# In music, what is the term for "drawing out" vowels/sounds...?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 24, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442 "2018-02-24T00:10:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wakky\_Bakky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@Wakky\_Bakky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakky_Bakky)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442/1 "2018-02-24T00:10:02Z")

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In music, what is the term for “drawing out” vowels/sounds…?

Alice Merton does this in her song “No Roots”…  
In the chorus, she sings “I got no roo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oots” (about one minute into the song and elsewhere when she sings the chorus).  
And I’ve also heard other artists do this as well.

So… what’s the term?  
Thanks! 🙂

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442/2 "2018-02-24T00:11:31Z")

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[Melisma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma):

> [@](#):
>
> is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.

ETA: Colloquially known as “whitneying” or “mariah-ing” a song.

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**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442/3 "2018-02-24T00:11:54Z")

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Melisma?

Sorry Bo. You can’t ninja the dog with a misspelling.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Hackenbush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Dr.Hackenbush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Hackenbush)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442/4 "2018-02-24T00:40:51Z")

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> [@drad\_dog](#):
>
> Melisma?
> 
> Sorry Bo. You can’t ninja the dog with a misspelling.

Yeah they are Melismas, derived from the Greek word for honey “Meli”…

Incidentally “Honey Bee” in Greek is “Melissa”

If you have a friend named Melissa, she probably already knows this.

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-music-what-is-the-term-for-drawing-out-vowels-sounds/809442/5 "2018-02-24T01:40:30Z")

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> [@Wakky\_Bakky](#):
>
> In music, what is the term for “drawing out” vowels/sounds…?
> 
> Alice Merton does this in her song “No Roots”…  
> In the chorus, she sings “I got no roo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oots” (about one minute into the song and elsewhere when she sings the chorus).  
> And I’ve also heard other artists do this as well.
> 
> So… what’s the term?  
> Thanks! 🙂

There are parts of that song that are good, but that melisma bit is so freakin annoying.