# Dopers that watch a lot of musicals answer this one please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030 "2004-07-07T23:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/1 "2004-07-07T23:08:20Z")
Is there a name for “sing talking”, you know like in a musical play when someone is singing but they are not quite singing instead they are talking out the words but with some harmony but it’s not full blown singing or straight out talking. I heard someone say a name for this a long time ago but I can’t remember what it was called. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/2 "2004-07-07T23:34:10Z")
I’ve seen it called “talking on pitch,” specifically with reference to what Rex Harrison did in “My Fair Lady,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/3 "2004-07-07T23:38:39Z")
I’ve heard it called “talk-singing” much more often than “sing-talking”. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/4 "2004-07-07T23:42:40Z")
Parlando ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/5 "2004-07-07T23:47:59Z")
Do you mean “patter songs”? (think “Trouble in River City”)? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/6 "2004-07-08T00:04:41Z")
This seemed like a “Cafe Society” thread, so I moved it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/7 "2004-07-08T00:04:56Z")
When a whole musical (like an opera) is sung, as opposed to songs between spoken dialogue, the sung dialogue is called “recitative”, as in opera where it contrasts to the arias. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/8 "2004-07-08T00:09:18Z")
Consulting the back of my worn copy of ‘My Fair Lady’, it says, ‘Mr Loewe…scatter[s] patter songs, ballads, and cheerful choruses around in a lavish fashion’ – patter songs presumably referring to Rex Harrison’s. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/9 "2004-07-08T00:16:06Z")
Don’t have an answer, but that sort of thing drives me nuts. _I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face_ does have a melody to it; at least the version we sang in college chorus did. Mr. Hooper always did this on Sesame Street. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/10 "2004-07-08T00:26:23Z")
Bruce Springsteen has made a whole career out of it. Not saying I don’t like him. I’m a big fan of his work up to Born in the USA, but it drives me crazy sometimes, why doesn’t he ever just sing?! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/11 "2004-07-08T00:57:57Z")
Rap. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/12 "2004-07-08T06:14:38Z")
Back in my kindergarten days we always called this Sprechgesang. I went to the Lotte Lenya South Kindergarten, y’know. _Sprechgesang - (“speech song”) or Sprechstimme (“speech voice”) is a technique of vocal production halfway between singing and speaking._ In musical notation it is frequently indicated by putting a small ‘X’ through the note - well that’s how Schoenberg used to do it, anyway. At Weltscherz Industrial High, that is. Cheers, Redboss ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-that-watch-a-lot-of-musicals-answer-this-one-please/254030/13 "2004-07-08T09:53:48Z")
_Sprechstimme_ is a different, and very specific, vocal technique. Probably the difference is best summed up in that _parlando_ involves a greater emphasis on speech-like sounds, while _sprechstimme_ is closer to pitch-oriented sound production. Mind you, nobody ever agrees of what _sprechstimme_ really should sound like anyway 😉