Phonetical singing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phonetic singing is singing by learning and performing the lyrics of a song by the words' phonetic sounds, without necessarily understanding the content of the lyrics. For example, an artist performs in Spanish even though they may not be proficient in the language or understand the meaning.
For the DreamWorks animated film The Prince of Egypt, Israeli singer Ofra Haza sang most of the 17 versions of the song "Deliver Us" phonetically.
Learning new languages
Phonetics can be useful to singers in several ways:
Professional singers can use phonetics to learn new languages and identify the differences in the pronunciations without necessarily learning the meaning of words. This way, they can also identify the differences between different languages, and adjust the use of phonetics accordingly.
Understanding mouth shapes
There are different modes of using the open mouth with phonetics. Singers can adjust the shape of their mouth to affect the tone and quality of their voice, advantageously, or, if they do not understand the phonetics aspect, disadvantageously. Subtle differences can make, at times, drastic changes to the sound.[1]
Understanding the International Phonetic Alphabet
Understanding the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) can help a singer with the pronunciation of words. They can link syllables to different phonetic symbols to help as well.
