The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #100939   Message #2032855
Posted By: Jon Boden
22-Apr-07 - 05:50 PM
Thread Name: Is there an English singing style?
Subject: RE: Is there an English singing style?
The question was 'is' there an English singing style not 'was'. I don't think there is much standardisation on the current English trad song scene (unlike during the 60s revival). Conventional wisdom would have this as a Good Thing - each singer being an 'individual' and not beholden to a particular stylistic school. However I wonder whether the lack of a clear stylistic/techinical model for English traditional singing is part of the reason that there are so few English singers under 50. Does the cult of individualism leave music the preserve of the musical elite? Would more people be interested in learning to sing English traditional song if they could get clear guidance on how and how not to do it? You can always break rules but if there aren't any to start off with then it's a fairly bewildering prospect. Jon