We've all heard the fake "Irish" accent on the radio and TV - although which part of Ireland it's supposed to come from is anyone's guess. To my (admittedly cloth) ears some Irish voices from the West can sound close to some Welsh accents, whereas the accent from the South-East corner sounds a lot flatter in comparison. Anyway, the BBC clip shows a sample lesson from one of the top dialect coaches in the film industry, and explains the intricate level of detail involved in learning a convincing accent - a bit like learning to produce a good quality tone on the fiddle.
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Interesting. Well, that's acting for you.
It took me a while to stop singing with whatever inflection I learned the song from, and simply sing with my own voice and accent. Seems like that's much more the goal of traditional music, to process and sing with your own voice, rather than, well, acting.
One of the commenters on that website made a good point. Why does everyone think the only American accent in existence is the Southern one?
Now repeat after me, let's see if I still got it, haven't lived in New England for years.
PAHK YA CAH IN HAHVAHD YAHD. (Please leave your vehicle in Cambridge, near where Harvard University is located.)
LET'S GO TO FENWAY PAHK AND SEE DA SAWX. (Let's go watch the Boston Red Sox play a baseball game.)
THIS SESSION SUX, LET'S GO TO SULLY'S AND GET FACED. (The music in this pub is sub-par, let's go visit our friend named Sullivan and drink until we are inebriated.)
Not bad. It's good to brush up, keep my skills intact.
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
It is like tone and style on fiddles ,, But just like learning Irish
as Flute player Garry Hastings told me once You have to live with the people get to know there slag words,etc ,, Or as he put
it '' You wont get that right in a Auld book hey boy ''
So true ..and the same goes for Irish Traditional Styles Too,,
I Think -
jim,,
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Ah yes, of course! It's that same theory that led to legions of knuckleheads with acoustic guitars and sweaters thinking everyone in Ireland sings The Wild Rover constantly like The Clancy Brothers. Glad to see widespread incorrect cultural generalizations are a global phenomenon, shared by people of all countries.
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Depending on the song, I've sometimes tried to achieve a "Mid-Atlantic accent" -- not really trying to sound British/Irish/Scottish, but adding just enough subtle intonations or articulations to give the proper ambiance and feel.
There are some instances where even a Mid-Atlantic accent just doesn't work, though. For example, the chorus to "Welcome Royal Charlie" really needs to be in Scots dialect:
"Oh, ye've been lang a-comin, lang, lang, lang a-comin'"
as opposed to
"Oh, you've been long a-coming, long, long, long a-coming."
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Heck Bob, they don't even know there are other accents than Southern ones! Baby steps my friend, baby steps. Don't go blasting their minds with the intricacies of Virginia Piedmont versus Florida Cracker just yet!
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
I worked at a manufacturing plant in the Virginia Piedmont for 2 years. It was 3 months before I could understand what anyone was saying to me. By the end of 2 years I was saying "y'all" and "we might could do that". That's when I knew it was time to move back North!
Of course, after living in Massachusetts for 2 years, I've started losing my r's . . .
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
When I came from England and went to Elementary school in Virginia for 3 years, I remember my parents being pretty startled to hear me speaking at a school concert in an American 'accent'. Thinking about it now, of course no child wants to be that different at school, so I ended up developing one accent for school and one for home (hence why it was such a surprise to them to hear me speaking that way). I'd guess the same applies to musical "accents" too.
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
I think it was Kingsley Amis who had a character cry "Apollo Jars! Arcane Stannard Hannah Moore ! Armegeddon Pistoff !"
Of course, and probably more in bygone days of business, many people had a 'telephone' accent, as well as their real one.
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
lol I come from the dead center of PA where you are just as likely to hear Low German as English. When I went to Univerisy my room mates who were from the same state would say "tony the words coming from your mouth are english, but they don't make any sense the way you string them together," Now Living with international students, learning Portuguese, and living close to Zimbabwe have destroyed my beautiful accent.
How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
I picked this gem up on the BBC website today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7509572.stm
We've all heard the fake "Irish" accent on the radio and TV - although which part of Ireland it's supposed to come from is anyone's guess. To my (admittedly cloth) ears some Irish voices from the West can sound close to some Welsh accents, whereas the accent from the South-East corner sounds a lot flatter in comparison. Anyway, the BBC clip shows a sample lesson from one of the top dialect coaches in the film industry, and explains the intricate level of detail involved in learning a convincing accent - a bit like learning to produce a good quality tone on the fiddle.
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by lazyhound
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Interesting. Well, that's acting for you.
It took me a while to stop singing with whatever inflection I learned the song from, and simply sing with my own voice and accent. Seems like that's much more the goal of traditional music, to process and sing with your own voice, rather than, well, acting.
One of the commenters on that website made a good point. Why does everyone think the only American accent in existence is the Southern one?
Now repeat after me, let's see if I still got it, haven't lived in New England for years.
PAHK YA CAH IN HAHVAHD YAHD. (Please leave your vehicle in Cambridge, near where Harvard University is located.)
LET'S GO TO FENWAY PAHK AND SEE DA SAWX. (Let's go watch the Boston Red Sox play a baseball game.)
THIS SESSION SUX, LET'S GO TO SULLY'S AND GET FACED. (The music in this pub is sub-par, let's go visit our friend named Sullivan and drink until we are inebriated.)
Not bad. It's good to brush up, keep my skills intact.
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
It is like tone and style on fiddles ,, But just like learning Irish
as Flute player Garry Hastings told me once You have to live with the people get to know there slag words,etc ,, Or as he put
it '' You wont get that right in a Auld book hey boy ''
So true ..and the same goes for Irish Traditional Styles Too,,
I Think -
jim,,
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by FIDDLE4
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
"Why does everyone think the only American accent in existence is the Southern one?"
it's just a matter of convienience. If you want to sound American, you have to speak slowly and be really lazy with your articulation.
Then you have to remmeber not to properly conjugate any verbs.
After you do all that, you can't help but sound like you came from the South.
Besides, who in their right mind would want to pretend to be from Boston?
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Ah yes, of course! It's that same theory that led to legions of knuckleheads with acoustic guitars and sweaters thinking everyone in Ireland sings The Wild Rover constantly like The Clancy Brothers. Glad to see widespread incorrect cultural generalizations are a global phenomenon, shared by people of all countries.
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Depending on the song, I've sometimes tried to achieve a "Mid-Atlantic accent" -- not really trying to sound British/Irish/Scottish, but adding just enough subtle intonations or articulations to give the proper ambiance and feel.
There are some instances where even a Mid-Atlantic accent just doesn't work, though. For example, the chorus to "Welcome Royal Charlie" really needs to be in Scots dialect:
"Oh, ye've been lang a-comin, lang, lang, lang a-comin'"
as opposed to
"Oh, you've been long a-coming, long, long, long a-coming."
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by sts
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Remember that scene from "The Commitments" where the old trumpet player was coaching the girls' singing?
"It's not 'Royd Sally, Royd.'"
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by pbassnote
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
“Why does everyone think the only American accent in existence is the Southern one?”
Why does everyone think there’s only one Southern accent?
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by Bob himself
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Why does everyone think that people from Birmingham have a Black Country accent (Yam Yams)?
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by upmine3
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Heck Bob, they don't even know there are other accents than Southern ones! Baby steps my friend, baby steps. Don't go blasting their minds with the intricacies of Virginia Piedmont versus Florida Cracker just yet!
# Posted on July 21st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
I worked at a manufacturing plant in the Virginia Piedmont for 2 years. It was 3 months before I could understand what anyone was saying to me. By the end of 2 years I was saying "y'all" and "we might could do that". That's when I knew it was time to move back North!
Of course, after living in Massachusetts for 2 years, I've started losing my r's . . .
# Posted on July 22nd 2008 by fiddlebliss
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
When I came from England and went to Elementary school in Virginia for 3 years, I remember my parents being pretty startled to hear me speaking at a school concert in an American 'accent'. Thinking about it now, of course no child wants to be that different at school, so I ended up developing one accent for school and one for home (hence why it was such a surprise to them to hear me speaking that way). I'd guess the same applies to musical "accents" too.
# Posted on July 22nd 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
I think it was Kingsley Amis who had a character cry "Apollo Jars! Arcane Stannard Hannah Moore ! Armegeddon Pistoff !"
Of course, and probably more in bygone days of business, many people had a 'telephone' accent, as well as their real one.
# Posted on July 22nd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
Yo, check this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k
# Posted on July 25th 2008 by jwvansteenwyk
Re: How not to do an American accent - or any other, for that matter
lol I come from the dead center of PA where you are just as likely to hear Low German as English. When I went to Univerisy my room mates who were from the same state would say "tony the words coming from your mouth are english, but they don't make any sense the way you string them together," Now Living with international students, learning Portuguese, and living close to Zimbabwe have destroyed my beautiful accent.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by anthonybeers