Karaoke Forums

Agree that the "r" sound is hard.

In pop and rock music, it's important to remember that you don't have to pronounce everything perfectly.  In fact trying too hard to prounounce everything right can make the song sound very mechanical in my opinion.  That doesn't mean you should pronounce "nuclear" like "nuke-yoo-ler" (unless you're doing country, then maybe you should) but there's nothing wrong with pronouncing "girl" like "gull" if you're having trouble with the "r" sound.

I've noticed that in music, the word "again" is routinely made to rhyme with words like "pain" or "main."  Even when it's pronounced like "uh-gin" they'll still put it in a rhyming scheme with "pain" or "main."  Doesn't really bother me, it just seems strange.

_________________
Reward: nine yen in drawer.

I seem to have more of a problem with phrasing rather just one word.  For example:  If I have to sing "won't you" or "but you", it comes out "wonchuu" and "buchuu".  I can't ever manage to enunciate the "t" and it drives me crazy.  I also have a problem with S's.  They seem to linger longer than I think they're supposed to. "Misssssssssssssssssss" "assssssssssssssk" etc.  Grrrr!  I sometimes will intentionally avoid singing things just because of the amount of S's.

_________________

There is a word in the lyric to "Cry Me a River", that while not hard to pronounce just never seems to fit into the melody line very comfortably:  "You told me our love was too PLEBIAN".  On top of that, whilst not familiar with the lyricist on that wonderful song what in the heck was he/she thinking of when they added that poke-in the-ear word to the lyric? I don't know..just always seemed an oddball word to use for some reason....

I tend not to pronounce the consonant very well. I think that’s just the lazy factor (or number of drinks factor!).  Words like hart, I think, should concentrate on the ah sound and then break into the rt just at the close of the word with little emphasis on the 'r'. The only time the real voice is heard is during the vowels, consonant are pure lip/teeth/tongue sounds and are needed to pronounce the word but aren’t part of the vocalization, in my opinion. Of course, as noted, sometimes the consonant are emphasized depending on the effect desired.. Sinatra had good diction but always emphasized the vowels.

Hmmm...I've never heard that song with lyrics (in ANY language)!   I didn't know there were lyrics.  I've always heard it as an instrumental.  *humming:  Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da...* (repeat--picking up tempo gradually)

_________________
I love being a mom!

Very true Chris...and then there is such a thing as pronouncing the consonant TOO HARD, especially when doing ballads--it really mucks things up.  It takes a lot of restraint!

Re: Tom Eaton's post on "again".  That long "a" sound on "a-gain" always does sound too affected when I've heard it sung that way too.  One of the things I've learned along the way is we all have a tendency to shorten the long vowel sounds on words where the long vowel is not always apparent to us in conversation.  Drawing them out a bit on brief, two syllable words can add immensely to the song (and it makes the listener think, "Geez, this  bozo really knows a thing about singing") if used at the right places.  But as Tom remarks, and I think I understand this now, overdoing the pronunciation t on words that in common conversational speaking have that "hi falutin'" tone to it when done kind of stand out like a sore thumb.  

(for a really good example of this--and it is cleverly written, listen to Gershwin's "Let Call the Whole thing Off":  "You say "tomato and I say too-mah-to"...etc.)

Michael, Obviously you have not heard me sing that song!!! !... I love that word.....It is perfect for the scentiment of the song... The object of the song is a jerk or jerkette who when realizing, that they have lost the person they really did love, are oh so, sorry.........., and they are RIGHT!   They thought they were above ordinary, common, (Plebeian) feelings such as love, until it was gone, and too late!!! Tooo Bad Loser!!!....See how I get into the song...... And feel the lyrics!  I like that word, it bites with sarcasm!!!.... Ellan
+
EDIT:  I just posted this song so you could have a listen......

_________________
Just Shut Up and Sing!!!!!!!Sing it like ya' mean it!!!

And when you sing it Ellan, it sounds just right! Great job on the song....!

Yeah, I love that song too--but I don't care for Joe Cocker's version.  It's too darn fast!  That "plebian" part is impossible to understand in his version!

BTW, I've sung "Cry Me a River" too, and I've also played the piano for someone else who sang it.   Ellan, I will have to hear your version sometime.

_________________
I love being a mom!

For things like won't you or but you, it sometimes is ok in popular styles (and especially country for some reason) to go ahead and do the "chew" thing.  And actually trying to purposefully pronounce the "t" and do it the "proper" choral way... won  tyou, can sound TOO proper and contrived to me in a lot of popular styles.  But I am not a big fan of "chew" either and try to avoid it (though it does slip out ).  My way of getting around this issue is to NOT pronounce the "t" at all.  The listener still hears the word.  I just kind of close my mouth and close off the won before opening back up for you.  That's my favorite way of dealing with that scenario in popular music and what sounds best to me..  my second choice is Chew and oddly enough, my last choice is the "proper" way because is just sounds too cheesy and out of place to me in popular music.

For esses (which by the way are a particular nemesis of mine), I've learned to NOT create the sound with my tongue against the back of my teeth.  Doing so makes the sound too hissy to me.  What I try to do, is to soften the ess by pulling my tongue back and letting the air rush over it to create a MUCH softer ess sound.

_________________
[scroll][/scroll]

[font=andalus]We Are the Music Makers, and We are the Dreamers of Dreams...
We are the Movers and Shakers of the World Forever it Seems...[/font]

For some reason...any word I sing that ends in a vowel..or a consonant...comes out sounding COUNTRY...yall..fix me! hehe

Actually a really cool thread...Im learnin much

I recently mentioned this on a submission looking for a critique on SS.  The advice I gave was to always attempt to sing the lyrics as clearly and understandably as possible.  I think we, as the singers, tend to forget that often the person hearing the song may not know the words! After all, as singers, that is part of the job--to make sure the listener enjoys what we are trying to sell rather than get frustrated at not knowing what we are singing. But as mentioned by others too, the secret is not to make it sound so stiff and starchy that it sounds forced and "put on".  

(I am also one of those bozos who wishes some of these British movies came with subtitles--holy cow, just WHAT are they saying?!)

I LOVE that song!  I used to sing to my son all the time when he was a baby, and I sang that song to him once while I was feeding him some Gerber potatoes, since the song has the word "potato" in it.    And no, he doesn't say "po-TAH-to", but when he was first learning to talk, he said "potato sips" (for "potato chips")!  That was sooooo cute!  

_________________
I love being a mom!

Same thing with the movie "Gigi", which has people talking in English with French accents.  It's a musical, and I could understand the characters just fine when they were singing, but when they were talking, it was hard to figure out!

_________________
I love being a mom!

Thanks for the warning! That movie's been sitting on my DVD shelf for a few years now--I KNEW there was a reason I've never watched it!

Oh, it's a good movie!  Don't let that keep you from watching it!

_________________
I love being a mom!

Hard words, in no particular order:  

Jesus.  I have a terrible problem with Js and Zs, and had the solo in 'Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen' taken from me because my conductor thought I was saying "Nobody knows butt cheeses" instead of "but Jesus".

Street.  I always pronounce this word "shtreet".  Maybe it's the yiddish in my family background or something?

Words like Elton.  Can't think of any lyrics offhand, but the "LT" combo comes out "el-un" for me unless I really, reeeeeally think about it.

Esses and don't yous and won't yous, like others mentioned above.

Finally, the bane of my existence is the Mallotte version of The Lords Prayer, which I have sung at umpteen hundred weddings, with karaoke, organs, bands, harp players, chamber groups, etc. It has the lyric "And lead us not into temptation."  I had to put a rest AND a breath in that short little phrase, or it came out, "lead a snot into temptation."  I don't even know how you DO that, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to talk about it at weddings.

 LMAO  LMAO

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]