Season 3 Episode 13 with special guest Estelle Idoko

Song: L-O-V-E

Year: 1965

Artist: Nat King Cole

Album: L-O-V-E

Language Focus: Vowel Sounds

Episode Description

It’s been a long time, but we think it will be worth the wait! One of the things we love most about working on the podcast is meeting interesting, enthusiastic, talented people!

We have a special Valentine’s-themed, connections episode for our first episode back. We created an episode with singing-coach, actor, and podcaster Estelle Idoko!

In this episode, using the 1964 hit song, “L-O-V-E,” by Nat King Cole, Estelle helps us to sing our vowels clearly and accurately. We’d L-O-V-E for you to take a listen!

🎶Have fun, and…just keep singing!🎶

Episode Transcript

<intro>

H: Hi, I’m Heather

E: And I’m Ece.

H: Welcome to a special Connections Episode of, “English as a Singing Language.”

E: We’ve had a Connections Episode in each season of the podcast, right?

H: That’s right. In Season One, we did an episode to honor the memories of our friend Fatma Dodurka, and her daughter Alara.

E: And in Season Two, we worked with Patti Spinner, an experienced language teacher who has written and recorded her own series of songs for English language learners called L-pop. 

H: That was another great episode. So, Ece, who are we talking to for our Season 3 Connections Episode?

E: You know how much we enjoy it when one of our listeners reach out to us?

H: We love to hear from our listeners!

E: Well, one day I checked our singinglanguages@gmail.com email, and I saw that we’d received a message from a graduate student at Columbia University.

H: Oh yeah? What did the message say?

E: The message was from Estelle Idoko. She’s a voice teacher and the host of her own podcast called, “Sing Confidently, Live Creatively.” She liked what we’re doing with our podcast, and she was interested in doing a possible collaboration with us. 

H: We were excited to hear from her, so wrote her back and figured out what we could do together.

E: That’s right. And guess what, Heather?

H: What, no, wait a minute, is Estelle going to teach us how to sing?

E: Yes! Estelle is going to help us sing our vowels clearly and accurately.

H: Oh my gosh! That sounds fantastic!

E: I know, I can’t wait! 

H: Me neither. Let’s get started.

<end intro>

Estelle: <singing L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole>

Ece: Hi Estelle! How are you?

Est: Hi Ece! Hi Heather! I’m great, how are you two?

H: I’m doing really well.

Ece: Me too! Estelle, you have such a beautiful singing voice.

H: I agree. And, was that Nat King Cole’s 1965 hit song, “L-O-V-E” you were singing?

Est: Yes! It’s a really lovely song. And thank you, I enjoy singing, and I love sharing the joy of singing with others. 

Ece: You know many of our listeners are English language learners. Would you be willing to teach us how to sing more confidently in English and how to pronounce sounds accurately?

Est: I’d love to. This is the perfect song for that!

H: This is so exciting! So, what do we know about this song, Estelle?

Est: One interesting thing about the song, L-O-V-E is that Nat King Cole recorded versions of the song in not only English, but also French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. 

Ece: That’s right! Listeners, we’ve included a link to the “international version” of the song in the episode notes. 

Est: Yes. It’s really cool to hear him singing in all the different languages. And Nat King Cole famously said, <quote> “The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.”

H: That’s so true! 

Ece: It is. Estelle, can you tell us a little bit about consonants and vowels and how they relate to singing?

Est: Sure! Well, you know that a consonant is formed by stopping the air coming out of your mouth in some way using your tongue, teeth, and/or lips. 

H: Sounds like, [t], [s], [k], or [m]

Ece: Or, [d], [z], [g] or [n]

Est: Exactly. But when you produce a vowel sound, nothing stops the air coming out of your mouth. That’s why when we sing, we sing the vowels, like <sings> “looooooooove.”

H: That’s so interesting! Let’s take a look at a few of the vowels in this song.

Est: Starting with the first line, “L is for the way you look at me,” there is the OO vowel in “look” that can be challenging sometimes.

Ece: That’s right. Many languages have an [u] vowel, but the OO vowel is made just a little lower and more relaxed in the back of the mouth. 

H: Can you sing the difference between those two sounds, Estelle?

Est: <sings> [u] versus <sings> OO. 

H: Before we try it, I should remind everyone that Ece and I are not professional singers at all.

E: They’ve heard us sing in previous episodes. I think they know that already.

H: That’s true. Okay, let’s try.

H + E: <imitate>

Est: Great. It is the difference between <sings> Luuuuuke and looook.

Ece: That’s very helpful. And what about the next line, “O is for the only one I see.”

H:  The first vowel [o] is nice and round, right?

Est: Yes. It’s a good vowel sound to sing. <sings> oooooo

H + E: imitate

Est: And I want to point out another vowel sound in the word “one.” We don’t sing, <sings> “wuhn.” It’s too closed. We open up the vowel and sing “wahn” so we can get more space and resonance for the vowel.

H: I’m sorry, reso – wha?

Ece: “Resonance” It means that a sound is deep, full and vibrating. 

H: Oh, I see, and we can also use “resonance” or the verb “to resonate” figuratively, right?

Ece: Exactly. If you have a deep, meaningful connection with something, often an idea or an experience, you can say it resonates with you.

Est: For example, the first time I heard your podcast, it really resonated with me, because I am a singer, and I also use music to help people learn. 

H: And listeners, we are going to release an interview that we did with Estelle, so you can learn more about her background and how she uses singing to help people become more creative and confident. 

Ece:  Increasing confidence in language learning and all parts of life is so important. I can’t wait to hear more about that. 

H: Me neither. Ok, so we’ve got “L” and “O” and the next line is obviously, “V.”  V is very, very extraordinary.

Est: You’ll notice that the [r] sound affects the vowel, right?

Ece: We don’t sing “verrrry.”

Est: No. We sing, “very” with a nice open vowel. <sings> very

H + E: imitate <very>

Est: And if you sing it [vahry] it can get a little “pingy.” Listen to the difference, [very] vs [vary].

H: I hear the difference.

Est: You’ll notice that jazz singers will usually sing [very] and pop singers will sing [vary].

Ece: I’m going to pay attention to that in the future!

Est: The last line is “E is even more than anyone that you adore.”

H: So, based on what you said about the [r] sound in the word “very,” I’m guessing you’ll sing the [o] in “more” and “adore.”

Est: That’s right! It would sound like, “moooore” and “adoooore”

H + E: imitate

Est: Yes.

Ece: So, L-O-V-E spells..

E + H + E: LOVE!

H: Any tips on how to sing this very important word, Estelle?

Est: Well, there’s a bit of a lift in the vowel so it’s not just “lUHve”, there’s a bit of space in the mouth with a forward tongue that can help produce that note on that vowel without the sound going flat. <sings> Looooove.

E + H: <imitate> loooove.

Ece: So, that’s the first verse. What are the lines in the second verse?

Est: Love is all that I can give to you

H: Love is more than just a game for two

Ece: Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it

Est: Love was made for me and you.

H: And that’s the whole song, right?

Est: Yep. It’s a short, but sweet song.

Ece: It really is. And what should we notice about the vowels in this verse?

Est: The biggest thing you’ll notice is that there are many examples of the [e] vowel sound in this song. 

Ece: I see there is “way”

H: and “game”

Est: “make”

Ece: “take”

H: “break”

Est: and “made” Yes! There are many examples of the [e] vowel in the lyrics and in this verse, especially.

Ece: So, what is the best way to sing that vowel, Estelle? 

Est: You can pronounce it in the way we might say, “hey!” with your tongue forward right behind your teeth holding out the vowel sound before you close it at the end, and then you sing it this way: <sings> [waaaaay]

H + E: imitate

Est: Yes! You know, I can tell you both really like to sing!

E +. H: We do! 

E: Yоu know what I think? 

Est: Is it time to sing?

H: Yes! Listeners, it’s time to sing out loud! As you sing along with Nat King Cole, think about the excellent advice we got from Estelle about how to sing the vowel sounds naturally and accurately. 

Est: The shape of your mouth when you speak or sing vowel sounds is very important. 

Ece: That’s so true. You can enjoy practicing the pronunciation of vowel sounds with all your favorite songs. You might even find a song you like in one of our previous episodes!

H: Thank you so much for joining us on this special episode, Estelle.

Ece: Yes! We’ve learned so much from you, and our listeners are really going to benefit from your advice. 

Est: I’ve really enjoyed meeting you and collaborating on this episode. 

H: Me too.

Ece: Me too!

Est: <sings> L  is for the way you look at me

H (joins): O is for the only one I see

Ece (joins):  V is very, very extraordinary

Est: E is even more than anyone that you adore, 

E + H + E: Love was made for me and you!

<outro>

H: That was so fun!

Ece: It was fantastic. 

H: I love how we’ve been able to connect with people all over the world who share our passion for singing, music and language learning. 

E: I’m so happy that Estelle decided to contact us. 

H: I am, too. Listeners, we encourage you to check out Estelle’s podcast, “Sing Confidently, Live Creatively.”

E: There will be a link to her podcast in the episode notes.

H: And look for a special interview we did with Estelle that’s coming out soon!

E: Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @singinglanguages.

H: You should also like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. 

E: You can even see some of our episodes, like this one, as videos on our YouTube channel. 

H: Until next time, have fun and…

H + E: …just keep singing. 

Official YouTube Videos

Original

Lyric Video

Multilingual Version

Complete Lyrics

[Verse 1]

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than anyone that you adore can

[Chorus]

Love is all that I can give to you

Love is more than just a game for two

Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it

Love was made for me and you

[Verse 2]

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than anyone that you adore can

[Refrain]

Love is all that I can give to you

Love is more than just a game for two

Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it

Love was made for me and you

[Outro]

Love a-was made for me and you

Love a-was made for me and you

Written by Milt Gabler, composed by Bert Kaempfert, and sung by Nat King Cole