Whether you are singing in Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, or any other language, the fundamentals of good vocal diction are one of the most important factors in vocal pedagogy. After all, what is the point of singing or communicating if listeners can’t understand you? Renowned vocal coaches, diction, and language experts Shannon McGinnis of Roosevelt University in Chicago, Marcie Stapp of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Nico Castel—world-renowned tenor, diction and language expert, Metropolitan Opera diction coach and Juilliard faculty member—discuss their views on vocal diction, its importance in vocal pedagogy, and how singers can achieve it.
What is diction?
Shannon McGinnis: Diction involves the pronunciation, articulation, and enunciation of vowel sounds, diphthongs, and consonants in a given language. Singers’ diction involves the added challenge of singing those vowel sounds, diphthongs, and consonants clearly, understandably, and comfortably in all pitches of the vocal range.
Marcie Stapp: Diction is a word that has changed meaning. It originally meant “choice of words, vocabulary,” but has now become synonymous with “intelligibility” or “correct pronunciation.” I personally avoid using the word “diction” as much as possible and even purposely left it out of the title of the textbook I wrote on the subject, The Singers Guide to Languages. This is because it seems to carry an inherent suggestion that there is some “right” and “wrong” way to pronounce things in singing as opposed to speaking. In most cases, I don’t believe in special rules for singing, just explaining what vocalizing is and choosing what sounds best.
Nico Castel: Diction in singing is the production of correct sounds in all languages.
What are the attributes that influence the production of good diction for the singer?
SM: Clear, focused vowel sounds and vibrant, forwardly articulated consonants. I work with singers to help them find the optimal placement of given vowels on all pitches in a particular song or aria. We work a lot together only on vowels, so that the singer can achieve perfect legato and focused, even vowel production without the added challenge of singing consonants. This helps solve any consonant issues we might have had. When the vowels are “lined up” and specifically focused and placed, the consonants tend to follow suit.
MS: Of course, there are people who have a better understanding of languages and achieve excellent diction almost automatically. On the other hand, some singers have great difficulty just reproducing some sounds, like a clear “s” or a good “ah” vowel, and may never achieve very good diction. In my experience, if a singer can reproduce unknown sounds, he or she can be taught to sing them clearly.
NC: Vocal technique and all equipment need to be in place in order to make the sounds necessary for producing good diction when singing. Italian, of course, is the ideal language to sing in for its open nature.
What are the challenges in producing good diction for the singer?
SM: I work a lot with young singers who tend to be concerned about “over-articulating” consonant sounds. I was working with a singer on an English-language art song, and he was consistently misarticulating a particular sound ([hw] for words like “when”). I asked him to recall the rule for words such as these in English, which he did perfectly. When I asked him why he wasn’t following a rule that he obviously knew by heart, he replied that he thought it sounded “overdone.”
I think the challenge for the young singer is to trust teachers and coaches to let them know when they’re “overdoing” diction, and not to be afraid to go too far. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve asked a singer to pronounce words less clearly, but there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t ask for more diction from young singers.
MS: People must understand that moving from one language to another is not just a matter of using different sounds. When you grow up speaking a certain language, your mouth, tongue, lips, jaw, and so on, all behave in a certain way physically. These must often be retrained to act in a different manner when you move into a new language. For example, speakers of Italian and Spanish often have considerable difficulty singing in French, although it’s a closely related Romantic language, because it requires them to round their lips in a very foreign way. Having said that, I must point out that I once knew a talking parrot that lived in a home that was constantly housing visiting opera singers. He sang with superior diction in many languages, and he didn’t even have lips.
NC: There are two kinds of challenges singers deal with when it comes to the production of good diction. In German, challenges are present in consonant clusters, which sometimes can consist of four to five consonants in a single word, and mixed vowels. For the non-German speaker, these can be huge obstacles and nearly impossible to master, especially for Latin American, Hispanic, and Italian singers, who don’t have this present in their language.
In French, the challenge comes with nasal vowels because a lot of singers misunderstand and think that this sound is produced in the nasal cavity. It’s not. The sound is produced in the mouth, and there is a mix between the resonance in the oral and the nasal.
Do any languages pose considerable difficulty for singers when it comes to diction?
SM: English. Part of the issue with American English is that it is an inherently awkward language, and the “rules” are not nearly as clear-cut as they are for German and French. This presents a challenge for non-native speakers. The challenge for native speakers is to rid ourselves of the notion that we can sing the way that we speak.
I had an experience teaching an English-diction class in which many students were extremely resistant to adopting the rules of “proper” English diction. To the unaccustomed ear, removing the “r” from a word like “bird” sounds “affected.” Students don’t question these things in languages they don’t speak fluently, but it’s a challenge to adjust one’s native tongue (and ear) to new sounds in one’s language.
MS: Without question, English is the most challenging because of our ridiculous vowel system. In most languages, vowels are pronounced the same way no matter where they occur. But, in English, our vowels are constantly changing depending on how much stress they receive. I call this the “shwa process.” If you compare the pronunciation of the two o’s in photograph, photography and photographic, you can hear this process in action. Deciding exactly what vowel to sing on a given note is difficult for everyone, even native speakers.
Another huge challenge in English is that consonants line up in awkward ways that don’t occur in other languages. Even simple sentences like “Is this yours?” or “Did you ask those men?” can be extremely challenging to articulate. When you consider how many non-native singers routinely perform and record in Italian, French or German (many) as opposed to English (almost none) you’ll see the proof of this.
NC: Italian is the easiest language to simulate for most singers. At one time, German singers found Italian singing very difficult, and thank goodness that problem has disappeared. In French, again, the nasal vowels are problematic, and in German, consonant clusters and mixed vowels produce a double problem for the singer. I have found in my half-century of doing this that Asian singers are wonderful imitators of sound and have splendid ears.
In general, for most singers diction is not easy. It takes a good and musical ear to imitate and reproduce those sounds. You can’t sing German in lax Italian characteristics, and you can’t sing Italian with tense German characteristics.
What are some important things to remember when singers work on diction for the primary languages in classical singing, such as Italian, German,
French, and English?
SM: Acceptable singers’ diction in every language requires clear, focused vowel sounds and vibrant, forwardly articulated consonants. Italian has its particular challenges (non-aspirated consonants, double consonants, pure vowels, properly stressed diphthongs and triphthongs, stressed and unstressed vowel sounds), as do German (consonant clusters, mixed vowels, long and short vowels), French (nasal vowels, late but crisp and clear consonants, when and where not to make liaison), and English, Spanish, Czech, and Russian.
MS: All languages should be sung in a legato fashion, but Italian and French demand this to the extreme. Additionally, French has a very particular inflection based on syllables of equal length and stress that is almost the opposite of English.
In Italian, the biggest problems all have to do with fitting the words correctly onto the music. German, like English, has an abundance of consonants that must be individual, yet perfectly connected in a legato fashion.
It’s interesting that even totally unrelated languages, such as French and Japanese, can share very similar phonetic structures: alternative single vowels and consonants, absolute final vowels, and so on. Thus, a Japanese singer often finds it easier to sing in French—a language which might initially terrify him or her—than in English, which he or she has studied extensively in school.
NC: I think the important thing to remember is that the voice placement should never change, if a singer is taught and has good technique. Diction is part of that technique—it doesn’t change anything. If it is correct, the diction should flow to the best of the singer’s ability.
How does study of a foreign language assist or contribute to good diction?
SM: At the most basic level of diction proficiency, a singer is able to pronounce the words of a given language correctly. The next level involves singing vowel and consonant sounds correctly on all pitches within the vocal range. The “expert” level involves using the rules of diction to express language.
This is where the study of language is helpful to the young singer and an absolute necessity for the young artist. A national music (French, German, Italian, and English) is absolutely and unquestionably influenced by the characteristics of its native language. Something really amazing happens when a singer is able to perform a language with perfect inflection supported by precise and clear diction.
MS: There is no question that actually spending time in a foreign country contributes immensely to a singer’s ability to reproduce that language. But in my experience, purely academic study of a language is not always that important. If a singer has comprehensively studied the sounds of the language and understands every word of the text, it’s not crucial that he or she be able to converse in that language.
NC: Absolutely! The careful study of a language will only help a singer be able to imitate the sounds of the language, which will flow out of their singing. Today, there are many different resources, like Rosetta Stone, which is taught by native speakers. These can be of great use to the singer.
How do vocal pedagogy attributes such as breath and resonance contribute to diction?
SM: Vowels must be equally resonant and ideally placed, no matter the pitch. The challenge for each singer is finding the proper placement and resonance for each and every vowel sound on each and every pitch in his or her range.
MS: I consider good vocal technique and good diction to be one and the same. You can’t produce clear vowels with jaw tension, and you can’t articulate consonants if you don’t breathe correctly, period.
NC: This is something that is up to the voice teacher to teach the student. Anytime a singer is pressing or forcing the sound it loses resonance, and this affects the production of good diction and good singing.
How can singers achieve or work toward good diction?
MS: I don’t believe there’s any substitute for a good diction coach who understands vocalism. Instead of taking eight voice lessons every month, try skipping one and having a session with an expert diction coach instead, to supplement the language work you’re already doing with your voice teacher. The rest is just a matter of good vocal technique and perseverance.
NC: I think this all depends on the talent and intelligence of the singer. There are vocalists in their late teens and 20s at Juilliard who have mastered this and other singers in their late 30s who have not. It depends on how musical the singer’s ear is and if they are at a place in their vocal maturity where they are ready.
How can good diction enhance a singer’s performance or portrayal of a role?
SM: It doesn’t enhance it. It isn’t an “add-on.” It’s a fundamental part of “playing the instrument.” If you aren’t understood, you aren’t communicating. If you aren’t communicating, you might as well not be singing.
Singers have the greatest gift of all musicians in that they have words to sing. Words are the only means we have for relaying vital information in a story. Words tell us what to think and how to feel.
I spend most of my time with singers trying to get them to connect with text. Proper diction is the most basic, fundamental aspect of forming this connection.
MS: I always find it interesting that audiences are able to evaluate diction reasonably well, even in languages they don’t understand. The singer whose words jump out across the orchestra and reach the audience clearly always elicits more sympathy than one who seems to be mumbling to himself or herself.
NC: Good diction is a part of good vocal technique. If both are in place from the singer, this is part of the role.
What diction exercises would you recommend to students?
SM: Practice singing on vowels alone, in every language, on every song or aria you sing. Young singers: Become fluent in IPA. Don’t just learn to write it. Learn to speak it. Learn to recognize and produce the sounds you see immediately. IPA is an amazing tool, and it is grossly underused by the singers I work with.
MS: Always practice reading the text slowly, as legato as possible, before you sing it. Additionally, be sure that every voiced sound is actually voiced and not just “whispered,” especially in English. Vocalises based on fast tongue-twisters can be fun, but for me, it’s more important to practice connecting sounds rather than spitting them out.
NC: Vocal teachers will have many of their own diction exercises and resources they feel are best for their students, but there are many wonderful, classic books available on vocalizes, on tessitura, legato, and staccato. Diction is a vast subject that we could talk about for a lifetime.
Stay tuned for our next article in the Vocal Pedagogy 101 series: choral singing challenges for the classically trained singer.
