the fact that in singing the vowel sounds are prolonged and the intervals are

short, whereas in speech the words are uttered in what may be called "staccato"

tones, the vowels not being specially prolonged and the intervals between the

words being more distinct. The fact that in singing we have a larger range of

tones does not properly distinguish it from ordinary speech. In speech we have

likewise a variation of tones, and even in ordinary conversation there is a

difference of from three to six semi-tones, as I have found in my

investigations, and in some persons the range is as high as one octave.

 

--WILLIAM SCHEPPEGRELL, _Popular Science Monthly_.

 

By pitch, as everyone knows, we mean the relative position of a vocal tone--as,

high, medium, low, or any variation between. In public speech we apply it not

only to a single utterance, as an exclamation or a monosyllable (_Oh!_ or _the_)

but to any group of syllables, words, and even sentences that may be spoken in a

single tone. This distinction it is important to keep in mind, for the efficient

speaker not only changes the pitch of successive syllables (see Chapter VII,

"Efficiency through Inflection"), but gives a different pitch to different

parts, or word-groups, of successive sentences. It is this phase of the subject

which we are considering in this chapter.

 

_Every Change in the Thought Demands a Change in the Voice-Pitch_

 

Whether the speaker follows the rule consciously, unconsciously, or

subconsciously, this is the logical basis upon which all good voice variation is