Adar Alfandari , a singer-songwriter and guitarist from the band “Dor Hamabol” (Alternative rock in Hebrew), is releasing a solo EP in English soon. As part of the pre-production process before heading into the studio to record the songs, Adar started the training at Say What to work on his accent and pronunciation in English. In between lessons and being a contestant on The Voice Israel with his band, I sat down with him to hear what he thought of the training and generally why he started and what challenges he faced before and during the process.
As a professional singer with ESL (English as Second Language), what are some of the challenges (e.g. accent barriers) you have faced when singing in English?
First, in terms of writing, there was always that doubt about forming [grammatically] correct phrases and sentences. Aside from that, I wasn’t sure whether I was pronouncing individual [English] words properly and my accent, and connecting the words in such a way that it would sound more ‘fluid’. I feel that there is a lot of criticism made about [Israeli] music artists’ singing in English with a heavy accent, because it is not their native language, and the notion that if their accent is not 100% British or American, their music won’t go down well with an international audience. I also felt that this that also affected my confidence to sing in English, because it isn’t my mother tongue. When I released a single in English before I started the training, it felt OK, but it wasn’t exactly “right” in terms of my accent, and I felt that in the end it was a compromise and that it could be better.
Had you ever had any diction training prior to studying at Say What?
I hadn’t taken accent or pronunciation lessons in the past and generally I didn’t address the topic. I feel that it’s also a part of a process that an artist has to open up to, in the same way that you go to voice lessons in the beginning. When I started working on the EP, I wanted to improve my accent and pronunciation for the recordings, I started looking for an accent coach where the training focused on songs and music, and I found your website.
Why did you feel it was important to get speech and accent training (for singing)?
I think it’s very important to convey the text clearly to your listeners, because sometimes you don’t always read the text when you hear the song. When you’re trying to captivate listeners with a song, with the help of good arrangements and vocals among other things, clear and correct pronunciation is unequivocally just as important.
How has learning the sounds of English helped/ improved your confidence on stage and recording sessions? Are you able to express yourself more when singing?
Absolutely. I feel that since I started the training, I know that I went through all the steps properly to get to where I want to go. I feel more confident with my accent and pronunciation in English even in the songs we didn’t work on, because the same tools can be applied to other material (for example with similar words). My diction and delivery are better, my confidence has improved and there is much more flow and ease in my singing [in English] now.
Do you think it is important to have correct English pronunciation in singing to reach a bigger audience, especially an international one?
Yes, absolutely. I recently returned from London and noticed how native [speakers] singers deliver lyrics differently. I think that even if an Israeli singer lives in the country and speaks good English, the delivery is very important when it comes to accent and pronunciation because it is an essential part of the process for a singer (whose English is not their mother tongue) to connect with an international audience more.
Do you think that diction training should be taught separately or together with vocal training[in the lesson]? Why?
I think that if my vocal coach had also worked on accent and pronunciation with me during the lesson, it would have been a bit too much. Ultimately, it’s two different things, and working on pitch or legato while trying to simultaneously improve your accent can be problematic. I do remember that when I was working on accent and pronunciation in a certain song, which was then followed by a voice lesson, there were certain similarities, but overall, it was hard.
Finally, would you recommend speech and accent training to other professional singers? If so, why? And how important is it, do you think, to work with a accent coach is a native [English] speaker?
First, I highly recommend it, and I think it is a very important process. As someone who wants to tell a story through the lyrics of a song, I feel that accent and pronunciation are an essential part of connecting with it [the song] on a deeper level and knowing how to convey the story as needed and in the right way. In addition to the fact that I now know how to pronounce each individual word in the lyrics, I also have an “accent” for full phrases or sentences in the song, which is cool. The words flow together better, and I know how to connect words. I also think that because the training is taught by an accent coach who is a native [English] speaker, everything was easy to understand and gives a full picture…not only in terms of examples used to explain similar words but also how the learning tools were taught overall. It is not the same as, for example, asking a friend who knows how to speak English, or looking up how to pronounce the words on Google Translate.
