The Beatles, Adele and countless other British talents talk in their native tongue but sing in perfect English. I realize that sounds stupid, especially since their native tongue IS English. But it isn’t. If you take my approach on life in general, don’t think that hard about it – you’ll be fine.
So, I researched the topic like all good writers do. Really, I just typed in the words ‘why do people with accents … .’ Not only did Google finish my sentence, it answered my question. Since the answer was so complete and would lose a bit in translation, I just cut and pasted.* The author of the below definition was not identified.
It’s a complex issue, not easily explained in print, rather than with vocal examples, but here’s a start. Accents show up largely in (1) the rhythms and tempo of speech; (2) voice quality; (3) the “melody” of speech, the musical pitches, a feature known as “intonation.” First the matter of intonation. If you speak English, then you know that your voice goes up in pitch for a question and down for a statement. Such patterns of intonation occur not only at the end of a sentence but all the way through our speech, and they differ from language to language and dialect to dialect. Because singing forces the melody pattern to comply with the music, the nuances of intonation disappear. Next, voice quality, a second marker of accent. Singers tend to use a voice that accommodates musical skills rather than the voice qualities characteristic of a language or a dialect. Therefore, the vocal marker of a language or a dialect is masked, or even lost. Finally rhythms. As with voice quality and intonation, the rhythms and tempo are dictated by the music, and in singing, those markers are entirely lost. Note that some cultures have music that matches and reflects their spoken rhythms, their intonation patterns, and their voice qualities. But a Brit singing “Western” music will lose the identifying markers of accent.
That being said, let’s get on with the title AND reason for this post. Daniel Radcliffe recently appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. A segment of that appearance is just a click away. And believe me, you will want to watch this. Harry Potter can rap, dog.
Get er’ done, HPot.
Peace Out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKdV5FvXLuI
*I feel compelled to clarify something. I did ALL the research for My Life As A Retail Pharmacist – A Fictionalized Memoir. For the pharmacy scenes, I live that shit every fucking day of my unfictionalized life. For the legal stuff, I did my homework. I wanted that trial to be as plausible as possible. And, I succeeded – on both counts.
