The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #160815   Message #3815918
Posted By: Taconicus
21-Oct-16 - 06:50 PM
Thread Name: Singing 'Shenandoah' for Brits
Subject: RE: 'Singing 'Shenandoah' for Brits
Hmmm.....Then, on the other hand, you have the Shen-En-Dough'-A Valley, the Shen-En-Dough'-A River, Shen-En-Dough'-A National Park, & etc.

The pronunciation of the final -a sound will vary a bit depending on whether the next word is a consonant or vowel-sound. Also, I'm not saying that the final -a isn't there; it is pronounced but is somewhat swallowed, sort of like the -u at the end of the Japanese word desu. I'm just trying to warn against the strong enunciation of UH as a separate syllable/beat.

When singing, the final doah should be a single beat. The Corries did a pretty good job (in most of the verses) in their version.