DICTION 1: What Are You Ministering When They Can Hardly Hear a Word?

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Choir of King's College, Cambridge, UK have a very good diction in their singing

In the past 10 years of being a chorister, I have come to learn so much due to how passionate I am about the ministry of music, and I pride myself in this. One aspect of our ministry is the correct and accurate pronunciation of the words in the songs that we render. In a discussion with a friend who is an adherent to popular gospel music, she pointed out to me that one thing about choral music was that she hardly hears the words that are being sang. Well, she had a point though.


I have been a strong crusader on ensuring accurate diction in singing ever since I got to appreciate its importance. At a rehearsal session, one chorister jokingly said, "oh, we have Togolese French, Ivorian French, and so our choir would also sing in Ghanaian French." Well, that would not be accepted by the director of music of the choir. In every language, there is a standard, and this standard usually is set by the custodians of the language, the people from which the language originated; in the case of English the people of England, Latin the Italian, French the people of France and so on. Most of the world renowned music compositions are found in these three language, and as an all-rounded singer, voice coach or teacher, you must be very conscious of ensuring accurate diction. If the song is in English you must sound like the English (not the Ghanaian), if it is in French you must sound like the French. This is also applies to other local dialects, especially where the choristers are not very familiar with the language. Now, let me remind myself before I begin diving into the technicalities of phonetics, which is the basis of ensuring good and refined pronunciations both in speaking and in singing (I suggest that you look for available materials on phonetics in order to get the basics even if you think you have been pronouncing words correctly).

IPA transcription of the words in Cantique de Noёl by Adolphe Adam,
courtesy IPANow! www.ipanow.com

The Music is Just the Vessel

I have experienced choirs in Ghana and elsewhere that sing so well but are not as conscious about their articulation as they are about their notes. Well, at the end of the performance, all they would have done is to entertain us, the audience, with their sweet voices without inspiring us! The most important thing is to understand the message of the song and deliver it to the audience as clear as possible, as the beautiful harmony produced only serves as the transporter (we minister the Gospel through music and not just perform the music using the Gospel). Another analogy to this is the purpose our bodies as Christians and ministers of the Gospel through music; we are vessels of God which God uses to roll out His purpose. In sum, the music is the vessel, and the lyrics or words are the substance that fills the vessel. Yet, as much as the words must be so clear in the ears of the listener, the vessel should also be worthy and in good shape to handle the substance. Hence a balance must be carefully struck between the two.

"Faith Cometh by Hearing"

In the title of this blog, I seek to give an obvious answer to the question, "what are you ministering when they can hardly hear a word?" In case you have not identified that answer, I would help you. Now, in the first place, would you be ministering at all if your audience could not make out the words you were singing? No. That would just be a performance! How would they share in the faith you are trying to communicate to them when they cannot hear? 
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
In other words, hearing the word of God brings out the faith in the listener that is able to cause healing or a miracle in their life. The greatest miracle, which is what we all aim at if we are genuinely doing the ministry, is salvation which comes from repentance (Matthew 12:38-41). Earlier, I identified two vessels, one which is the music, corresponding to the words, and the other was the body, corresponding to the Spirit of God. Once these vessels are in good shape, then ensuring a proper diction makes our ministrations "avail much", just as the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous (James 5:16). Hence a combination of the vessel and the substance produces a powerful ministration.

How to Ensure Proper Diction

Since this article is not meant to be technical, I decided to highlight some guidelines to ensuring proper diction. Your words really need to be heard when you sing:

  • Learn the basics of diction, phonetics. What you need to do is to know the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols and how they sound, most especially the vowel sounds (with critical look at the schwa vowel /ə/ ). 
  • Google any word whose pronunciation you are not sure of. I mostly do this. Google Search brings up the meaning and in some instances the IPA script of the word. Clicking on the loudspeaker symbol beside it plays a natural and accurate pronunciation of the word. You can also use Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (CALD) or Oxford Learner's Dictionary online or on PC. Do not rely on dictionary apps that make use of TTS (Text-To-Speech) technology (most dictionary apps on phone make use of this, and the output may not correspond with the IPA script in few instances).
  • Practice reading some sentences of words that have been transcribed into IPA symbols as you get acquainted with the sounds of the symbols, just like the one found in the image above. (Note: IPA is standardised for all languages).
  • Cultivate the habit of singing in the right diction by being conscious of it every time you sing.

I recommend these links for further reading, especially for choir leaders responsible for guiding their choirs in learning and rehearsing:
  1. Anderson, R. (2007). Diction. http://www.tsmp.org/choir/randerson/anderson_diction.html
  2. Emmons, Shirlee. The Singer's Dilemma: Tone Versus Diction. http://www.shirlee-emmons.com/diction.html ***(Recommended for choir directors and voice coaches)
  3. Vocalist. Diction for Singers. http://www.vocalist.org.uk/diction.html
I hope to have another opportunity to briefly go into the technicalities so that readers who are unable to visit the links provided above would have a fair idea on diction. My aim is to make sure that the words we sing are intelligible to our audience to ensure that we are ministering, not just performing.

***Other Literature

  1. Jones, D. (2014). Diction for Singing.
  2. International Phonetic Association (IPA), Handbook.
  3. Wall, Joan (1989). International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers: A Manual for English and Foreign Language Diction

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