MUSICAL PHRASINGS

One of the most important things about being a singer is the interpretation of phrases. When one speaks our inflections go up and down, depending on the meaning. For instance: If you are whispering something to someone and you don't want anyone to hear, you lower your voice, keeping inflections up or down, depending on the meanings. Same thing on singing. In classical music, interpretation of phrases is so important, and it is that that separates the artist from the singer. In pop music, levels are mostly all in one level. There are a few artists that actually know how to feel and sing a phrase. Classical musicians, from their first lesson, are generally taught to shape a phrase. If one is singing in a foreign language, we have to literally translate each word, word by word, know the meaning and interpret what the composer or lyricist meant. That is the measure of a true artist.

Example: "When the moon peaks over the mountain, all the world is aglow.
It seems that as we sing the phrase, its easy to breathe after mountain, but the phrase does not end with mountain. It ends with "aglow". A singer has to breathe after "aglow", not after "mountain". By reading it this way: "The world is aglow when the moon peaks over the mountain". The intensity must continue between "aglow" and "when" to keep the phrase alive.

If you call yourself a singer, you must call yourself an interpreter because you are interpreting someone Else's thoughts and feelings.

Classical singers like Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballe, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf are magnificent interpreters of music. In pop music, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett stand out. They have a unique way of sing a lyric. One may have a great voice, but it all becomes boring if you do not feel anything the singer is trying to express.