DICTION FR.
Les guides de diction française pour étrangers
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| Le chant de l'Amour (The Song of Love) W. Bouguereau |
Speaking or singing in french is not only about phonetics or how to sing vocals and consonants, it’s a particular flow, with legato and subtle stresses.
These videos are about french opera lyrics and french diction for singers, especially those studying french opera for masterclasses or singers training for opera competitions.
Pronunciation guides with score animation and translation, by french vocal coach.
Feel free to begin with the clearly spoken text with pictures (B level). In the older ones it is in the second part of the video.
How to pronounce french to sing opera arias and sound french? Enjoy these practical and easy tutorials : lyrics clearly spoken by a native singer and vocal coach. In 2 parts (levels A and B) for beginners or students, for international competition or role preparation :
- A level : in one part, step by step, I have made the choice of a quite sustained voice : a little moving in the frequencies, but freely, not the same way as in the aria. You can make it your own way, of course.
- B level (With english translation) : in the other part, I have simply “spoken” the text. When you know the text by heart this way, you don’t need the first part anymore ! The images are intended to help imagination and memorization. Tips : use speed variation (+ / -) on the video to graduate your study.
FRENCH DICTION SPECIFICS
- French [r] : you can flip it (just one flip, don’t make a heavy roll), especially for classical singing. I suggest this choice because it’s historically correct, more understandable, and because it’s easier. However, in the videos I used the french spoken [r], so you can hear what it sounds like from a native.
- French [ə] (API) : “Je, me, que”. It’s close to the german or english shwa, between [ø] and [œ]: if one must choose, I suggest the latter – it’s quite close to the open [œ] “jeune, sœur, meurs” when sung. Of course it can be closed like an [ø] when spoken, like “jeux, queue, yeux”, but preferably not in an opera which requires formal language.
- Elision (mute e) : as for the “r”, there are two « schools ». The best is... that everyone on stage choose the same! For example Carmen’s “On s’ennui-e” : listen to Callas and other “black and white videos”... they definitely USED to sing like that, with a faint but audible e. Nowadays, elisions are more common, and you are welcome to do them too : “on s’ennui
(e)”, to be closer to spoken french. Of course not when there is another note for the e. In the videos generally I chose the most difficult and historically correct (with the audible final e) for the "A level", but again you are welcome to make the elision, as in the "B level" (spoken text) and... forget the e!
Feel free to comment or ask for help : contact
French and Lyric