IPA Made Easy Monday, December 29, 2014
Singing in foreign languages is an important benchmark in students’ choral education – but, teaching languages and pronunciation can be intimidating for some teachers. How many years has it been since YOUR last diction class? And if you’re new to the vocal side of music education, you may have NO experience with foreign languages (outside of Italian musical terms!).
The handy guidebook Alfred’s IPA Made Easy is an easy reference for the symbols used in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): what they look like and how they are pronounced. IPA is a standard set of symbols used for notating pronunciation of spoken language; because the symbols are consistent across languages, a basic understanding provides guidance for singers as they expand their experience with new languages.
Example words for every symbol are included in English, Latin, Italian, German, French, and Spanish. An online resource includes demonstrations of every sound, recorded by a professional voice teacher. A clear and concise tool for singing in foreign languages, equally useful in the choir room and the vocal studio.
For more choral education resources, please contact us!
