Singing in an another language

[Joe Chandler]

Has anyone here ever sung in a language other than English for voice training purposes? We had a choice of Italian or German. I chose German. It can be very helpful for hitting and holding a high note. For instance English uses the  diphthong. A diphthong,  also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. An example of this is our long 'A' sound. We actually start with the long 'A' sound a followed by the long 'E' sound. Try it. Say the word 'Day" and listen closely. Spanish speaking people use only the long 'A' sound without moving to the long 'E'. 

How can this help singing in English? The long 'E' actually closes the throat. Leaving the diphthong off the long 'A' can allow you to hold a note longer. Try it. It is awkward at first, but practicing it will help you in the long run. 

 

[heartstrings]

Yes, almost every Christmas...... "glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria in excelsis deo" .......... Why?

 

[BrotherTony]

Interesting....and yes...we often sing in Spanish or French...I know a little German myself as my ancestors on my adoptive fathers side came from Germany. 

 

[heartstrings]

Hey I see you're in SW GA.  I'm about 45 miles North of Panama City.

[HappyChristian]

Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, dormez vous? dormes vous? Sonnez les matinas. Sonnez les matinas. Din din don. Din din don.

I think most of us would recognize that French ditty. But did you know that it's  actually a rhyme against laziness? In English we sing "morning bells are ringing" whereas the French sonnez les matinas  is an instruction for John (or Jacques or Jakob, depending on the language) to wake up and ring the bells. Anyway...

Then there is "O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

We didn't sing it for practice, just for fun.

[Joe Chandler]

1 hour ago, heartstrings said:

Hey I see you're in SW GA.  I'm about 45 miles North of Panama City.

I live near Brunswick, GA. About 40 minutes inland.

[MikeWatson1]

Yeah the song Kyrie...

 

Most Europeans will pronounce keey ree aye

But it's Latin vowels... key ree ..with ree having a kind of L for the 'r' ..

An then 'ie' is 'air'. ... Not aye.

 

Key ree air

With the 'r' almost an L.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by MikeWatson1
Wording out

[Rebecca]

I sing in another language, but not for voice training purposes. 

[Joe Chandler]

2 hours ago, Rebecca said:

I sing in another language, but not for voice training purposes.

Hey Rebecca. Am I right about the sliding vowels closing the throat? If I need to hold a long 'A' like in the word 'day' I hold the 'A' without sliding to the long 'E' until I move on to the next word. Does that make sense?

Edited May 24, 2023 by Joe Chandler

[MikeWatson1]

I'm in a choir. I sing bass. Doing long notes.. it's best to make vowels less round and nasal. Using the Latin ah air ee or ew for a e i o u. Unless you are singing songs that sound better with the local twang. Like country gospel.. then you need the southern twang.

[Rebecca]

On 5/24/2023 at 11:24 PM, Joe Chandler said:

Hey Rebecca. Am I right about the sliding vowels closing the throat? If I need to hold a long 'A' like in the word 'day' I hold the 'A' without sliding to the long 'E' until I move on to the next word. Does that make sense?

I hadn't noticed. When we sang in church today I tried to pay attention to how certain words affected my throat, but I didn't notice any difference like that. Probably if I were singing and enunciating properly I would notice. However, when singing in English what I have noticed in a lot of churches is that when singing a word that has an 's' in the middle or at the end people seem to draw it out and makes it sound like hissing. Made me laugh as a kid. 

[MikeWatson1]

In a choir often you'll get repeated 's' sounds.. like hissing.  

The best thing is to have only some people do the s sound and the others have no s. Then it sound more like one s.

The other way is to drill exactly when the s happens and do it at the right time.

 

I usually don't sing the s at the end of a phrase at choir.

Edited May 29, 2023 by MikeWatson1
Wording out

[JenM]

Singing in other languages is partly about accessing a broad range of classical repertoire, too. If vocalists don't learn to sing in other languages, they miss out on a lot.