Why do accents disappear when singing?
This case we are specifically looking at English language but however this can be broadly applied.
There are many reasons why do accents disappear when singing, what causes them largely depends largely on two circumstances that we’ve tried explain below:
Science Behind Singing And Accents
When a singer decides to learn how to sing high notes, they quickly realize that most of their range calls for some sort of accent: voice or accent or even song lyrics.
This realization can often leave the singers singing without any kind of range at all.
First of all, singing in the high register notes requires you to produce more energy and use more muscle in order to reach it than singing in the lower notes.
This is especially true when you are singing notes higher than C.
Your body will require more effort to move from one note to the next and this is why the vocals sometimes sound hoarse.
The same applies to songs with chords in the higher register. The vocal cords are strained when they have to produce louder notes.
American accent is easier to produce because they are closer to the ears.
But the vocal chords must be produced at the right pitch, because if you try to reach an incorrect pitch then the music sounds distorted and you will break up your range.
A related question is why do notes disappear when singing in the high register?
Do you have to be a voices expert or a linguist to do that?
The answer is that high notes require more energy to reach than low notes.
The strain on the vocal chords and the vocal organs increases the metabolism and makes the singer’s voice hoarse.
The vocal cords and the larynx have fewer muscles in high register than lower register.
This makes it harder for the singer to achieve a balance between projection,vowel sounds,intonations of speech,rhythm of speech and depth in the voice.
Many singers,especially American singers and British Singers from popular music do not realize it but there is a simple solution to this problem: singing exercises!
Even with accent differences these exercises allow you to work on strengthening your vocal cords and the other singing parts of your body, giving you a general fitness boost which has a great impact on your singing.
When you regularly exercise your body, you will notice that your singing skills like pace,delivery,articulation,vowels,melody,syllable,rhythm,cadence,phonetics and time improve.
Just by spending 15 minutes a day exercising, you will notice that your accent is no longer masked by the high notes in your voice.
Some people have extremely powerful singing voice.
In fact, some singers can belt out high notes without thinking.
Other people struggle with singing even their vowels and music.
Why is this? It is due to their vocal cord’s weakness in some areas.
One of these areas is the high end or treble clef with dialect or different accent.
This is where the notes are mostly played and a listener’s inner ear finds it difficult to distinguish the notes higher than treble clef especially vowel sound.
The muscles required to sing in this clef may be too weak or too big for their bodies.
When you strengthen your singing abilities by doing exercises, your muscular size, as well as the muscle tone of your soft palate can be improved, thus, permitting you to sing better in this area.
As a singer (especially with American accent), it is important that you practice singing in all keys since every voice is different from the other received pronunciation like English accent.
When practicing singing, it is important to concentrate on notes in the scale rather than simply on notes that are close to your vocal chords.
By learning this technique, you will be able to sing better even when singing in the higher octaves.
You should never underestimate the importance of a strong vowel quality and clear voice with neutral accent.
Remember that your voice is your best tool to communicate the music you are singing to your audience.
Another area is the bass clef.
This is where the high notes are reached by the tongue.
A person who struggles with English pronunciation can sing high notes and hit the high notes with ease if his larynx is not properly developed,than compared to person with local accent.
This is an area which needs to be strengthened through voice lessons or through practice singing.
The muscles in the larynx need to be balanced in size and strength in order for the voice to maintain clear and powerful tones.
If you want to know the answer to the question ‘why do accents disappear when singing in the high notes’, the answer is – the low notes are simply harder to reach than the high notes.
This causes singers with accents the loss of accent.
Environmental Factors That Cause Accents To Disappear When Singing
While you’re trying to figure out why do accents disappear when singing, what causes them may be more important than you realize.
When an accent is forced upon you, it’s almost impossible to not develop native accent or regional accent.
Like American accents vs British Accent, or any regional accents vs neutralised accent.
If you live in a city where most people speak with their regional accent then you have no choice but to adapt to that accent.
In a country like United Kingdom, where there are no such pressures to speak with an English accents (cockney accent,mixed accents,Northern Ireland accent,Scottish accent,Welsh accents,Northern England,Liverpool) the only reason an accent might be developed is if a person comes from a part of the world where that accent is more common, hence British singer don’t sing with America accent.
For example some babies are very lightly accented, while others are quite heavily accented.
More recently studies have shown that some babies can learn to speak as well as some adult person’s accent, despite having very little or no type of accent.
It seems that the lack of early exposure to a wider variety of sounds and environments that stimulate these affects or develop distinct accent and helps to explain why do accents disappear when singing.
Your speaking voice affects your accent. If you have a high pitched voice then you will tend to have a more nasal or eastern accent and the opposite for American accent.
The same goes if you have a low-pitched voice.
Learning to speak with proper posture can also affect how well you learn to sing better.
You must use correct posture when singing so that you will be singing with proper form, which in turn will help you learn to sing better.
Lastly, your understanding of lyrics,type of music (like pop song,country music,pop music) and how they are presented affects your singing.
An accent is not present in lyric,intonation or in how you sing them. If you don’t understand lyrics you might struggle to learn to sing better.
This can also prevent you from learning to read songs correctly which can have a devastating effect on your ability to successfully sing.
