Why do so many British musicians lose their accent when they sing?

Even if you are not fluent in English, you certainly know that countries that communicate through this language have different accents. And while Scots, Irish, New Zealanders, etc., have their own particular ways of speaking, perhaps the most famous difference lies in the pronunciation of Americans and Britons. However, have you noticed that many musicians lose their accent when singing?

If you pay attention, a number of British artists - whose accents are over loaded during interviews - even sound vaguely American when performing their songs. Similarly, many Americans, in turn, have much more neutral accents when singing. But how is this possible? According to the folks at mental_floss, one reason is purely technical.

Singing x Speak

According to the publication, accents are defined by intonation, rhythm and the way the vowels are pronounced. However, when the artists are singing, the cadence is different and, therefore, characteristics such as tone, emphasis and accent syllabus are lost due to the melody. This means that the rhythm of a song may limit a singer's ability to pronounce certain words, especially vowels.

In fact, if some syllables were pronounced as faithfully as they were spoken, the songs would sound super-strange. In the case of Americans, for example, who pronounce the letter "r" at the end of the words - unlike the British, who suppress the "r" and prolong the vowel preceding that letter - if the singers would articulate the ending words. with "r" usually in their songs, they would sound like a bunch of pirates singing. ARRRRR!

Going back to the accents, according to BuzzFeed, there is also the possibility that some artists will choose to sound a certain way - British or American - to win a certain audience. In this case, pronunciation is gained through a lot of practice, and singers adapt to interpret songs the way fans expect them to, and to fit specific music genres.

Listen to Amy Winehouse, for example, talking to her strong British accent during an interview and then playing one of her biggest hits "Rehab" - which blends elements of jazz and soul, both styles born in the US - right after that :

If you didn't know who Amy Winehouse was and, with your eyes closed, just listened to the music, would you say the singer was a sleazy English girl?

By the way, if you stop to think, the same question about American and British accents - about the emphasis of syllables being neutralized as a function of melody or whether vocalists learn to master singing in a certain way - also if applies in a way to Brazilians. After all, the singer Pitty, for example, who is from Bahia, does not sound anything like many of her countrymen, don't you think?

Still - and in spite of everything - there are also a number of singers and bands whose accents, whether by choice or not, are pretty obvious, and it's virtually impossible not to guess where they are from. Want an example?

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And can you, dear reader, remember more examples of singers or band vocalists who have no accent or who can't fool anyone about their origins? Tell us in the comments!