What is a “Western Illinois Flat”?
Bodi-wan
November 1, 2021
I first heard this term from my mom, and her experience in a rock band. Although she was a guitarist, she still sings in the church choir and has a pretty good ear for vocals.
But what she said made a lot of sense. Let me explain. Listening to a number of live bands in Western Illinois in the 70s-90s, I would religiously hear some vocalists belt out certain notes that were slightly flat as they reached for the sky in certain high notes.
They would give it all they could and sometimes it was just a little short—or more precisely, a little flat. But it happened all the time. As an impressionable youngster learning to sing, I thought that was exactly what they wanted to do. So I would try to emulate this on some of my highs too.
Come to find out, this was very common even when my mom was playing, which was back in the 1960's. So it’s nothing new. Apparently, and perhaps without much forethought, many bands in Western Illinois have also learned this from previous generations and carried it forward, just as I did. I was used to listening to a lot of music this way and it grew on me and became, in some cases, what I would do as well.
It’s like playing a guitar and intentionally hitting the slightly off note (whether sharp or flat) to make a distinct cut, break or transition in the song. In this case it is done vocally. And honestly it’s tough to do when you try to do it, especially when you can easily hit the high, note perfect.
I wasn’t conscious of it early on, until my mom pointed it out. She said that I did it just like other people in Western Illinois. She explained that the Western Illinois Flat was a common occurrence for bands with a host of styles in our region.
Once I looked back, I was doing just like these others as I recalled; so their musical vox styles had influenced me more than I initially realized. But I kept doing it from time to time because of this heritage. This particular style of flat even had a name Western Illinois Flat. And I happily wear it as a badge. 😎
Bodi-wan
