[RichyRowlatt]

Trust me, the only act to have sung in a west country accent withj any success are The Wurzels. If I couldn't put on this accent I'd be going nowhere!

[Neil C]

To me there are no rules but it should sound authentic, interesting and appropriate to the subject matter. American places, driving down the the freeway etc always sounded cool when I was growing up but I love the variation of English language and regional/national differences. I mean drive down the M1 from Leeds to London from the Artics to The Kinks and Dizzee..

Neil
 

[Gallowglass]

I usually sing/write with an American voice because of the sheer amount of Gaslight I listen to. In some of my own songs, though, I sing only in Estuary English. It's essential to the (fictional) character of the guy the album's based around.

[Jess]

Only singing in one accent is just like only playing open chords on a guitar and refusing to play barre chords, you are putting limitations on yourself.

BUT BARRE CHORDS ARE SO DIFFICULT! Like seriously my hands aren't that big- I literally hate the person who invented a B major

[Alan Starkie]

Play an F on your seventh fret Jess. That'll do it.

[Jess]

Play an F on your seventh fret Jess. That'll do it.

Thank you! Life saved!

[diademgrove]

Here's a song about using your own accent from Vinnie Whitehead a singer/songwriter from Hull.

I was responsible for the filming only. I had nothing to do with the song. The beginning is film of a protest march against changing the name of my football club from Hull City AFC to Hull City Tigers/Hull Tigers.

I hope you enjoy the video.

[ToastedAndButter]

Aahhh god I was talking about this with my mate the other day.. I usually stay true to my roots and sing in my accent.. but someimtes theres just some words that do not fit with it.. so I succumb to the american way..

[Innominate]

American culture is the dominant one and very strongly associated with all forms of entertainment, music included. Other accents have very strong associations too. Latin, Reggae, hip-hop, opera and country all have a preference for certain accents born from their history and public image. It's partly historic norms and partly audience acceptance. That being said, these are not static. Certain trailblazers can carve a path for new accents to become desirable within a genre but when and how that happens is uncertain.

I'm sure some accents sound better sung than others too. Any language heavy on the consonant sounds isn't going to work well in music. Singing is all about the vowels so languages and accents that emphasize vowel sounds might be preferred. That also means some accents will lose much of their character when sung. But it's really dependent on your audience.

[Random Stranger]

American here.

I love hearing the natural voice of the singer, it adds personality to the songs, so I say sing how you speak 90% of the time. Only if the dialect interferes with the flow of the song should you adapt the pronunciation.

A comment above (somewhere) said 'you risk sounding like the Proclaimers...(etc.) I can tell you that if the song is sung with an accent, listeners singing along also sing the accent. Accents are wonderful. People listen closer to someone with an accent - because the accent is musical. It gives the same old words wonderful new spice.

[AlexMo]

I try to stay true to my own voice and accent without making any effort to sound English as opposed to anything else. I think the American accent lends itself to singing a bit more... there are lots of words that can be stretched out endlessly when pronounced as the Americans do, but that can't be stretched out the way we say them.

[little feet]

i started off american.. copying what i listened to. when i started writing songs i tried making it sound more english... then i found a way of singing i was comfortable with.. since then my voice has changed and developed over time. the forced englishness has fallen back a bit as i've become more at ease with how i sing.

it's a constantly changing thing.. finding what you're comfortable with seems to be the most important thing.. once you've got a car that goes you can drive it anywhere.. doesn't mean you can't keep tinkering with it though.

[Heartland Balladeer]

When some folks hear me sing for the first time they say they didnt expect me to sound the way i do.
I have only been conciesly singing a couple of years and it took me about a year of that to find my voice. before i used to sing in quite a high register, it was quite whiny and pitchy and i didnt like what i heard. i later realised i was singing an octave above my comfortable range, when i learned to bring it down and practiced with it my voice developed character and depth that i didnt have before. but i had am American accent going on and i felt a fraud for it. the style of music i like is mainly American roots based so i felt stuck as to what to do. I now sing in an accent that isnt my speaking accent and isnt american either, it to me is my singing accent and now feel much more authentic for it.
for me it was finding my voice. - of course i am still critical when i hear it back but that i s my nature but i can at least feel myself.

[digger72]

I tried to sing with a British accent, gave up and went back to my native Derbyshire twang.