| dc.description.abstract | This master thesis explores how and why researchers compare the Scandinavian traditional folk singing style with speech, and how this comparison may inspire practitioners. The material in question consists of research done on the traditional folk singing style, with six key texts and recordings of the songs they discuss. Statements which compare the traditional folk singing style with speech has been identified and systematised based on the following parameters: the range and timbre of the voice, pronunciation and dialect, phrasing and rhythm. Using discourse analytical tools, it becomes clear that the comparison of the traditional folk singing style with speech communicates both an «organic ideal of credibility» and a «personal ideal of credibility». Both these ideals of credibility are being used to argue that the traditional folk singing style is more authentic than the classical singing style; this struggle for status is more or less over for the Swedish and Norwegian researches. A less visible debate inside the traditional folk music community, is about who gets to define what an authentic singing style is. The researches quote rather than criticize each other, which makes it seem like they agree. Nevertheless, because they have studied different audio material, they reach different conclusions regarding the style parameters. They also let the singing style and general opinions of their sources influence their findings and conclusions, not only about each individual recording, but about the traditional folk singing style in general. Everyone defend their personal opinion about authentic singing style by comparing singing and speech. | nb_NO |
