# Cry singing VS. Sighing



## Kamyar (Apr 21, 2017)

Hi All,

I just heard about "Cry singing", singing in crying position. Is that just the same as "Sighing",as I read "Sighing" is not recommended in singing.

Thank you for your help,

Regards,

Kamyar


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I've never heard of "cry singing" it all depends on what position you take when you are crying. Usually for me that's face down on the ground in a Greek monastery, but I imagine that isn't what this crazy, new fad entails.

Singing is easy. How do you speak in your mother tongue? Well, sing like that.

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Singing is easy. How do you speak in your mother tongue? Well, sing like that.


Sounds like good advice for Italians, Spaniards, Finns and Hungarians. For English speakers on either side of the pond, not so much.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Sounds like good advice for Italians, Spaniards, Finns and Hungarians. For English speakers on either side of the pond, not so much.


I disagree! (I know that's shocking!)

Whilst it seems counter-intuitive when singing in a foreign language I find I get better results when I use sounds in English that are approximate to those in the language I'm singing in. In other words if I am going to sing 'Bella siccome un angelo in terra pellegrino.' I don't think Behl-la si:c-comeh oon aangehlo', i:n teh-rrah pehl-lehgri:no' but instead: Bear - ll are see - ccor mare ewn arn jair law, een tear - rr are pear - llair green or.

I don't know if that makes sense, but it can be tempting to think that we have to do something strange and exagerated when singing in a foreign language, but it should be as natural as singing in ones native tongue. (Of course one DOES have to understand how words are pronounced in that foreign language and not just to ape the pronounciation with approximations in the mother tongue.)

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> I disagree! (I know that's shocking!)
> 
> Whilst it seems counter-intuitive when singing in a foreign language I find I get better results when I use sounds in English that are approximate to those in the language I'm singing in. In other words if I am going to sing 'Bella siccome un angelo in terra pellegrino.' I don't think Behl-la si:c-comeh oon aangehlo', i:n teh-rrah pehl-lehgri:no' but instead: Bear - ll are see - ccor mare ewn arn jair law, een tear - rr are pear - llair green or.
> 
> ...


You have no idea how bizarre _"bear - ll are see - ccor mare ewn arn jair law, een tear - rr are pear - llair green or"_ looks to an American!

Why, as a singer, would you want to "approximate" the sounds of another language? Why, singing even in your own British brand of English, would you use the very closed sounds of words such as "all" and "forth" under any circumstances? Can you imagine an Australian using his characteristic "O" sound when singing even in English, much less in any other language? Singers in languages with guttural "Rs" have typically used a more forward pronunciation. Classical singing has always recognized the need to modify certain sounds to achieve a clearer diction, a more open, resonant quality and a consistent vocal production.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> You have no idea how bizarre _"bear - ll are see - ccor mare ewn arn jair law, een tear - rr are pear - llair green or"_ looks to an American!
> 
> Why, as a singer, would you want to "approximate" the sounds of another language? *Why, singing even in your own British brand of English, would you use the very closed sounds of words such as "all" and "forth" under any circumstances?* Can you imagine an Australian using his characteristic "O" sound when singing even in English, much less in any other language? Singers in languages with guttural "Rs" have typically used a more forward pronunciation. Classical singing has always recognized the need to modify certain sounds to achieve a clearer diction, a more open, resonant quality and a consistent vocal production.


True, I wouldn't sing 'all' or 'forth' _exactly_ as pronounced in British English and would open them somewhat, however, neither would I exaggerate them to mangle them with an 'aah'.

The thing is I tried for years to sing "authentically" in Italian and funnily enough it was an Australian tenor of Italian descent who had had a halfway decent career in Italy that taught me this. In general the closer your singing is to your natural speech the easier and more free it will be. That doesn't mean that it is _totally_ how one speaks with no modifications. Another way of putting it is that the vowels must be pure as singing pedagogue Cornelius L Reid wrote in his books. I'm not sure what pure vowels are, but how Reid describes them is what for me is singing with natural vowels or as it works for me vowels in my mother tongue. Maybe it is more of a psychological trick rather than anything else.

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> True, I wouldn't sing 'all' or 'forth' _exactly_ as pronounced in British English and would open them somewhat, however, neither would I exaggerate them to mangle them with an 'aah'.
> 
> The thing is I tried for years to sing "authentically" in Italian and funnily enough it was an Australian tenor of Italian descent who had had a halfway decent career in Italy that taught me this. In general the closer your singing is to your natural speech the easier and more free it will be. That doesn't mean that it is _totally_ how one speaks with no modifications. Another way of putting it is that the vowels must be pure as singing pedagogue Cornelius L Reid wrote in his books. I'm not sure what pure vowels are, but how Reid describes them is what for me is singing with natural vowels or as it works for me vowels in my mother tongue. *Maybe it is more of a psychological trick rather than anything else.*
> 
> N.


I suspect that your last sentence sums it up. Certainly singing must feel natural. I was a singer too, back in the day, but I'd have found your approach confusing, if it had occurred to me. On the other hand, had I adopted it I might have fulfilled my secret ambition to become the next Melchior.

Or maybe not.


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