Master the word "The"; How to master the most common word in singing

The Making Musical Quantum Leaps

The word “the” is the most common word in English, and it can be pronounced in two ways: with a short sound (thuh) or a long sound (thee). The short sound is used before a consonant sound, and the long sound is used before a vowel sound. For example, the water (thuh), the owl (thee). But in singing, the word “the” may be pronounced differently to create a smoother and more expressive sound. For example, if the word “the” is followed by a word that begins with a diphthong (a vowel sound that consists of two or more vowels), such as “eye” or “out”, the word “the” may be pronounced with a single vowel sound that matches the first vowel of the diphthong. For example, the eye (thee-eye), the out (thow-out). Another example is if the word “the” is followed by a word that begins with a triphthong (a vowel sound that consists of three or more vowels), such as “fire” or “hour”, the word “the” may be pronounced with two or three vowel sounds that are treated separately. For example, the fire (thee-uh-fy-er), the hour (thee-uh-ow-er). Sometimes, the word “the” may be pronounced differently for emphasis, rhyme, or rhythm. For example, in the song “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, the word “the” is sometimes pronounced with a long sound (thee) before a consonant sound, such as in the line “And in the naked light I saw / Ten thousand people, maybe more”. In this episode, we will listen to some examples of songs that use the word “the” in different ways.