{"id":24248,"date":"2013-08-09T01:18:29","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T08:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=24248"},"modified":"2013-08-09T02:10:39","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T09:10:39","slug":"why-british-singers-lose-their-accent-when-singing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/why-british-singers-lose-their-accent-when-singing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why British Singers Lose Their Accents When Singing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Amy asks: Why is it that when you hear a British musician sing, their accent disappears?<\/div>\n

\"eric-clapton\"<\/a>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.\u00a0 Once on stage, they sing like someone who grew up in New England rather than old. \u00a0Yet another example is Adele, who has a lovely speaking voice, a very heavy cockney accent, yet her singing pipes do not indicate her dialect.\u00a0 One might argue that Adele\u2019s speaking and singing voices were two different people if listening without visuals.\u00a0 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 you’re from, if you’re singing in English, you’re probably singing with an American accent, unless you’re actively trying to retain your native accent, which some groups do.<\/p>\n

There are several reasons we notice accents ‘disappearing’ in song, and why those singing accents seem to default to “American”.\u00a0\u00a0 In a nutshell, it has a lot to do with phonetics, the pace at which they sing and speak, and the air pressure from one\u2019s vocal chords.\u00a0 As far as why “American” and not some other accent, it’s simply because the generic “American” accent is fairly neutral.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

For the specific details, we’ll turn to linguist and author, David Crystal, from Northern Ireland.\u00a0 According to Crystal, a song\u2019s melody cancels out the intonations of speech, followed by the beat of the music cancelling out the rhythm of speech.\u00a0 Once this takes place, singers are forced to stress syllables as they are accented in the music, which forces singers to elongate their vowels.\u00a0 Singers who speak with an accent, but sing it without, aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

To put it in another way, it’s the pace of the music that affects the pace of the singer\u2019s delivery.\u00a0 A person\u2019s accent is easily detectable when they are speaking at normal speed.\u00a0 When singing, the pace is often slower.\u00a0 Words are drawn out and more powerfully pronounced and the accent becomes more neutral.<\/p>\n

Another factor is that the air pressure we use to make sounds is much greater when we sing.\u00a0 Those who sing have to learn to breathe correctly to sustain notes for the right amount of time, and\u00a0singing requires the air passages to expand and become larger.\u00a0 This changes the quality of the sound.\u00a0 As a result, regional accents can disappear because syllables are stretched out and stresses fall differently than in normal speech.\u00a0 So, once again, this all adds up to singing accents becoming more neutral.<\/p>\n

So at this point, you might be wondering if the musicians actually know they are losing their accents when they sing. Working in radio, I\u2019ve contemplated how accents seem to disappear over my 20-year career. \u00a0 Keith Urban isn\u2019t British, though fans of the Aussie singer swoon over his speaking voice (many women could listen to him read the dictionary) and have noticed that he sounds more American\u00a0when he sings.\u00a0 I have spoken to Keith a few times and decided the\u00a0good-natured Keith\u00a0wouldn’t mind me posing the question: \u00a0How is it<\/em>\u00a0you sing differently than you talk<\/i>?\u00a0 (Certainly not wanting to offend Keith, I began with a few genuine compliments admiring his genius guitar skills.)\u00a0 He took it all in stride, laughed, then responded, \u2018I don\u2019t know.\u2019\u00a0 (<\/i>More like kneh-owww)\u00a0 \u2018Good question,\u2019 <\/i>he said.\u00a0 Though I don\u2019t think I have an accent.\u00a0 I think you do!<\/i>\u2019\u00a0 It\u2019s quite reasonable to believe that a Hoosier like me sounds a bit hillbilly to a guy from down under.\u00a0 Keith could not really explain the mystery behind it, and instead went on to explain why he was wearing black toenail polish the last time I chatted him up in person.\u00a0 (His wife, Nicole, has since been his inspiration to stop, he says.)\u00a0 So it would seem, that at least with this sample size of one, the artist in question is not aware of any accent change when he sings. So what about others?<\/p>\n

Andy Gibson, a New Zealand researcher at AUT\u2019s University Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication also believes the change in accent between speaking and singing is not a deliberate one, nor are artists even aware of the change.\u00a0 A 2010 study he conducted of singers with speaking accents showed indeed that they were not aware that they sounded any different; they felt they were singing naturally.\u00a0 Crystal says it is unusual for a singer to hold a regional accent through an entire song, resulting in what he calls \u2018mixed accents\u2019 for most.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Kate Nash, the anti-norm.\u00a0 The English-singing sensation was an unknown until Lily Allen mentioned her on a MySpace page and now she boasts more than\u00a0100,000 followers on twitter<\/a>.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know she had talent until she picked up her first guitar two years ago, and the rest is history.\u00a0 Nash has\u00a0garnered success on the music charts, accent and all,\u00a0and flat out refuses to even attempt to sing with an American accent. She makes no apologies for her background and even themes her lyrics toward an English audience.\u00a0 She is as English as tea in the afternoon and proud of bucking the trend that so many British artists seem to follow, whether intentionally, or more likely in most cases, not.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading this article!\u00a0 If you liked it, please share it.\u00a0 Also, here are a few more you might enjoy:<\/p>\n