# Is there a word for the way a singer sings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115 "2012-02-07T20:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/1 "2012-02-07T20:24:39Z")
What I mean is the singer’s delivery of the lyrics. His rhythm, timing, syncopation, etc. Is delivery the right word? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/2 "2012-02-07T20:27:40Z")
Watch American Idol. They’ve got plenty of words to describe the way a singer sings. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/3 "2012-02-07T20:32:46Z")
I think “delivery” is a pretty good general term - for me, that would also encompass things like their tone, style, breathiness, etc. If you’re specifically talking only about the “rhythm, timing, syncopation, etc.”, then the word would be “phrasing”. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/4 "2012-02-07T21:41:01Z")
Sinatra and Tony Bennett (and many others) are often referred to as ‘song stylists’, if that helps. ‘Torch’ is a style. ‘Scat’ is a style. I think of ‘delivery’ as more of as how an actor ‘delivers’ a line. Although ‘phrasing’ is often used to describe how a singer performs a song, too. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/5 "2012-02-07T23:47:06Z")
Interpretation? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/6 "2012-02-08T00:01:12Z")
For rhythm, timing, syncopation, the first word that came to my mind was “phrasing,” and I see other posters agree. It’s not limited to singers, though. You can talk about any instrumentalist’s phrasing, as well. However, “phrasing” is probably more concerned with the spaces in between notes rather than the notes themselves, where you take stops and breaths, whether you sing notes legato (connected) or staccato (disconnected), that sort of thing. But that is very much tied into rhythm, timing, and syncopation, so it may be the word you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-the-way-a-singer-sings/612115/7 "2012-02-09T15:53:22Z")
“technique”