Singing in Latvian

Moderator:Sol Invictus

musicman1982
Posts:27
Joined:2016-07-16, 10:46
Real Name:Matthew
Gender:male
Country:GBUnited Kingdom (United Kingdom)
Singing in Latvian

Postby musicman1982 » 2016-07-16, 11:12

Hi!

I am new to this forum, and very new to learning Latvian. I should introduce myself, my real name is Matt and I am from London and born and raised British. But, my dad is originally from Latvia and has resided in London for years. My dad hasn't really taught my sister and I how to speak Latvian, because he found it difficult to explain to my sister and I. But, sometime ago, I decided to record a song in Latvian. I am used hearing it from my dad and my uncle speaking to my great aunt. I only know greetings and unfortunately the swear words...I'm embarrassed to say.

I recorded it and show to the whole of my family last Christmas, because I was heard singing it. My uncle still kind of remembered how the language was spoken and how to pronounce certain words, that I mispronounced. But on the whole it worked out, I am just asking out of curiousity and if anyone would listen to the song I recorded and just give me some pointers as I am willing to learn.

As Latvian is apart of my own family background, I just want to learn to better myself. I am not expecting great comments, it would be great to know from an actual Latvian person or a person that knows Latvian really well. The song I covered was the Latvian version of 'Let It Go' which I know is called 'La nu snieg'; just to point out I recorded this completely by ear and did it phrase by phrase, when I asked my dad and uncle they were both struggling a bit. It would be interested to know what you all think. I put the link below:

http://www.podsnack.com/my-playlists/details/a1pmakhh

-Matt.

mak
Posts:405
Joined:2006-05-04, 19:30
Country:LVLatvia (Latvija)

Re: Singing in Latvian

Postby mak » 2016-07-18, 12:32

Hi

The music is too lound to hear the words. What I could hear sounded fine.

Except for lai nu SNI-aaaaaaaaag. I think ia is a dipthong and should sound more like one continous sound, not i-a.

Then again the original also has SNI-aag and sounds a bit weird. Maybe it's just not possible to sing it like it's spoken?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54UxQAr_Kws

musicman1982
Posts:27
Joined:2016-07-16, 10:46
Real Name:Matthew
Gender:male
Country:GBUnited Kingdom (United Kingdom)

Re: Singing in Latvian

Postby musicman1982 » 2016-07-18, 20:03

Thank you mak,

When I did it like that, I sounded like I was cockney and from East London. My uncle corrected me and said I should say it like sni-arg. I did notice that I said the word Priek or Prieks wrong, I said it as Priks instead of Prieks. That's just me listening to the original, I really appreciate the pointers that you have made. I can get a acapella version of the song with just my vocal, if that helps?

-Matthew.

musicman1982
Posts:27
Joined:2016-07-16, 10:46
Real Name:Matthew
Gender:male
Country:GBUnited Kingdom (United Kingdom)

Re: Singing in Latvian

Postby musicman1982 » 2016-07-23, 17:23

I have now uploaded my vocal of me singing 'Lai nu snieg' without the music, so you can hear me sing. Here is the link below:

http://www.podsnack.com/my-playlists/details/a1k9495i

mak
Posts:405
Joined:2006-05-04, 19:30
Country:LVLatvia (Latvija)

Re: Singing in Latvian

Postby mak » 2016-08-01, 20:57

Oh man, never start a song with silence in the future, I thought the volume was too low and then I almost got a heart attack.

Here is the transcript of the acapella version of your song:

nogāzes
visu labu
vadu es
vēju mani atstās pēdas man
nevar noslēpt nekas nesanāk
nebaidies
tu vari priecāties
tev jāslēpj to
kas tev ir dots
lai nu snieg
jau tev
prieks ir man
vētra nāk
man sals ir paticis tik un tā
es atradīšu citu
man sapnis mani sauc
bailes, kuras mani
nemaz neuztrauc
varu pati būt
lai valda miers
kas manī mīt
lai nu snieg
debesīs
aizpūtīs
rīts ir klāt
tas pieder man
sniga vētra nāk
debesīs zemi skar
gaisā virmo
sirdī
paliek pagātnē
lai nu snieg
visam pāri celties
man nav kur atgriezties
rīts ir klāt
vidus
sniega vētra nāk
mans sals ir jau paticis tik un tā

I hope this is not discouraging. You can get better with practice.

If you want to improve your pronunciation, you can record yourself talk and I will transcribe it for you. That way you can see what you need to work on. I can then record myself say the same text and you can try to correct your pronunciation.

musicman1982
Posts:27
Joined:2016-07-16, 10:46
Real Name:Matthew
Gender:male
Country:GBUnited Kingdom (United Kingdom)

Re: Singing in Latvian

Postby musicman1982 » 2016-08-02, 23:16

Hi mak!

Thank you for that, I appreciate it. I apologise for the music, I didn't expect to sound perfect on the first go. As my heritage is Latvian, I want to learn at least the pronunciation and maybe learn some words to, just the basic foundations when and if I speak or sing. I will certainly do that, within a couple of days. Again, thank you for your time and patience.

-Matthew.


Return to “Latvian (Latviešu valoda)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests