Singing and Accents

[Coreeece 2]

When I hear singers from England or Australia, their vocals tend to sound like they have an American dialect to me. Do Brits and Aussies also hear an American dialect as well, or do you hear your own native "proper" english dialect/received pronunciation?

(not that Aussies speak proper english - people like Steve Erwin have always sounded like retarded Englishmen to me.)

Is there a science behind this phenomenon?

I suppose I could look it up myself, but whats the fun in that?

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[RMK 3]

Because American movies & television shows are so pervasive, Europeans learning English will be affected by watching movies/TV and many will end up with more American intonation and pronunciation.

Oddly, whereas Germans and French will sound more British, I find the Dutch end up sounding more American than any other nationality.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[muff528 3]

I mostly agree with that observation. .....Well, except for Peter Noone and that child molester from Oz who did "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport".

[riggerrob 558]

Yes. I asked a linguistics professor about "blending of accents."

He replied that - over the last half century - American audiences report that British singers sound more "American,"
while British audiences report that American singers sound more "British."

Much of this "blending of accents" can be blamed on recorded music. Back during the 1950s and 1960s, American vinyl discs of rockabilly, Negro blues, and early rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc.) were fiercely popular with British teenagers. British artists like the Beatles, Joe Cocker, Fleetwood Mack and Long John Baldry exported a new generation of British blues to North America. British singers lent legitimacy that allowed white, American teenagers to listen to "Negro music."
So "accent blending" is attributed to trading records between Britain and America.

[Baksteen 84]

RMK

Because American movies & television shows are so pervasive, Europeans learning English will be affected by watching movies/TV and many will end up with more American intonation and pronunciation.

Oddly, whereas Germans and French will sound more British, I find the Dutch end up sounding more American than any other nationality.

We are taught American English in school.

On a side note, many Dutch people have a lot of difficulty with the pronounciation of 'th' 'r' and 'ch', among other things.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[Nataly 38]

I don't know the science behind it but that phenomenon also exists in French... Where French-Canadians typically adopt a very French-From-France accent when singing, despite a heavy Québecois accent when they just speak. Although if you listen carefully, there is the odd word and/or pronounciation that still gives them away...

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss