A lead singer or solo artist carries most of the responsibility for the success or failure of a song. He or she is 'out-front' telling the story and putting over the emotional content of the number. If the listener has to struggle to make sense of the words on first hearing a song, much of it's immediate impact is lost. I suppose one could look on this situation as a sort of challenge to the listener. "See how many times you have to listen to the song before you can understand it! Got it in three? Fantastic! Another inaudible set of lyrics will be on offer next week!" Often the listener gives up very quickly and turns to the record sleeve for the lyric.

Some of the responsibility is carried by the producer, of course, but it is almost impossible for someone who knows a song intimately — and has worked with the vocalist for hours on end — not to hear the words. I think an outsider should be brought into give an opinion before a new number is released.

I would suggest that you speak your lyric through before you sing it. Notice first of all where you naturally punctuate the lines in order to make sense of them, and then breathe at these commas or full-stops if you can. Sometimes, in order to express a powerful emotion or to stress a particular word, it is a good idea to take a snatched breath in a slightly unnatural place. At other times you may not want to interrupt a beautiful melody line so you don't take a breath, although you punctuate the sentence mentally, in order that it shall make sense.

Next, taste the words. Discover where your tongue is for an 'L' or an 'N', for a 'DR' or a 'T'. Notice that the tongue comes between the teeth for 'TH' and lurks behind them for an 'S'. Next consider the more explosive consonants. For 'P' a light popping of the lips, for 'B' a softer fuller pressure.

Try chanting this sentence on one note somewhere in the middle of your range: "The humming of innumerable bees". One can sing every single sound, even the buzzing 's' ('zz') on the end of 'bees'. Sustain the vowel sounds and the consonants and try to keep in perfect tune all through. It can be surprisingly difficult to do this.

Now vary the length of vowel or consonant. Try two beats on the 'i' of 'sing' and one for the 'ng', now one beat for the 'i' and two for the 'ng'. You may want to sing the word differently in different songs, great! Vary the colours of your words as widely as you can. Your lyrics will really come alive this way.

Experiment with dipthongs too. 'Night' is made up of two vowels, 'aa' and 'i'. Dwell on the 'aa' and sing 'i' for almost no time at all, and you have a round classic sound. Narrow the 'aa' and come more quickly to the 'i' using a slightly nasal tone, and you are verging on the American. Take the word 'Dream'. Sing it low in the voice and your mouth shape is virtually the same as in speech. Sing it at the top of your range and you must use the open throat, and open your mouth a lot wider unless you want to produce a strangled shriek!

Edwyn Collins came for lesson once. He told me that he was having trouble with getting the words across in one of his numbers, and he sat about five feet away playing and singing to me. I was horribly embarrassed to have to confess that I didn't understand a single word! In fact I didn't confess it at first, I just asked him to sing it again, and then suggested some different ways of shaping what I thought the words were, where upon Edwyn roared with laughter, and told me what he was really singing! The main trouble was that the sentence lay very high in his voice and many of the words had narrow vowel sounds, 'ee' and 'oo', and he simply wasn't giving them enough space. We decided that he would do better to sing the piece in a lower key, as well as opening up on the vowel sounds, thus making it easier for him to be understood.

Talking about Edwyn brings me to another aspect of pronunciation that I feel very strongly about. He sang as he spoke, with a delightful Scots accent. Why do so many English singers lapse into phony American accents when they sing? Must they so slavishly follow the fashion in this way?

Surely it is a part of your individuality to retain your native accent. There is a natural music in a regional accent that is wonderfully appealing. Maybe one has to soften it a little in order to be understood by a cosmopolitan audience, but please don't lose it altogether!

Next month I'd like to discuss interpretation and presentation. Don't forget to continue your daily deep breathing exercises and the vocal work-out. Add these two tongue twisters to your repertoire! "Red lorry, yellow lorry" and "Proper copper coffee pot". Sing them as before. The whole sentence on each degree of a downward scale, and in one breath of course!

Tona de Brett gained an ARCM in teaching at the arts centre at Dartington Hall and has taught at the City Lit and other adult education establishments. She now teaches solely at home and her pupils have included Green, Morrissey, Curt Smith, Strawberry Switchblade, John Lydon, Edwyn Collins, Martin Fry and Liz Frazer. For information re vocal exercise cassette write to Tona including an SAE at (Contact Details).