# Female singers and non-lyrical vocal embellishment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485 "2009-03-31T19:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485/21 "2009-05-27T15:24:11Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Ani Difranco? You know, I was going to say that, or PJ Harvey. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485/22 "2009-05-27T18:22:11Z")
It just depends on the genre. There are plenty of male singers that do so in their own particular way, just not in the typical R&B style. Male R&B singers I hear just as often also. David Lee Roth Ian Anderson Bruce Dickinson Robert Plant Axl Rose ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485/23 "2009-05-27T20:58:13Z")
> [@celticpiping](#): > > I’m a Christian, but I gotta say this worship song, sang by this performer, only causes me to sin. > > Judge for yourself.. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpKWuriR6FU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpKWuriR6FU) That was horrifying. I’ve heard how popular Rebecca St. James is, but that was the first time I’d actually heard her. Color me unimpressed. She just seemed extremely off-key, and I honestly couldn’t listen to it long enough to see if she does what I was talking about in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485/24 "2009-05-27T21:37:17Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I generally share the disgust with overusing melisma, but I realized recently that there are times I don’t mind melisma at all, and those times are when the song is in a language I don’t understand, because I’m not distinguishing the sounds of the words (which I don’t understand anyway) and the sounds of the melisma. That said, **lissener** cited Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as an example of a male singer doing the thing I was talking about in the OP, but I’m afraid that, being utterly unfamiliar with both that particular musical genre and whatever language it’s being sung in, I could not distinguish where or even _if_ he was actually doing what I’m talking about. I am a big fan of Japanese pop/rock, though, and while I don’t understand the language I’m familiar enough with the _sound_ of the language that I can usually tell when the singer is singing words and when she is just singing sounds. All that said, there still seems to be some confusion. I know what melisma is, and what it is is not what I was asking about. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to explain it any better than I already have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-singers-and-non-lyrical-vocal-embellishment/491485.md?page=1)