TOP TEN FAQ’s FOR SINGERS

 6.  How Do I Improve My Diction?

This is easy on one hand and hard on the other. There are people who believe that we should always sing in our own

country’s accent. Then there are others that think that we should always sing with the standard American accent. I

have always thought that it is best to sing the song in the accent of the style and/or the way the song was written in

the first place. I hate hearing singers step up to the mic and sing a blues standard in a basic Kiwi voicing with all the

bad diction that goes with it(believe me, we Kiwis have bad diction) likewise why would we want to learn an Annie

Lennox song without trying to learn some of the beautiful lilting accents that she puts into her songs? To me that is

totally disrespectful and also very lazy singing. We would be doing the song and the singer a disservice. But to get it

right can be hard. The basic vowel sounds are vital to get right and the consonants that go with them are vital as well.

We want to be understood and we want to try and get it right. Therefore mouth structure, the way we breathe, the

use of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, the chin and how far we open our mouths all play a huge part in the

development of diction acceptable to a particular song. If you are singing as though you have a hot potato in your

mouth and it feels pretty stupid, you’re probably doing the right thing. Those who study languages will find it easy, and

frankly in NZ we have a language which is perfect for learning to sing properly and that is Maori. All the vowel sounds in

Maori are perfect so learn them, learn to speak the place names properly, you will find that each helps the other, you

will become a better singer, and, you will become better at the Maori place names and language in general. Remember

if you don’t open your mouth you can’t project and nobody will be able to understand you.

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