What is a schwa? Why is it so important in singing?（附中文版-schwa在歌唱的重要性）

附中文版請往下⋯⋯ 點解唱英文歌唔似英文歌？因為你忽略了schwa[ə]這個元音。

The schwa sound /ə/ is the most common vowel sound in English. Roughly once in every three vowels spoken by native English speakers. For spoken English, it is a mid central vowel sound, the lips are relaxed, the jaw is half way open and the tongue stays flat. The sound is always unstressed and weak. Examples are words like “emotion”, “lover”, “beloved” and “creator”. To speak or sing these words correctly and naturally, these words should end with a gentle /ə/ instead of ending with sound /a/. Other examples are “about”, “alarm”, “again” and “connect”. These words begin with a gentle /ə/ instead of a stressed /a/ or /ɔ/.

However, for lyrics diction, the schwa symbol represents an undefined vowel sound in an unstressed syllable. Pronunciation must be assigned for each language. The schwa is short in speech but extended for singing, therefore do not assume that that the schwa represents a universal sound. English and German maintain various pronunciations of schwa and it does not exist in Italia. Here are some vowels can be assigned to [ə] for lyrics dictions.

Schwa [ə] → [ɛ]: dearest [ˈdɪrəst] (AS), heaven [ˈhɛvən] (AS),

Schwa [ə] → [ʌ]: lover [ˈlʌvə], reason [ˈrizən]

Schwa [ə] → [ʊ]: humble [ˈhʌmbəl]

Schwa [ə] → [ʌ] or [ɑ]: idea [aɪˈdɪə],

Schwa [ə] → [ʌ] or [ɔ]: savior [ˈseɪvjə],

Schwa [ə] → [ɪ] or [æ]: ¡thousand [ ˈθaʊzənd]

It is sometimes difficult to determine which sound is the most appropriate to be assigned, so we need to have more exploration in this topic if you want to know more. However, it is important to notice the existence of schwa [ə] in the very first place.

Take the song Speechless as an example. From the excerpt below, there are nine schwa vowel sound, can you identify them?

Here comes a wave
Meant to wash me away
A tide that is taking me under
Swallowing sand
Left with nothing to say
My voice drowned out in the thunder
But I won’t cry
And I won’t start to crumble
Whenever they try
To shut me or cut me down
I won’t be silenced
You can’t keep me quiet
Won’t tremble when you try it
All I know is I won’t go speechless

Please scroll down to see the answers!

中文版：

點解唱英文歌唔似英文歌？因為你忽略了schwa[ə]這個元音。

Schwa [ə] 是英語中最常見的元音。以英語為母語的人，大約說的每三個元音，就有一次是schwa [ə]。對於英語口語，這是中央、中部元音，嘴唇放鬆，下巴張開一半，舌頭保持平坦，發音沒有壓力。例如，“emotion”, “lover”, “beloved” and “creator”。要正確自然地說出或唱出這些單詞，這些單詞應以柔和的[ə]結尾，而不是以聲音[a]結尾。其他示例是“about”, “alarm”, “again” and “connect”。這些詞以溫和的[ə]開頭，而不是強調的[a]或[ɔ]。

但是，對於聲樂的美學，schwa符號於歌詞不單表示未加重音節，而是要加以定義的元音，歌者必須為每種語言的schwa定義發音。說話的時候，schwa簡短，但唱歌的時候，都不一定是一個短促的音，因此歌者不可以只用一種方法去定義schwa的聲音。英文和德文都有schwa的各種發音，但不存在於意大利文。

以下是一些在英文歌唱時定義schwa的元音的例子：