Diction for Singers 1

[wɛlkəm tu dɪkʃən fɔr sɪŋɚz pɑrt wʌn]

[mɑɪ næm ɪz dɑktɚ koplənd]

Definition:

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a symbol system representing the sounds used in speech and singing.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a true phonetic alphabet in which one symbol stands for one sound.

This alphabet has remained unchanged from it’s creation in 1886.

2 beginning rules for writing in IPA:

It’s always in brackets.

It’s never capitalized.

[hoʊp ɪz ðə θɪŋ wɪð fɛðɚz]

[hoʊp ɪz ðə θɪŋ wɪð fɛðɚz]

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—

[hoʊp ɪz ðə θɪŋ wɪð fɛðɚz]

[ðæt pɝtʃɪz ɪn ðə soʊl]

[ænd sɪŋz ðə tun wɪðaʊt ðə wɝdz]

[hoʊp ɪz ðə θɪŋ wɪð fɛðɚz]"Hope" is the thing with feathers—

[ðæt pɝtʃɪz ɪn ðə soʊl]

That perches in the soul—

[ænd sɪŋz ðə tun wɪðaʊt ðə wɝdz]

And sings the tune without the words—

[hoʊp ɪz ðə θɪŋ wɪð fɛðɚz]

[ðæt pɝtʃɪz ɪn ðə soʊl]

[ænd sɪŋz ðə tun wɪðaʊt ðə wɝdz]

[ænd nɛvɚ stɑps æt ɔl]

[ænd switɪst ɪn ðə ɡeɪl ɪz hɝd]

[ænd sɔr mʌst bi ðə stɔrm]

[ðæt kʊd ə’bæʃ ðə lɪtl bɝd]

[ðæt kɛpt soʊ mɛni wɔrm]

[aɪv hɝd ɪt ɪn ðə tʃɪlɪst lænd]

[ænd ɑn ðə streɪndʒɪst si]

[jɛt nɛvɚ ɪn ɪkˈstrɛməti]

[ɪt æskt ʌ krʌm əv mi]

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—And sings the tune without the words—And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—And sore must be the storm—That could abash the little BirdThat kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—And on the strangest Sea—Yet, never, in Extremity,It asked a crumb—of Me.

Our roman alphabet of English is NOT a phonetic alphabet – sound and spelling are often not the same.

For example, the sound ee [i] may have seven different spellings:

Our roman alphabet of English is NOT a phonetic alphabet – sound and spelling are often not the same.

For example, the sound ee [i] may have seven different spellings:

Be, eat, beet, receive, people, brief, Phoenix

Also, a single English letter might stand for several sounds: my = [mɑɪ] lane = [leɪn]

Or a dialect may demand even more sounds per vowel: pat [pæjət]; pet [pɛjət]; pit [pɪjət]

Standard English: [pæt] [pɛt] [pɪt]

Sometimes dialects even add consonants!

Wash [waʃ] becomes [wɔrʃ] in Appalachian Southern English! Awesome.

In English, a single letter may have no sound at all, such as the p in pneumonia.

Other letters represent more that one sound, as in the word mix where the letter x has two sounds: ks.

Two words may also be spelled differently, but pronounced alike: piece and peace.

There are twenty-two vowel sounds in English = FUN!

Dialects are COOL, but when you sing, you should be singing in standard American English.

Why?

What are exceptions?

Should your dialect influence your pronunciation of foreign languages?

Famous diction scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZqESl-0OkA

How close can you get?Learn IPA, pronunciation rules

Listen to recordings – be careful!

Train with a voice teacher

Coach with a native speaker. They offer pitch, rhythm, stress, and details a book can’t teach you well. But it must be speaker that understands LYRIC diction.

What is Lyric Diction?

What if my voice teacher has

me pronounce something differently

than I learned in Diction class???

Answer:

You should do exactly what your voice teacher says. The words “Dr. Copeland says…” should not escape your mouth.

Because I don’t want you to hear them say:

“Dr. Copeland is an idiot. Everyone knows that.”

We have dialect baggage.

Why are we starting with

Italian diction first?