In the last post, I wrote about speech, and how pitch/rhythm/volume carries expression. Now let’s examine this in the context of speech and music.
Let’s take the following sentence as an example. “In their quest for Republican backing, Democrats say they missed opportunities for a stronger response to the Great Recession.”
Straight read:
Let’s slow this down to 40% of its speed and think about pitch and rhythm (volume is not as much a factor in this reading).
It’s pretty amazing to hear how much pitch and rhythm is contained even in a straight read. Just for fun, let’s octave-shift higher, which helps smooth over the consonant/vowel combination and gives it more of an instrumental quality:
Let’s now speak the first six words, slowed down, trying to use the same pitches and rhythm as in the straight read:
Does it sound more like singing? If so, what is the difference between speech and singing?
There are probably many answers, and I have seen studies pointing at sound frequency differences, enunciation differences, and all sort of other differences pertaining to the production of sound. But the best answer for me isn’t about how the vocal sounds are produced; it’s about where. Speech and singing originate in the different parts of the brain! Speaking involves the left brain, and singing involves the right brain. Emotion too is expressed and recognized by the right brain. When we are vocalizing with pitch/rhythm/volume in mind, rather than just consonant/vowel combinations, we are probably engaging areas of the brain that are not always used for speech. And that effort…perhaps that is one essence of music.
References:
Brookes, G. (2014, June 19). The science of singing: how our brains and bodies produce sound. The Guardian.
Hamilton, J. (2020, Feburary 27). How The Brain Teases Apart A Song’s Words And Music. NPR.