How to sound interesting in English | varied pitch vs. monotone | intonation
I really like this shirt but I don't think I'm gonna get it.
I really like this shirt but I don't think I'm gonna get it.
Hey guys it's Hadar and this is the Accent's Way.
Today we're gonna talk about intonation and pitch
what is pitch, and what's the difference between varied intonation and different
levels of pitch, and monotonous intonation and same-note speech.
You know us accent coaches, we always talk about: raising your pitch, dropping your pitch
high pitch, low pitch. But what is pitch to begin with? How do we control it? and
why is it so important to American melody and intonation?
so let's begin with defining 'pitch'. Pitch is the level of your tone, the note that you're
playing with your voice. You have higher pitch which is here, and you have lower
pitch, which is here. The higher the frequency of your vocal cords, the higher
the pitch is. The lower the frequency of your vocal cords (the vibrations of the
vocal cords) the lower the voice is. Now you can always play with higher notes and
lower notes when you speak. You can also stay on the same tone and not
change your pitch whatsoever, no matter what you're saying. That would be more..
monotonous speech. In American English, pitch plays a significant role.
Because words that are stressed in English are higher in pitch. That means the pitch is
always lifted when you stress a word.
But before that, let's understand how you
even control your pitch. Because of course it's easier to say: "raise your
pitch when you need to stress a word" but how do you even do that?
To practice that ,let's start with a song. Now, don't tell me: "I can't sing! I'm not
every word had a different note
happy bir.. when I went to 'bir' I raised my pitch
happy birthday.. (went back to a lower note) to... so technically this is a more
stressed word because it's higher in pitch.. to you. And then, went back down.
Ok? Happy birthday to you. Now I'm speaking, not singing, but I'm still
raising my pitch, according to the notes that I know from the song. So raising the
pitch it's going for a higher note just like in a song okay good now that you
know how to raise your pitch and how to control your voice to go higher in pitch
and lower in pitch let's talk about the language. Let's talk about how it comes
to play in English. So in English when you stress a word or when you reach the
primary stress of a word, then you go higher in pitch tah tah tah. to-mo-rrow
tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow. Right? I'm kind of singing it, but I'm not really
singing it.. I'm speaking it - but playing with my pitch. (playing with my pitch)
Again, it's harder to do it when you say it in words, but then when you turn it
into music - tah tah tah tah tah tah try it with me .... it's very
easy when it's not related to words. Why is that? because a lot of speakers are
used to playing the same note when speaking. Now let's compare
monotonous vs varied pitch. And you tell me at the end,
Every syllable receives a different note. How are you doing today?
All I did was change the pitch, and see
I really like this shirt but I don't think I'm gonna get it.
Now, my pronunciation is accurate, my
rhythm is pretty good, but my intonation is flat.
All I did now was change the pitch.
I raised the pitch for the stress words, and dropped it at the end, and played
with the level so every syllable was a little higher or a little lower than the
Now, the reason why I'm doing this is because a lot of people are too afraid
to play with their pitch. Because in their language, keeping the same note is
the common intonation pattern. It doesn't mean it's a bad thing, it's just how it
is in their language. But when you apply it onto English it makes it sound dull
and boring, and less clear, because when you go higher in pitch, you help the
listener understand what words are more important, and what words are less
'I don't feel very well'. Flat intonation. 'I don't feel very well'
So 'feel' was the highest note.
I went higher in pitch for 'feel'
That's the stressed word. And I dropped everything else.
Okay that's it for now. I hope it's a little more clear - the
difference between higher notes and lower notes, why it's important to change
your pitch, and how it affects your speech when you're using varied
intonation, how it creates engagement and how it stirs emotions. This is why
it's something that you definitely want to work on when you're learning
English, because sometimes it's even more important than getting the R right or
If you're wondering how you can practice it this is what you can do:
Look at the bottom right corner of this video, and you'll see this small cog wheel
if you click on it you'll see speed. Click on it again, and see that you can
change the speed to half the speed, 75% or x 1.25 %. Go to 50% and play the video
in a 50% speed. When you do that you'll notice the changes in intonation a lot
more and what you want to do is just practice the melody. It doesn't even
matter where the words are. Just play the melody of the people speaking whether
it's me or someone else. Just play the melody, and repeat it over and over again.
And then, go into fast speed and you'll notice the changes in pitch a lot more,
and you'll be able to make these changes yourself because now you can control
your pitch. Because you've got to think of it as music as if these are just
notes rather than just words and rather than just stressing words. Ok? leave me a
comment below tell me if it's clear and tell me what you are doing to improve
your intonation and melody in English. And of course if you still struggle with
something let me know in the comments below as well. Don't forget to subscribe
and click on the bell to get notifications every time I upload a new
video. Thank you so much, have a wonderful week and I'll see you next week