What is the difference between singing and speaking?





.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}







16















I can both sing and speak C#3 . There would be a difference between using the note for singing and speaking.
What is the difference between singing and speaking?
If it depends on what kind of vocal technique one is using them please tell me so. I mean, some singing techniques are closer to speech than others.
My question is not so much about the theory but more on the practical side.










share|improve this question






















  • 1





    See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

    – Your Uncle Bob
    May 23 at 20:26


















16















I can both sing and speak C#3 . There would be a difference between using the note for singing and speaking.
What is the difference between singing and speaking?
If it depends on what kind of vocal technique one is using them please tell me so. I mean, some singing techniques are closer to speech than others.
My question is not so much about the theory but more on the practical side.










share|improve this question






















  • 1





    See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

    – Your Uncle Bob
    May 23 at 20:26














16












16








16


3






I can both sing and speak C#3 . There would be a difference between using the note for singing and speaking.
What is the difference between singing and speaking?
If it depends on what kind of vocal technique one is using them please tell me so. I mean, some singing techniques are closer to speech than others.
My question is not so much about the theory but more on the practical side.










share|improve this question
















I can both sing and speak C#3 . There would be a difference between using the note for singing and speaking.
What is the difference between singing and speaking?
If it depends on what kind of vocal technique one is using them please tell me so. I mean, some singing techniques are closer to speech than others.
My question is not so much about the theory but more on the practical side.







voice






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited May 23 at 17:15









Tim

111k11 gold badges109 silver badges281 bronze badges




111k11 gold badges109 silver badges281 bronze badges










asked May 23 at 17:08









HankHank

6726 silver badges22 bronze badges




6726 silver badges22 bronze badges











  • 1





    See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

    – Your Uncle Bob
    May 23 at 20:26














  • 1





    See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

    – Your Uncle Bob
    May 23 at 20:26








1




1





See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

– Your Uncle Bob
May 23 at 20:26





See also: music.stackexchange.com/questions/82309/…

– Your Uncle Bob
May 23 at 20:26










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















16














I think user45266's answer is spot-on - I would just add that singing also typically involves aligning the syllables in time with a musical rhythm.



Loosely, perhaps one could say:




  • Speaking is the utterance of words with pitch, pitch inflections and timings as expected for normal communication in the language in
    question. Typically, variations in pitch and timing are interpreted as adding
    nuance to the meaning - the study of these features is called Prosody.


  • Rapping is the utterance of words with pitch and pitch inflections expected for normal communication in the language in
    question, but in a musical rhythm


  • Singing is the utterance of words with pitch tending towards a musical scale, and usually in a musical rhythm.



(Responding to OscarCunningham's comment) - The use of musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm isn't so common as far as I know - but an example of something that is close is Recitative in opera.






share|improve this answer























  • 1





    I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:57











  • This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

    – Oscar Cunningham
    May 24 at 8:05






  • 3





    @OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 9:37











  • Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:44






  • 1





    @Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 13:07



















11














If I were pressed to answer, I'd say that singing is vocalising at defined and intentional frequencies. Speaking does not require any conscious effort to control the pitch of one's voice, and it doesn't need to have a clear pitch (whispering, vocal fry).



In some music, of course, the line gets blurred. Often, singers will deliver a line in a spoken way, giving a rough approximation of a melody but emphasizing the delivery style of conversation. Rap can sound like it has a melody, and sometimes it does (live performances of certain rappers sound almost nothing like the song one hears on the radio). There are plenty of styles (opera?) that intentionally mix the two, and though it's not a popular opinion, it could probably be argued that singing originated as a certain way of speaking.



Physically, there's no real difference between speaking and singing. Speaking and singing are just two human societal constructs for variances in the same phenomenon.






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:56








  • 5





    Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

    – Jonathan M
    May 23 at 19:52






  • 1





    @JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

    – Dekkadeci
    May 23 at 23:43






  • 1





    Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

    – user45266
    May 23 at 23:49






  • 2





    @Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

    – Dekkadeci
    May 24 at 16:18





















1














In my opinion you speak with a 'random' pitch.
You just go with what your body is the most comfortable with and on some words this might me slightly higher and sometimes lower. If you ask a question, you raise the pitch in many languages etc. but you don't go like, when I ask a question I always go up a major third above the pitch I was speaking before:P
So even tho you're using multiple pitches, it doesn't seem organized to a certain scale for example. Also you don't speak in a certain rhythm to a specific beat/bpm.
Just do me a favor. Can you read this out loud please? -> E E E E E A A A A A



-Thanks! ;)
But now... did it sound anything like this? Click me



Probably not, because you had no specific pitch and no specific rhythm in mind. You probably just read them monotonous and if there would've been a metronome in the background it probably wasn't a steady beat either.



Most rapping is for me where singing begins, because you speak with specific pitches to a specific rhythm. Just watch the first example here: Click me
This for me would be singing or at least musical speaking :D



Other than that... here are just some definitions which also may help you to make a choice where singing begins for you :P




singing: to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.




or




Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques.







share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

    – chrylis
    May 23 at 23:16











  • You are not the only one

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:05














Your Answer








StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "240"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmusic.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f85140%2fwhat-is-the-difference-between-singing-and-speaking%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









16














I think user45266's answer is spot-on - I would just add that singing also typically involves aligning the syllables in time with a musical rhythm.



Loosely, perhaps one could say:




  • Speaking is the utterance of words with pitch, pitch inflections and timings as expected for normal communication in the language in
    question. Typically, variations in pitch and timing are interpreted as adding
    nuance to the meaning - the study of these features is called Prosody.


  • Rapping is the utterance of words with pitch and pitch inflections expected for normal communication in the language in
    question, but in a musical rhythm


  • Singing is the utterance of words with pitch tending towards a musical scale, and usually in a musical rhythm.



(Responding to OscarCunningham's comment) - The use of musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm isn't so common as far as I know - but an example of something that is close is Recitative in opera.






share|improve this answer























  • 1





    I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:57











  • This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

    – Oscar Cunningham
    May 24 at 8:05






  • 3





    @OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 9:37











  • Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:44






  • 1





    @Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 13:07
















16














I think user45266's answer is spot-on - I would just add that singing also typically involves aligning the syllables in time with a musical rhythm.



Loosely, perhaps one could say:




  • Speaking is the utterance of words with pitch, pitch inflections and timings as expected for normal communication in the language in
    question. Typically, variations in pitch and timing are interpreted as adding
    nuance to the meaning - the study of these features is called Prosody.


  • Rapping is the utterance of words with pitch and pitch inflections expected for normal communication in the language in
    question, but in a musical rhythm


  • Singing is the utterance of words with pitch tending towards a musical scale, and usually in a musical rhythm.



(Responding to OscarCunningham's comment) - The use of musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm isn't so common as far as I know - but an example of something that is close is Recitative in opera.






share|improve this answer























  • 1





    I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:57











  • This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

    – Oscar Cunningham
    May 24 at 8:05






  • 3





    @OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 9:37











  • Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:44






  • 1





    @Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 13:07














16












16








16







I think user45266's answer is spot-on - I would just add that singing also typically involves aligning the syllables in time with a musical rhythm.



Loosely, perhaps one could say:




  • Speaking is the utterance of words with pitch, pitch inflections and timings as expected for normal communication in the language in
    question. Typically, variations in pitch and timing are interpreted as adding
    nuance to the meaning - the study of these features is called Prosody.


  • Rapping is the utterance of words with pitch and pitch inflections expected for normal communication in the language in
    question, but in a musical rhythm


  • Singing is the utterance of words with pitch tending towards a musical scale, and usually in a musical rhythm.



(Responding to OscarCunningham's comment) - The use of musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm isn't so common as far as I know - but an example of something that is close is Recitative in opera.






share|improve this answer















I think user45266's answer is spot-on - I would just add that singing also typically involves aligning the syllables in time with a musical rhythm.



Loosely, perhaps one could say:




  • Speaking is the utterance of words with pitch, pitch inflections and timings as expected for normal communication in the language in
    question. Typically, variations in pitch and timing are interpreted as adding
    nuance to the meaning - the study of these features is called Prosody.


  • Rapping is the utterance of words with pitch and pitch inflections expected for normal communication in the language in
    question, but in a musical rhythm


  • Singing is the utterance of words with pitch tending towards a musical scale, and usually in a musical rhythm.



(Responding to OscarCunningham's comment) - The use of musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm isn't so common as far as I know - but an example of something that is close is Recitative in opera.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited May 24 at 9:36

























answered May 23 at 17:43









topo mortotopo morto

33.2k2 gold badges53 silver badges126 bronze badges




33.2k2 gold badges53 silver badges126 bronze badges











  • 1





    I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:57











  • This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

    – Oscar Cunningham
    May 24 at 8:05






  • 3





    @OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 9:37











  • Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:44






  • 1





    @Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 13:07














  • 1





    I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:57











  • This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

    – Oscar Cunningham
    May 24 at 8:05






  • 3





    @OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 9:37











  • Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:44






  • 1





    @Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

    – topo morto
    May 24 at 13:07








1




1





I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

– Todd Wilcox
May 23 at 17:57





I think this breakdown is better, because the rhythmic element is important. Again, we should not neglect the languages where pitch is part of the syntactic information.

– Todd Wilcox
May 23 at 17:57













This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

– Oscar Cunningham
May 24 at 8:05





This suggests that there would be a fourth style in which one uses musical pitches with a normal speaking rhythm. Are there any examples of this?

– Oscar Cunningham
May 24 at 8:05




3




3





@OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

– topo morto
May 24 at 9:37





@OscarCunningham Recitative in opera?

– topo morto
May 24 at 9:37













Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

– Hank
May 24 at 11:44





Isn't singing more in the front of the mouth whereas talking is a bit further back in the mouth?

– Hank
May 24 at 11:44




1




1





@Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

– topo morto
May 24 at 13:07





@Hank in terms of where the resonance is? I'm not sure that would be a definitive difference; possibly different languages and singing styles might vary in this respect too.

– topo morto
May 24 at 13:07













11














If I were pressed to answer, I'd say that singing is vocalising at defined and intentional frequencies. Speaking does not require any conscious effort to control the pitch of one's voice, and it doesn't need to have a clear pitch (whispering, vocal fry).



In some music, of course, the line gets blurred. Often, singers will deliver a line in a spoken way, giving a rough approximation of a melody but emphasizing the delivery style of conversation. Rap can sound like it has a melody, and sometimes it does (live performances of certain rappers sound almost nothing like the song one hears on the radio). There are plenty of styles (opera?) that intentionally mix the two, and though it's not a popular opinion, it could probably be argued that singing originated as a certain way of speaking.



Physically, there's no real difference between speaking and singing. Speaking and singing are just two human societal constructs for variances in the same phenomenon.






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:56








  • 5





    Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

    – Jonathan M
    May 23 at 19:52






  • 1





    @JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

    – Dekkadeci
    May 23 at 23:43






  • 1





    Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

    – user45266
    May 23 at 23:49






  • 2





    @Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

    – Dekkadeci
    May 24 at 16:18


















11














If I were pressed to answer, I'd say that singing is vocalising at defined and intentional frequencies. Speaking does not require any conscious effort to control the pitch of one's voice, and it doesn't need to have a clear pitch (whispering, vocal fry).



In some music, of course, the line gets blurred. Often, singers will deliver a line in a spoken way, giving a rough approximation of a melody but emphasizing the delivery style of conversation. Rap can sound like it has a melody, and sometimes it does (live performances of certain rappers sound almost nothing like the song one hears on the radio). There are plenty of styles (opera?) that intentionally mix the two, and though it's not a popular opinion, it could probably be argued that singing originated as a certain way of speaking.



Physically, there's no real difference between speaking and singing. Speaking and singing are just two human societal constructs for variances in the same phenomenon.






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:56








  • 5





    Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

    – Jonathan M
    May 23 at 19:52






  • 1





    @JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

    – Dekkadeci
    May 23 at 23:43






  • 1





    Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

    – user45266
    May 23 at 23:49






  • 2





    @Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

    – Dekkadeci
    May 24 at 16:18
















11












11








11







If I were pressed to answer, I'd say that singing is vocalising at defined and intentional frequencies. Speaking does not require any conscious effort to control the pitch of one's voice, and it doesn't need to have a clear pitch (whispering, vocal fry).



In some music, of course, the line gets blurred. Often, singers will deliver a line in a spoken way, giving a rough approximation of a melody but emphasizing the delivery style of conversation. Rap can sound like it has a melody, and sometimes it does (live performances of certain rappers sound almost nothing like the song one hears on the radio). There are plenty of styles (opera?) that intentionally mix the two, and though it's not a popular opinion, it could probably be argued that singing originated as a certain way of speaking.



Physically, there's no real difference between speaking and singing. Speaking and singing are just two human societal constructs for variances in the same phenomenon.






share|improve this answer













If I were pressed to answer, I'd say that singing is vocalising at defined and intentional frequencies. Speaking does not require any conscious effort to control the pitch of one's voice, and it doesn't need to have a clear pitch (whispering, vocal fry).



In some music, of course, the line gets blurred. Often, singers will deliver a line in a spoken way, giving a rough approximation of a melody but emphasizing the delivery style of conversation. Rap can sound like it has a melody, and sometimes it does (live performances of certain rappers sound almost nothing like the song one hears on the radio). There are plenty of styles (opera?) that intentionally mix the two, and though it's not a popular opinion, it could probably be argued that singing originated as a certain way of speaking.



Physically, there's no real difference between speaking and singing. Speaking and singing are just two human societal constructs for variances in the same phenomenon.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered May 23 at 17:30









user45266user45266

6,1781 gold badge11 silver badges45 bronze badges




6,1781 gold badge11 silver badges45 bronze badges











  • 6





    One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:56








  • 5





    Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

    – Jonathan M
    May 23 at 19:52






  • 1





    @JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

    – Dekkadeci
    May 23 at 23:43






  • 1





    Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

    – user45266
    May 23 at 23:49






  • 2





    @Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

    – Dekkadeci
    May 24 at 16:18
















  • 6





    One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 at 17:56








  • 5





    Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

    – Jonathan M
    May 23 at 19:52






  • 1





    @JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

    – Dekkadeci
    May 23 at 23:43






  • 1





    Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

    – user45266
    May 23 at 23:49






  • 2





    @Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

    – Dekkadeci
    May 24 at 16:18










6




6





One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

– Todd Wilcox
May 23 at 17:56







One wrinkle here is that there are languages (notably Mandarin and Cantonese) where the pitch of vocalization contains syntactic information, so the lines are blurred even before we get to different kinds of music.

– Todd Wilcox
May 23 at 17:56






5




5





Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

– Jonathan M
May 23 at 19:52





Mandarin doesn't have a defined frequency, relative or absolute. Instead the four tones are: steady pitch, rising pitch, falling pitch, fall-then-rise pitch.

– Jonathan M
May 23 at 19:52




1




1





@JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

– Dekkadeci
May 23 at 23:43





@JonathanM - I'd say that descriptors of tones such as "rising pitch" define relative pitches of the starts and ends of words. (I speak some Mandarin Chinese myself.)

– Dekkadeci
May 23 at 23:43




1




1





Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

– user45266
May 23 at 23:49





Curious: Can Mandarin Chinese be spoken in a whisper without losing syntactic information?

– user45266
May 23 at 23:49




2




2





@Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

– Dekkadeci
May 24 at 16:18







@Shadow - Doubt it--from my experience, tone information (e.g. "falling pitch") of words is lost in Chinese songs.

– Dekkadeci
May 24 at 16:18













1














In my opinion you speak with a 'random' pitch.
You just go with what your body is the most comfortable with and on some words this might me slightly higher and sometimes lower. If you ask a question, you raise the pitch in many languages etc. but you don't go like, when I ask a question I always go up a major third above the pitch I was speaking before:P
So even tho you're using multiple pitches, it doesn't seem organized to a certain scale for example. Also you don't speak in a certain rhythm to a specific beat/bpm.
Just do me a favor. Can you read this out loud please? -> E E E E E A A A A A



-Thanks! ;)
But now... did it sound anything like this? Click me



Probably not, because you had no specific pitch and no specific rhythm in mind. You probably just read them monotonous and if there would've been a metronome in the background it probably wasn't a steady beat either.



Most rapping is for me where singing begins, because you speak with specific pitches to a specific rhythm. Just watch the first example here: Click me
This for me would be singing or at least musical speaking :D



Other than that... here are just some definitions which also may help you to make a choice where singing begins for you :P




singing: to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.




or




Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques.







share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

    – chrylis
    May 23 at 23:16











  • You are not the only one

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:05
















1














In my opinion you speak with a 'random' pitch.
You just go with what your body is the most comfortable with and on some words this might me slightly higher and sometimes lower. If you ask a question, you raise the pitch in many languages etc. but you don't go like, when I ask a question I always go up a major third above the pitch I was speaking before:P
So even tho you're using multiple pitches, it doesn't seem organized to a certain scale for example. Also you don't speak in a certain rhythm to a specific beat/bpm.
Just do me a favor. Can you read this out loud please? -> E E E E E A A A A A



-Thanks! ;)
But now... did it sound anything like this? Click me



Probably not, because you had no specific pitch and no specific rhythm in mind. You probably just read them monotonous and if there would've been a metronome in the background it probably wasn't a steady beat either.



Most rapping is for me where singing begins, because you speak with specific pitches to a specific rhythm. Just watch the first example here: Click me
This for me would be singing or at least musical speaking :D



Other than that... here are just some definitions which also may help you to make a choice where singing begins for you :P




singing: to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.




or




Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques.







share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

    – chrylis
    May 23 at 23:16











  • You are not the only one

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:05














1












1








1







In my opinion you speak with a 'random' pitch.
You just go with what your body is the most comfortable with and on some words this might me slightly higher and sometimes lower. If you ask a question, you raise the pitch in many languages etc. but you don't go like, when I ask a question I always go up a major third above the pitch I was speaking before:P
So even tho you're using multiple pitches, it doesn't seem organized to a certain scale for example. Also you don't speak in a certain rhythm to a specific beat/bpm.
Just do me a favor. Can you read this out loud please? -> E E E E E A A A A A



-Thanks! ;)
But now... did it sound anything like this? Click me



Probably not, because you had no specific pitch and no specific rhythm in mind. You probably just read them monotonous and if there would've been a metronome in the background it probably wasn't a steady beat either.



Most rapping is for me where singing begins, because you speak with specific pitches to a specific rhythm. Just watch the first example here: Click me
This for me would be singing or at least musical speaking :D



Other than that... here are just some definitions which also may help you to make a choice where singing begins for you :P




singing: to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.




or




Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques.







share|improve this answer













In my opinion you speak with a 'random' pitch.
You just go with what your body is the most comfortable with and on some words this might me slightly higher and sometimes lower. If you ask a question, you raise the pitch in many languages etc. but you don't go like, when I ask a question I always go up a major third above the pitch I was speaking before:P
So even tho you're using multiple pitches, it doesn't seem organized to a certain scale for example. Also you don't speak in a certain rhythm to a specific beat/bpm.
Just do me a favor. Can you read this out loud please? -> E E E E E A A A A A



-Thanks! ;)
But now... did it sound anything like this? Click me



Probably not, because you had no specific pitch and no specific rhythm in mind. You probably just read them monotonous and if there would've been a metronome in the background it probably wasn't a steady beat either.



Most rapping is for me where singing begins, because you speak with specific pitches to a specific rhythm. Just watch the first example here: Click me
This for me would be singing or at least musical speaking :D



Other than that... here are just some definitions which also may help you to make a choice where singing begins for you :P




singing: to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.




or




Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques.








share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered May 23 at 19:04









AndyAndy

2,3402 silver badges32 bronze badges




2,3402 silver badges32 bronze badges











  • 1





    I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

    – chrylis
    May 23 at 23:16











  • You are not the only one

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:05














  • 1





    I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

    – chrylis
    May 23 at 23:16











  • You are not the only one

    – Hank
    May 24 at 11:05








1




1





I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

– chrylis
May 23 at 23:16





I'm not entirely sure what it says about me that my first reflex on seeing your series of vowels was to pronounce it saeculorum, amen.

– chrylis
May 23 at 23:16













You are not the only one

– Hank
May 24 at 11:05





You are not the only one

– Hank
May 24 at 11:05


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmusic.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f85140%2fwhat-is-the-difference-between-singing-and-speaking%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Færeyskur hestur Heimild | Tengill | Tilvísanir | LeiðsagnarvalRossið - síða um færeyska hrossið á færeyskuGott ár hjá færeyska hestinum

He _____ here since 1970 . Answer needed [closed]What does “since he was so high” mean?Meaning of “catch birds for”?How do I ensure “since” takes the meaning I want?“Who cares here” meaningWhat does “right round toward” mean?the time tense (had now been detected)What does the phrase “ring around the roses” mean here?Correct usage of “visited upon”Meaning of “foiled rail sabotage bid”It was the third time I had gone to Rome or It is the third time I had been to Rome

Slayer Innehåll Historia | Stil, komposition och lyrik | Bandets betydelse och framgångar | Sidoprojekt och samarbeten | Kontroverser | Medlemmar | Utmärkelser och nomineringar | Turnéer och festivaler | Diskografi | Referenser | Externa länkar | Navigeringsmenywww.slayer.net”Metal Massacre vol. 1””Metal Massacre vol. 3””Metal Massacre Volume III””Show No Mercy””Haunting the Chapel””Live Undead””Hell Awaits””Reign in Blood””Reign in Blood””Gold & Platinum – Reign in Blood””Golden Gods Awards Winners”originalet”Kerrang! Hall Of Fame””Slayer Looks Back On 37-Year Career In New Video Series: Part Two””South of Heaven””Gold & Platinum – South of Heaven””Seasons in the Abyss””Gold & Platinum - Seasons in the Abyss””Divine Intervention””Divine Intervention - Release group by Slayer””Gold & Platinum - Divine Intervention””Live Intrusion””Undisputed Attitude””Abolish Government/Superficial Love””Release “Slatanic Slaughter: A Tribute to Slayer” by Various Artists””Diabolus in Musica””Soundtrack to the Apocalypse””God Hates Us All””Systematic - Relationships””War at the Warfield””Gold & Platinum - War at the Warfield””Soundtrack to the Apocalypse””Gold & Platinum - Still Reigning””Metallica, Slayer, Iron Mauden Among Winners At Metal Hammer Awards””Eternal Pyre””Eternal Pyre - Slayer release group””Eternal Pyre””Metal Storm Awards 2006””Kerrang! Hall Of Fame””Slayer Wins 'Best Metal' Grammy Award””Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman Dies””Bullet-For My Valentine booed at Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards””Unholy Aliance””The End Of Slayer?””Slayer: We Could Thrash Out Two More Albums If We're Fast Enough...””'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III' UK Dates Added”originalet”Megadeth And Slayer To Co-Headline 'Canadian Carnage' Trek”originalet”World Painted Blood””Release “World Painted Blood” by Slayer””Metallica Heading To Cinemas””Slayer, Megadeth To Join Forces For 'European Carnage' Tour - Dec. 18, 2010”originalet”Slayer's Hanneman Contracts Acute Infection; Band To Bring In Guest Guitarist””Cannibal Corpse's Pat O'Brien Will Step In As Slayer's Guest Guitarist”originalet”Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman Dead at 49””Dave Lombardo Says He Made Only $67,000 In 2011 While Touring With Slayer””Slayer: We Do Not Agree With Dave Lombardo's Substance Or Timeline Of Events””Slayer Welcomes Drummer Paul Bostaph Back To The Fold””Slayer Hope to Unveil Never-Before-Heard Jeff Hanneman Material on Next Album””Slayer Debut New Song 'Implode' During Surprise Golden Gods Appearance””Release group Repentless by Slayer””Repentless - Slayer - Credits””Slayer””Metal Storm Awards 2015””Slayer - to release comic book "Repentless #1"””Slayer To Release 'Repentless' 6.66" Vinyl Box Set””BREAKING NEWS: Slayer Announce Farewell Tour””Slayer Recruit Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth + Testament for Final Tour””Slayer lägger ner efter 37 år””Slayer Announces Second North American Leg Of 'Final' Tour””Final World Tour””Slayer Announces Final European Tour With Lamb of God, Anthrax And Obituary””Slayer To Tour Europe With Lamb of God, Anthrax And Obituary””Slayer To Play 'Last French Show Ever' At Next Year's Hellfst””Slayer's Final World Tour Will Extend Into 2019””Death Angel's Rob Cavestany On Slayer's 'Farewell' Tour: 'Some Of Us Could See This Coming'””Testament Has No Plans To Retire Anytime Soon, Says Chuck Billy””Anthrax's Scott Ian On Slayer's 'Farewell' Tour Plans: 'I Was Surprised And I Wasn't Surprised'””Slayer””Slayer's Morbid Schlock””Review/Rock; For Slayer, the Mania Is the Message””Slayer - Biography””Slayer - Reign In Blood”originalet”Dave Lombardo””An exclusive oral history of Slayer”originalet”Exclusive! Interview With Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman”originalet”Thinking Out Loud: Slayer's Kerry King on hair metal, Satan and being polite””Slayer Lyrics””Slayer - Biography””Most influential artists for extreme metal music””Slayer - Reign in Blood””Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman dies aged 49””Slatanic Slaughter: A Tribute to Slayer””Gateway to Hell: A Tribute to Slayer””Covered In Blood””Slayer: The Origins of Thrash in San Francisco, CA.””Why They Rule - #6 Slayer”originalet”Guitar World's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists Of All Time”originalet”The fans have spoken: Slayer comes out on top in readers' polls”originalet”Tribute to Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013)””Lamb Of God Frontman: We Sound Like A Slayer Rip-Off””BEHEMOTH Frontman Pays Tribute To SLAYER's JEFF HANNEMAN””Slayer, Hatebreed Doing Double Duty On This Year's Ozzfest””System of a Down””Lacuna Coil’s Andrea Ferro Talks Influences, Skateboarding, Band Origins + More””Slayer - Reign in Blood””Into The Lungs of Hell””Slayer rules - en utställning om fans””Slayer and Their Fans Slashed Through a No-Holds-Barred Night at Gas Monkey””Home””Slayer””Gold & Platinum - The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria””Exclusive! Interview With Slayer Guitarist Kerry King””2008-02-23: Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA, USA””Slayer's Kerry King To Perform With Megadeth Tonight! - Oct. 21, 2010”originalet”Dave Lombardo - Biography”Slayer Case DismissedArkiveradUltimate Classic Rock: Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman dead at 49.”Slayer: "We could never do any thing like Some Kind Of Monster..."””Cannibal Corpse'S Pat O'Brien Will Step In As Slayer'S Guest Guitarist | The Official Slayer Site”originalet”Slayer Wins 'Best Metal' Grammy Award””Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman Dies””Kerrang! Awards 2006 Blog: Kerrang! Hall Of Fame””Kerrang! Awards 2013: Kerrang! Legend”originalet”Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maien Among Winners At Metal Hammer Awards””Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards””Bullet For My Valentine Booed At Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards””Metal Storm Awards 2006””Metal Storm Awards 2015””Slayer's Concert History””Slayer - Relationships””Slayer - Releases”Slayers officiella webbplatsSlayer på MusicBrainzOfficiell webbplatsSlayerSlayerr1373445760000 0001 1540 47353068615-5086262726cb13906545x(data)6033143kn20030215029