[Sine]

Yesterday it occurred to me that I generally don't like singers that don't speak the language they're singing.

For example, if a native English speaker tries to sing the German words to "Ave Maria", it just sounds way off to me - no matter how professional they are. The proper pronunciations that go with being a native speaker of a language are something I'm very picky about in music.

So how about you?

 

[rxc]

I'm don't mind pronunciation much, proper usage is another matter.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Well, I'm kinda halfway. Some non-English singer don't sounds bad though when singing English songs, but I think this related to their understanding the language in the first place, and how to pronounce it properly. If they don't understand in the first place it would sounds rubbish

 

[Assorted]

Depends right, some native English singers are great are singing Italian or German, whereas others don't quite have the right diction, so it sounds too "Anglo" to me.

On the other hand, Italian singers singing Italian sometimes sound so romanticized that its very hard to understand.

 

[MD1032]

For some reason, it doesn't seem that native language affects singing diction in my experience.

For example, I heard a guy sing a solo at one of our concerts and he did an excellent job, and to my surprise, I later found out he had a heavy accent and wasn't a native speaker!

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apocalypsee /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...I think this related to their understanding the language in the first place...

Agreed... As long as it's clear that the singer understands what he or she is singing, it's okay. In a lot of cases, I like a non-native singer's accent because it adds another color or shade to the performance.

English sung by non-native speakers occurs a lot in Japanese popular music, especially anime soundtracks. For example, composer Yoko Kanno has made several vocalists famous from songs with English lyrics (usually written or co-written with a native English speaker, ex. Tim Jensen). For example, Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese) and Ilaria Graziano (Italian), both had English-sung hits in Japan. Cool.

 

[krmathis]

It does not matter to me if its their native language or not, as long as they can pronounce it properly.

 

[MonolithTMA]

I had a voice instructor years ago who, when she was singing in a competition years before, had forgotten the words to whatever German piece she was singing. She sang it all in German sounding gibberish. Obviously there was no one there who spoke German, because she received high marks for pronunciation.

 

[asmox]

I don't care.

Most of my favorite vocalists are not native English speakers, yet write/sing in English.

 

[BradJudy]

I don't know about this exact question, but I've heard that those with a native language that is tonal are much more likely to have correct pitch in singing than those with non-tonal native languages.