She (fainting). Darling!
He. Huh! Cat! (catching her).
It is by use of tone and inflection that the following exercises are properly rendered.
| How are you to-day? | Ha. (inquiry, surprise). |
| I say how are you to-day? | Ha. (rising doubt). |
| Have you suddenly become deaf? | Ha. (indignation). |
| I have been trying to find out how you are to-day. | Ha. (satisfaction, laugh). |
| I am glad you heard me. | Ha. (short grunt). |
| I am on my way to the store. | Ha. (do not believe it). |
| Will you go with me? | Ha. (glad to). |
A Study of Pitch
Pitch is simply the modulation of the voice as high or low. In natural speech we seldom have more than one word on the same pitch. Note the constant change of pitch in a good conversationalist. In listening to such, we discover what?
First: If one idea is expressed on one pitch, its antithesis is instinctively expressed on another pitch. For example: “When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves we leave them.” “The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself.” “Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding.”
Second: A quick leap of the mind causes a leap in the voice, or, in other words, it causes a change of pitch. For example: “So you say you are going to—Well, hello, John! How did you get here?”
There can be no definite rules laid down governing Changes of Pitch. If we think progressively, giving ourselves completely to each successive idea, permitting our movement of tone to be the direct outcome of the action of the mind we shall have no difficulty in modulating our pitch.
In reading the following selections, note carefully the natural tendency of the voice to change pitch as the mind leaps from one thought to another.