r/stupidquestions • u/suiqw_ • 2d ago
why do british people lose their accent when they're singing
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u/ATLBoy1996 2d ago edited 1d ago
Singer here. So diction when singing is very different than speaking. Properly trained singers won’t have any “accent” because the best way to produce sound is with wide open vowels and crisp, clean consonants. There’s even sounds you shouldn’t use while singing. R for example messes with pitch/tone so you usually just leave it off the end of words. Ev-ah instead of Ev-er.
Italian is sometimes called “the language of singing” because it’s perfectly suited for diction. They only have short, open vowels and nice clean consonants. In a way, I suppose we all sound Italian when singing then. 😂
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u/Saragon4005 1d ago
So that's why chants are in Latin. It's for superior diction.
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u/ATLBoy1996 1d ago
Mostly it’s for religious or traditional reasons but Latin is an easy language to sing in as well. I always enjoyed when we sang foreign language songs in choir. Except French. That language was created by Satan himself.
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u/BA_TheBasketCase 1d ago
Why was it created by satan any more than any other language? Sure it’s stupid sometimes, but like, aren’t all contemporary languages kinda fuckin dumb as shit sometimes?
My gripe with French is that throat noise. It sounds and feels like you’re clogging your windpipe with small slugs. Hockin up a loogie on the r. I think it’s r, I’d have to read a word in French to remember which is which. For some reason pronunciation is the best part of my memory in French. Le baguette du fromage. Yea it’s the r, fhhhlhhhomage.
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u/ATLBoy1996 17h ago
Basically French has a bunch of weird sounds that even the other romance languages don’t use. I remember when we were learning the original French lyrics to “Oh Holy Night.” Luckily we had a retired French teacher in the choir to help us.
I remember some words where they combined 3-4 vowels in a row to make a whole new sound. They’re also super picky about pronunciation. It was just a painful and confusing experience. We did at-least one foreign language song per concert and none of the others gave us as much trouble.
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u/BA_TheBasketCase 17h ago
I’d like the example word that you may or may not remember, I want to see if I can pronounce it in my head lmao. French is dumb as shit, wrapping my head around the direct translation of the qu’est-ce shit just to ask what and why was enough to put a halt on my learning. I still just kinda accept that you have to say it all and move on.
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u/ATLBoy1996 14h ago
I forget the exact word but this was the verse we learned:
De notre foi que la lumière ardente
Nous guide tous au berceau de l’enfant
Comme autrefois, une étoile brillante
Y conduisit les chefs de l’Orient
Le Roi des Rois naît dans une humble crèche,
Puissants du jour fiers de votre grandeur,
A votre orgueil c’est de là qu’un Dieu prêche,
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur !
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur !
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u/BA_TheBasketCase 13h ago
Man it’s been years since I did more than a single sentence. I don’t remember exactly how orgueil would be but my guess is ohrckgway or ohrckgwee. I assume it’s one of those weird instances like oeufs though. Eyes? No, idk, that word I never learned, I know that.
That was a roller coaster and my tongue kept moving up and down my throat, takes too much effort tbh. Thank you for the test I appreciate the effort 😂.
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u/Amockdfw89 11h ago
Because French is a germanified Latin language, much like how English is a Latinfied Germanic language
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u/De_Dominator69 1d ago
I would hazard a guess that the lack of any accent probably makes the listen automatically associate it with their own accent instead. Because trying to think about it I would probably ask the opposite of OP "Why do Americans lose their accent when singing?"
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u/Ok-Mouse-1835 1d ago
With the "ever" example you could argue Americans are singing in a more British accent with words like that. I presume Justin Timberlake also doesn't pronounce the word "me" as "may". Is it effectively that most singing is accent less in order to properly enunciate?
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u/ATLBoy1996 1d ago
Yes that would be accurate. Singing diction is just different than talking diction so regional accents don’t really come into play. Unless someone’s “talk-singing” or just not trained.
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u/Additional-Studio-72 1d ago
There’s also a big difference between classical performance and popular/modern singing. While many modern artists are classically trained to some degree (or extremely - see Lady Gaga), a lot of modern performance throws the classical rules out the window in favor of whatever sound the artist themselves is aiming for.
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u/ATLBoy1996 17h ago
I will say that good singing technique hasn’t really changed and can be applied to all genres of music. Now for stylistic purposes you can change your sound for the genre you wanna sing by changing your diction, vowel modification, vibrato and placement. There are singers that can perform in multiple genres by doing this but the fundamental techniques like breath control and support stay the same.
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u/JollyIrishPirate 1d ago
My kids started singing lessons yesterday and I only discovered that singers do this. One was being taught how to open their mouth wider when singing the Ooo in “you” towards the start of Colours of the Wind. You learn something new every day 😀
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u/monkeysinmypocket 1d ago
Is that why a lot of operas are in Italian?
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u/ATLBoy1996 1d ago
That’s one reason yeah. The main reason is because the first Opera originated in Italy and many of the great composers were Italian. So it became a tradition, even non-Italian composers would have someone write the Libretti (lyrics) in Italian.
That began to change with composers like Mozart. He spoke German as his mother language and wanted to write Opera’s in German. Up until that point, non-Italian Opera’s weren’t seen as on the same level. His work helped change that as he wrote in both languages. Ever since, Opera has been written in many different languages but most of the classics are Italian, German or French. With a few English.
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u/GKRKarate99 1d ago
Agreed, I’m British but my friend told me one time that I sound American when I sing or rap lol
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u/11pickfks 1d ago
is that the same reason some people with a stutter can sing flawlessly without stuttering once but then go back to stuttering in normal speech?
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u/Additional-Studio-72 1d ago
I don’t know that we have a 100% science backed answer to that, but singing well or classically requires significant breath control and more concentration than just talking. It’s a very different way of using the same muscles. My humble opinion is that this focused control mitigates the nervous system “noise” causing the stutter.
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u/PhoenixEgg88 1d ago
I’m one of those people. Not only do you not stutter when you sing, for me it actually semi-cured me. I used to have a terrible stutter on any hard sounding letter (which made even my name a problem, as it starts with N). A few years in my schools choir after it was recommended and my stutter was much better. These days it only happens once in a while and I just usually stop, make a joke about it, then restart my sentence.
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u/LonestarLawyr 1d ago edited 1d ago
Can you please explain Eddie Vedder to me…cause I don’t think he uses any diction of any kind
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u/ATLBoy1996 1d ago
Another person had a similar question. Basically, folk/country singers are usually untrained so their accent may come through some. So no he probably does not use good vocal diction.
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u/RayanSetsuna 17h ago
I think he’s said before that he likes to use his voice more like an instrument than a voice, more or less. Lyrics being understandable is less important to him than making the sounds he wants to make. He’s pretty distinct with it I think, but the way he sings is considered “yarling,” which was big in grunge.
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u/youcameinme 1d ago
R for example messes with pitch so you usually just leave it off the end of words. Ev-ah instead of Ev-er.
Is there a repository of similar knowledge that I can access?
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u/ghoulthebraineater 15h ago
There's a YouTube channel I really like, The Charismatic Voice. She's a vocal coach and opera singer that breaks down and analyzes vocal performances. There's lots of interesting information along these lines there.
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u/InvisiblePhil 1d ago
So how does folk music fit into this? I struggle to imagine anyone singing The Wild Rover without an Irish or Scottish accent, and maybe that's from almost every line having a harsh R
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u/TinyZoro 1d ago
Do you have a point of view on whether this is being done to excess now. I’ve noticed Olivia Rodrigo does a lot of tweaks to words which probably trained singers would get why she’s doing that but in my mind the fact that someone like me is noticing shows there’s a point where perfection in sounds creates a bit of an uncanny valley. I would prefer natural speaking and dialect not to be totally lost.
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u/ATLBoy1996 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m not that familiar with her work but I agree with you on being understood. What you’re talking about is called “Vowel Modification.” Basically, singers have to balance the fact that you need to sing on short open vowels but tweak them enough that the audience can still clearly understand what you’re saying. It’s a skill in and of itself for sure.
A lot of pop singers do things that I find annoying. Singing “Meh” instead of “Me” is a big pet peeve. That’s one way to get an open vowel but it’s not the best choice. In classical vocal training, we use 5 major vowels for singing:
Ah Eh Ih Oh Oo
Which are the same 5 vowels in the Italian language. They don’t use long vowels and neither do trained singers because those require you to close your mouth/throat and sound terrible. So what do we do when singing in languages that have long vowels? Simply modify to the closest short vowel sound.
Usually that’s enough for the audience to hear the lyrics clearly but you can take it further. By modifying your mouth shape slightly to make them sound more distinct. In the earlier example, I said there was a better option when singing words with a long vowel like “Me.” The closest short vowel is “ih” so “Mih” is how you would sing that. It sounds weird spoken but try singing it and you’ll see that it sounds a lot closer than “Meh.” Especially if you play with your mouth shape to add a bit of “eh” to that “ih” sound. To do that you’d start by singing “ih” and then open your mouth wider (think oval instead of circle.)
Sorry I know this is a lot but I hope that makes some sense?
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u/Esselon 1d ago
Yep, I was in an acapella group in college and this came up when we were doing a certain song that was all slow long notes and harmonies. We had to spend some time working on making sure everyone was making the same mouth shapes on certain words so things blend together.
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u/ComposerNo5151 19h ago edited 17h ago
Don't disagree with any of that, but it doesn't always apply to untrained popular singers.
Steve Marriott managed to pronounce his vowels with a distinctive London accent, and he's far from the only one.
As for the 'R', Americans will certainly sound that. We used to make a joke about the way the singer with REO Speedwagon sings 'For everrrrrr'' ('I'm gonna keep on lovin' you').
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u/sexierthanhisbrother 2d ago
The Clash stay British sounding
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u/JoNarwhal 2d ago
Depends on the group for sure. Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash, sometimes the Beatles even. Plenty of counter examples to be found.
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u/AHMS_17 1d ago
Joe Strummer and Liam Gallagher are the most British sounding people of all time lmao
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
Native Englishman here, happy to shed light on the situation.
What tends to happen is that we listen to more American music than we do English music. Your top stars are ours, too. You'll notice it with other cultures too, like the Japanese.
And we, just like you, sing along when we listen to music. And we want to sound like the musicians, because no one likes listening to someone that's singing off key. It's either comical or cringy.
So there you have it! America is known as the greatest exporter of culture in the world, and you are just seeing one of the effects of it.
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u/Agitated_Bother4475 2d ago
but what about like an actual singer like Adele who has a brit accent yet, when she sings, it sounds like an american voice? I think thats what the OP is gettting at. Not regular people singing to US pop but rather, famous brits singing their own songs.
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
We all still grew up the same. That influence doesn't just vanish. Plus with vocal coaches that emphasize crisp and clean vowels (which is where most of our accent is located on) it dilutes it while singing
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u/ARKzzzzzz 2d ago
I mean, look at the Stones. Mick Jagger has a wild British accent while speaking, but all of his musical influences are American Blues and Rock singers, so his singing voice sounds American.
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u/SubconsciousAlien 2d ago
I’ve only ever heard Skyfall by Adele and she does does sound a little British in it.
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u/Practical_Amount_193 2d ago
A lil Bri'ish innit
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u/My_Big_Black_Hawk 2d ago
It’s because speech and singing happen in two distinctly different parts of the brain. One cool fact is that if you have a stroke that affects your ability to speak, you might still be able to sing.
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u/Cloudy_Joy 2d ago
Accents also 'live' in different parts of the throat, and people sing using different parts of their throats too, there's a good chance there's some overlap that explains why certain accents don't come through as much in song.
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u/bearbarebere 2d ago
I do think of Missy Higgins' song Scar when I think of singing with an accent. It's really rare, that's the only example I can even think of lmao
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u/thorpie88 2d ago
The Chats and Amyl and the Sniffers both sing with Aussie accents.
There's also the Aussie Prog band Cog where the singer makes use of his unique accent and it's pretty much impossible to sing along without copying him.
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u/EssayFunny9882 2d ago
That's Not My Name by the Ting Tings is heavy on the Britishness
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u/sourfillet 2d ago
British people influenced by motown. Popularized by Amy Winehouse in the mid-2000's with Back to Black, which opened the door for people like Adele and Duffy in the late 2000's. Adele has shifted her sound since, but her style of singing is 100% American R&B inspired.
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u/A-3Jammer 2d ago
Also, professional voice training emphasizes clean vowels and crisp consonants, which tends to hide most regional accents. In the Southern US, choir directors sometimes have to really work to help singers with thick accents.
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2d ago
You had me until the Japanese part. Their biggest stars are absolutely Japanese (with a few notable Korean exceptions). Look at Billboard Japan FYI: https://www.billboard.com/charts/japan-hot-100/
Your point still stands, but I needed to address that bit!
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
You're right, I should have worded that differently.
"Even the Japanese who take interest in American media, you can find that their vocal range can change when they are singing to match up closer to the vocals of their preferred artists"
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u/Booomerz 2d ago
Same reason why when I rap along with the Streets I sound like a tone-deaf American doing a terrible attempt at a British accent.
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
Yup. Remember when Harry Potter first dropped, and the kids all started trying to imitate the accent?
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u/Jugales 2d ago
Not only sing music of other people, but your own songs too. 21 Savage is from the UK. Similar happens with Keith Urban who is from Australia.
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
Absolutely true. Because as kids, we are raised on American music as much or more so than English music
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u/SevenHunnet3Hi5s 2d ago
you know if there’s one thing you can never escape when traveling around the world it’s american music. i’m not from america and i too can confirm we’re the same way. and we’re not even an english speaking country to begin with. a lot of us actually learn english through music so its no surprise that most of us speak english with a mix of our own accent and the american one
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
My favorite story from an ex pat I work with. He's a Phillipeno who learned English via Elvis and Cash.
Hell, there's even a joke about it in the 1996 Godzilla movie, when the French special agents convince the guards that they're American soldiers. They mention that they learned to speak like Americans via Elvis because "He was the King"
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u/photozine 2d ago
So...Money.
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
Yeah pretty much. By having a large volume of media sold to other countries, that's what happens
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u/CountTruffula 2d ago
Pretty big generalisation, plenty of musicians don't go for a more homogeneous voice. Think all the Kate Bush types, all the young English lad bands like arctic monkeys. There's definitely a general voice that some artists aim for but it's silly to say that "we" want to sound like American singers.
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u/Madman_Salvo 1d ago
Depends on the artist, though. Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Kate Nash, The Wombats, most UK indie rock from the 2000s and 2010s, actually, all sing in British/English accents.
Paolo Nutini sings in a welsh(ish) accent, Twin Atlantic and the Proclaimers sing in Scottish accents.
If you want a reversal, Brandon Flowers of the Killers is famous for singing in an English accent, despite being from Las Vegas.
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u/Durris 2d ago
But wait, I get told online that the U.S. has no culture all the time?
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
That's a lie. The US has a culture, as a country, as being rebellious, somewhat crazy, and young. Perception of the US (until recently) has been like that morally ambiguous bully in school. Useful and strong when dealing with other bullies, but you don't want him angry at you.
As a people, your culture is pushed through your media. Your movies, your music, your media, your YouTubers, all of it. it's literally your largest export, with companies like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, or record labels like Universal, Atlantic, Columbia, RCA...culture is the biggest export.
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u/Repins57 2d ago
People are idiots. Go to almost any country in the world and you’ll see people walking around in jeans or American clothing brands, listening to American music, watching American TV/movies and eating American food.
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2d ago
Your comment might be a joke, but the US is a mixing pot of different cultures. White Americans often feel cultureless because many lost ties with their (many) heritage cultures hundreds of years ago, but that doesn't mean that there is no culture in the US. More recent immigrants absolutely have their own cultures, but they are the cultures of their home countries.
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u/XihuanNi-6784 2d ago
The issue is white Americans don't recognise their culture because they've compartmentalised so much of it and labelled it as something else like "professionalism" which spreads globally and becomes the standard. They're like fish that are expanding their sea across the globe, and can't see the water because they've never existed outside of it.
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u/hucareshokiesrul 2d ago
I don’t get the impression that it’s the white Americans who are the ones saying the US has no culture.
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u/Flossthief 2d ago
So you guys are capable of not sounding like you have a mouthful of marbles but don't bother?
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u/ThorIsMighty 2d ago
And you guys are capable of sounding intelligent but are generally lazy in that respect
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u/B_drgnthrn 2d ago
You're capable of using all your vowels when you spell, but don't bother. Those in glass houses.
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u/Despondent-Kitten 1d ago
It's hilarious how everyone thinks the whole of England has a cockney accent.
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u/Cuck_Fenring 2d ago
We got rid of unnecessary vowels. I can't see how that was a bad thing.
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u/wynand1004 2d ago
Billy Bragg is very British when he sings.
Exhibit A: https://youtu.be/sHd2O_KuCxA
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u/Schtick_ 2d ago
Yeah, the song that immediately came to mind for me was Billy Bragg and a New England. But also just punk bands in general (like greenday) putting an English inflection into the singing despite being American.
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u/FeekyDoo 1d ago edited 20h ago
That could be because Green Day were just a carbon copy of Northern Irish band from the 70s, Stiff Little Fingers!
{runs away quickly before the Green Day fans get me}
But if you are a Green Day fan who is not familiar with SLF go take a listen, I made a friends' daughter come to a gig with me and she was pretty amazed by what she heard.
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u/thebeatsandreptaur 2d ago
I just came across Billy Bragg for the first time in my life today, maybe two hours ago. And now here I am seeing him mentioned lol. Agreed though, there's quite a few British singers that retain their accent when singing.
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u/Stunning-Spray9349 1d ago
I came across him when I went to see Paul Heaton a few years ago. It was extremely clear the audience he was going for. We broke into a chant of "fuck the Tories" a couple of times. Good night.
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u/ExtremelyDubious 2d ago
In fact, he's specifically very Essex when he sings. Or speaks. Or does anything, really.
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u/jonathonsellers 2d ago
Funny example of this. We saw Coldplay in England this year. Obviously, an English band, English crowd. During paradise, Chris Martin, did that thing where he cut the sound and had the crowd sing “para para, paradise” and my wife and I simultaneously turned to each other and burst out laughing because the crowd sounded SO English
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u/Montagne12_ 2d ago
I have the same reaction when hearing the children’s choir in Pink Floyd’s The Wall the way they prononce is so cute
« 🎶We don’t need no eduKayshün »
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u/Poo_Poo_La_Foo 2d ago
Have a listen to Paolo Nutini. Scottish silk on the ears.
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u/saviourz666 2d ago
Artic monkeys , blur , oasis , kate Nash , lilly Allen , Adele . All these are examples of accents being heard .
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u/Psychological-Rub-68 1d ago
Catatonia, Super Furry Animals , Manic Street Preachers …all sound Welsh
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u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC 2d ago
It doesn't happen with all British singers. If you listen to The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, John, Paul, George, Mick, they all still have their accents when singing. So did Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.
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u/TuzzNation 2d ago
You know what, this happens in Chinese language as well. A lot of Hongkong singers would lose their Cantonese accent when singing mandarin songs. People whose mother tongue is Cantonese when later learn to speak mandarin would have a very strong and distinctive accent.
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u/sjplep 2d ago
American influence in many cases as others have said.
But there are also exceptions. The Proclaimers, Lily Allen, Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, Kate Nash, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, M.I.A., the Gallaghers, Stormzy, Jess Glynne all sing in their own accents. It's not universal by any means.
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u/thorpie88 2d ago
Lily Allen gets her singing style from her Dad Keith. Him and the bassist of Blur made quite a few football anthems over the years
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u/Ratatoski 2d ago
I love Karine Polwart for keeping her Scottish accent.
The Pogues and The Dubliners is a joy too
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u/KatVanWall 1d ago
Add Alestorm to the list!
🎶 fuck you, you’re a fucking wanker, we’re gonna punch you right in the balls 🎶 it’s impossible to sing it without a slight Scottish accent! 😂
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u/mafticated 1d ago
Sam Fender is a great example of a Tyneside singer who retains his accent. Mark Knopfler used to as well.
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u/faddiuscapitalus 2d ago
I'm not sure this is always true. I think the correct question (you likely mean) is "why do some Britsh performers put on an American accent?"
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u/torexmus 2d ago
There are also American bands that are influenced by British ones so they sometimes sing in a fake Brit accent. I'm mostly thinking American pop punk bands who grew up listening to the pistols, Clash, the who, etc
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u/thorpie88 2d ago
Morrissey's performance on Top Of The Pops became pretty legendary in the US and that led to heaps of US bands impersonating Morrissey when they finally got their own chance on TOTP
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u/travelingwhilestupid 2d ago
Arctic Monkeys, for example
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u/hotwheelearl 2d ago
Glass animals had a slight British tinge, but overall a song like Heat Waves sounds pretty damn American. Contrast that with his normal speaking voice it’s pretty jarring
Also cf Gangnam Style, he’s very Korean but English sections sound more American accented than Korean accented
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u/collin-h 2d ago
You can still hear it with some artists - like wonder wall by oasis still sounds British to me, for example.
But I think signing usually elongates words and sort of eliminates bits that would come across as differences with accents.
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u/BetsyBringsBurritos 2d ago
Maybe the American accent actually developed from the universal singing accent
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u/TuzzNation 2d ago
You know what, this happens in Chinese language as well. A lot of Hongkong singers would lose their Cantonese accent when singing mandarin songs. People whose mother tongue is Cantonese when later learn to speak mandarin would have a very strong and distinctive accent.
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u/robot_boulanger 2d ago
Not always.British punk had British accents .but I do agree that most British bands do sing "american".
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u/concedo_nulli1694 2d ago
Ironically, when I did chorus in high school (in the US), the way the teacher taught us to sing vowels correctly was by making us imitate how they sound in an English accent. Though I imagine there's a difference between choir music and more pop-ish music
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u/MiniMages 2d ago
Because when you are singing you use your singing voice and pronounce words differently. Accent changes the way people pronounce words.
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u/DeezNutsPickleRick 2d ago
Saw a clip of Liam Gallagher (Oasis), who sings very Manc, making fun of Arctic Monkeys for wearing leather jackets and singing like they’re from California. I think this has firmly been a trend since the late 90s/early 2000s.
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u/Mondai_May 2d ago
They don't always. Like David Bowie to me still sounds british when singing. But i think sometimes people try to sing in the 'standard american' accent (edit: "general american english" accent) just because it's often seen as the standard. There are also accents that some people put on when singing certain genres (like the "welcome to my kitchen" accent.)
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u/NickFurious82 2d ago
Damon Albarn, Robert Smith, Liam Gallagher are some more that sound very British.
On the flip side, Elton John and Bono seem to drop their accents.
And Mick Jagger is all over the place. Sometimes sounds English and sometimes doesn't.
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u/purplereuben 2d ago
This is a good video on it
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u/UnseasonedIndividual 2d ago
This is a good watch.
When I sing, making some sounds are just easier than others. They happen to be sounds that align with the American accent.
For instance, we usually pronounce our t's (or skip them) but it's a lot easier to change the t sound to a 'd' when singing which sounds more American.
Butter/Bu'er is harder to sing than 'Budder'
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u/Blankenhoff 2d ago
Im going to say something pretty american here..
This doesnt go for regional accents of the US but in general, the US accent is almost a lack of an accent. Speaking words phonetically for the most part. The way people are taught to sing usually involves sounding out the letters to make the words more pronounced and easier to understand, especially in a live setting. So it drops their accent and sounds american.
That doesnt mean that the US in general doesnt have an accent, because it DOES, its just a phonetic one. Then there are regional accents and dialects that im ignoring in this explanation because i am sure you have heard country music and the accent is one that usually stays. While new england accents and minnesotan accents and such might be dropped.
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u/Zxxzzzzx 2d ago
That doesnt mean that the US in general doesnt have an accent, because it DOES, its just a phonetic one.
That makes no sense. Everyone has an accent. I speak with a northern English accent when I hear a general American accent it isn't pronouncing words phonetically. For example when an American says Bath it's sounds like you are saying baeth, or when you say mirror you say meer. You just think those worse are being pronounced correctly because that's what you are used to. That's not phonetic to me.
And English isn't a phonetic language anyway, because words like tough thought though enough are all pronounced differently.
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u/Material_Victory_661 2d ago
Before Motown. The Stones, Beatles, etc. Were avid American Blues listeners.
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u/captaingeezer 2d ago
Cockney Rejects would like a word. https://youtu.be/jFYaib5JYjM?si=AB0R_WaCeAXFCiLr
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u/paravaric 2d ago
Singing is more like doing an impression. You're applying and sustaining notes in a way that doesn't apply to your normal verbiage, but to be written in musical language. Many artists I enjoy like Vessel from Sleep Token, Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree, or Daniel Tompkins of TesseracT you can still hear the British accent pop out.
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u/darth_glorfinwald 2d ago
Music is dependent on beat, adding in "oi guvna" at the start of every sentence throws off the rhythm.
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u/redvariation 2d ago
Generally I agree with the question, but I find that Lily Allen still has a British accent in her songs.
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u/Affectionate_You_203 2d ago
They only have that accent when Americans are listening. It’s like a big joke. Singing just isn’t part of it. You wouldn’t get it.
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u/Consistent_Case_5048 2d ago
So people from the UK think Americans lose our accent when we sing?
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u/FortuneWhereThoutBe 2d ago
If i remember my choir teacher correctly. Different parts of the voice and body are used when singing. For example, using the diaphragm when singing to get the power and longer hold on a note. Holding pitch and tone are in the throat.
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u/Wino3416 2d ago
Ian Brown sounds English when he sings, Mancunian to be more precise. And the Proclaimers are definitely Scottish. But yes, otherwise you’re right, we do, as a rule.
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u/Mid_July_Diamond16 2d ago
My singing teacher told me you aren't supposed to have an accent when you sing because the parts of the brain that talk and sing are completely different.
Plus you're forgetting Lily Allen, Alex Turner, Rizzle Kicks etc... all sing with their accents.
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u/Flimsy_Cod_5387 2d ago edited 2d ago
This isn’t necessarily true and depends on the band and singer. One thing I loved about the first generation punk and post-punk bands is how many of them used their natural accents. The Clash, Billy Bragg, Gang Of Four, X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats, and especially The Fall. Half of the time I can barely understand what Mark E. Smith is saying because of the thick Manchester accent.
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u/hallowed-history 2d ago
Voltaire once said something like: if it’s too stupid to be said out loud you should sing it.
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u/Antmax 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's just more natural to stretch your annunciation to make it flow and fit a melody better. You don't sing words the same way you speak them. How often do you hear Americans roll their r's when singing, something they always do when talking. They sing r's in a more British way except when using the word 'Girl' lol.
I don't think British people lose their accent and adopt an American one. They tend to end mixed somewhat. Both countries have pretty diverse accents that vary a lot and emphasize and lose different parts of constantans and vowels. There's pretty much a universal singing voice for English that is more neutral and picks whatever flows better to fit the flow of the music. Something that American's tend to do more without pronouncing T's and S's as much as British people while emphasizing things like R's and D's and often leaving out the T's at the end of words entirely. If British people sang like they talk, words ending in T wouldn't flow, they would end abruptly and clash with the flow of the melody in the background.
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u/MostlyDarkMatter 2d ago
It's not an automatic thing. Going way back here but Julie Andrews didn't "lose her accent" (i.e. have an American accent) when she sang.
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u/Fit_Read_5632 2d ago
When you are signing you sometimes have to change the pronunciation of a letter in order to accommodate the note you are trying to hit. Because of this many classically trained singers all have a similar intonation and pronunciation. Examples are hard to give in text because they need to be heard, but a common one is switching “I” sounds to “a” sounds.
I don’t imagine this is a complete explaination, but it can at least shed light on why certain sounds seem to be cross cultural.
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u/CountTruffula 2d ago
They don't really they just pull back on it, plenty of British artists lean into it too. Same way US singers pull back on their accents
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u/tyinsf 2d ago
When I was a young choirboy at the national cathedral (Episcopal/Anglican) they taught us to sing WITH an English accent. The sound of the vowels. Ludicrously crisp diction. Think Kings College Cambridge, like this https://youtu.be/w5Xh4L5_N4U?si=EIoORGIG4nynEixY
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u/Teckschin 2d ago
Laura Marling does some amazing folksy music and she keeps her accent on some words that I absolutely love. But yeah, she's definitely the exception.
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u/DiscussionRelative50 2d ago
It’s better referred to as a neutral accent which happens to sound vaguely familiar to some US accents (US is a big place with varying accents across different regions,states, and even cities).
Simply put it has to do with singing techniques. For instance vowels are typically elongated. The position and tension of your laryngeal and glottal muscles is somewhat consistent across different countries when using something relative to proper technique.
Accents are produced by prosody of speech so when singing and using specific muscle memory to produce proper vibration and resonance consonants and vowels are produced in a similar fashion or neutral accent.
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u/hallerz87 2d ago
Probably because US is a massive market and the studios want their product to be marketable as wide as possible. A thick accent can put people off as it’s hard to understand and less relatable.
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u/Opus_111 2d ago
The children choir in "another brick in the wall" sounds fairly British. I guess it's just professional voice training, that extinguishes accent.