Access Issues in English Folk Singing Styles and Techniques

A Review of The Roundtable Discussion ‘Singing Styles and Techniques in English Folk Singing’

Abstract

This article uses the conversations generated at an Access Folk Folk Singing Symposium event to identify accessibility questions caused by attitudes to vocal choices and habits in English folk singing today. The term accessibility is used to refer to the ease with which a singer can participate in English folk singing. Vocal styles and techniques are not generally understood to be access issues. In most genres, mastering technique is the domain of professional singers. English folk singing is rooted in non-professional community singing, and therefore the accessibility of stylistic vocal information is vital to encouraging participation, as a singer’s vocal choices and habits reinforce social connections to their communities (Diamond, 2011; Potter and Sorrell, 2012). The roundtable’s purpose was not to investigate whether English folk singing styles and techniques were helping or hindering participation but to begin a conversation about the process of folk singing and what experts’ opinions of these processes were, with the intention of identifying key vocal choices and habits commonly found in English folk singing.