Mike Tyson and Kool G Rap had lisps - lisps always been cool!
I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.
Perhaps of all the most basic elements of music, rhythm most directly affects our central nervous system.
The sounds and rhythms of words are really important to me.
Music deals with time and timing. It's so magical, but when you get into it, every little sound and every little space between the sounds, it's critical, so critical. And if it's not there, it not only feels wrong, but it ruins things.
Accents are very tangible, blessedly, and if you have to do one, it's a way of getting into character. I can read it through a few times and pretend I know what I'm doing!
Rhythm is sound in motion. It is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, the way we breathe. It rises and falls. It takes us into ourselves; it takes us out of ourselves.
I tried out the unfamiliar syllables. They fit. They cracked in my ears like a fist through ice.
Accents are always difficult in their way, but as long as you're not throwing an audience off with it, then that's all it should be.
A British actor will savour every syllable of a Shakespearean line, while a French actor will drive to the end of a sentence or a speech with a propulsive rhythm: the thing you never say to a French actor is, 'Take your time.'
Every language has its own music.
Accents. I'm very good with accents. I'm exceedingly good.
I play more rhythmically than I do a lot of notes.
You really have to play with the space in a riff so it can be allowed to breathe.
I love the musicality of English. French sounds flat. In English, you can play with pitch.
The main rhythmic loop in 'Alaska' is me just patting on my jeans.
In rock n' roll, there are notes that aren't like notes. They're something in between, and it's the way you scoop into it.
I was always looking for the most dramatic emphasis.
Accents can be a great tool to tell a story - but if you do it wrong, it pulls you right out of the movie.
An accent always helps me ground a character. It also helps to remind me what age I'm playing.
Syllables govern the world.
The most important thing is to make a percussive instrument a singing instrument. Teachers should stress this aspect in their instruction, but it seems that very few of them actually do.
Spoken language's elaborate rhythms and inflections convey more meaning per word than the printed word.
I have trouble sometimes watching actors - even when they do a great job - with an accent.
To be good in playback, you need to modulate your voice and sing with an accent that can provide some freshness.
