# What is Talk Singing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348 "2019-12-24T16:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/1 "2019-12-24T16:34:30Z")
The thread [B-52s fans: Can Fred Schneider sing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=887308) reminded me of a thread I’ve wanted to start since forever. Schneider, like many other singers - all of them men, now that I think about it - doesn’t exactly sing the words, but speaks them melodically. Other examples are Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys and Rex Harrison in _My Fair Lady_. What is this style called? What exactly is the difference between it and regular singing? Is there a continuum between the two or are they distinct variations on tunes? Does this style have to stick to pitch and key as exactly as regular singing? And lots of other questions I can’t think of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/2 "2019-12-24T16:45:17Z")
[Does Jack Webb “singing” _Try A Little Tenderness_ count?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sixNZWWh7aM) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/3 "2019-12-24T17:03:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Does Jack Webb “singing” _Try A Little Tenderness_ count?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sixNZWWh7aM) :eek: Oy. Please explain how someone thought that was a good idea. It’s not as though he was known as the romantic, leading man type (was he?) and his speaking voice is very distinct, and very much the opposite of romantic. That is just embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/4 "2019-12-24T17:46:59Z")
\*\*What is this style called? \*\* Limited vocal range. With Rex Harrison, critics called it “patter,” although it really didn’t fit the definition of the word. For a comparison with “real singing” listen to just about anything sung by Willie Nelson. Willie has a terrible singing voice, close to a monotone, but his phrasing is that of a singer, not a talk singer. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/5 "2019-12-24T18:38:08Z")
[Flash and the Pan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgOMxTxWPuQ) used it, too, but I think that was mostly for effect. Rex Harrison seems to have pioneered the technique in _My Fair Lady_. Previously, lead actors with limited range were only given songs that fit that range. In _Guys and Dolls_, for instance, the song “Sue Me” was written to overcome Sam Levine’s bad singing. Indeed, the phrasing of the first line of each of his choruses was designed to that Levine could get up to the note. (It’s ironic that in the movie, it was sung by Frank Sinatra, who certainly had no trouble singing.) Gilbert and Sullivan had their patter songs, but they were clearly sung. BTW, my wife always thought Webb’s “Try a Little Tenderness” was very sweet and charming, an awkward guy trying to be romantic. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/6 "2019-12-24T19:17:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > BTW, my wife always thought Webb’s “Try a Little Tenderness” was very sweet and charming, an awkward guy trying to be romantic. Like [Biz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aofoBrFNdg), only not as catchy? Or as energetic? Or good? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/7 "2019-12-24T19:33:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What is this style called? Harrison’s is likely either [_Sprechgesang_ or _Sprechstimme_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprechgesang). There’s also [talking blues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_blues), one example listed in that article is “Alice’s Restaurant”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/8 "2019-12-24T19:39:50Z")
Like Johnny Cash [kicking pricks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9IfHDi-2EA)? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/9 "2019-12-24T19:58:09Z")
Well, Rex Harrison has been mentioned already, but [this is just a plain freaky video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOvlKgoeP4s) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/10 "2019-12-24T20:35:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Like [Biz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aofoBrFNdg), only not as catchy? Or as energetic? Or good? 😛 She sees it as an awkward attempt at talking about love, like someone who is inexperience at romance. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/11 "2019-12-25T00:21:46Z")
Isn’t this how Leonard Cohen performed his music? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/12 "2019-12-26T22:01:20Z")
David Bowie did this a lot in large parts of his songs. Try _Blue Jean_ or _Jean Genie_. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/13 "2019-12-26T23:22:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Does Jack Webb “singing” _Try A Little Tenderness_ count?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sixNZWWh7aM) Edward Platt shoulda had a crack at it. He was great in The Band and all, but wow Robbie Robertson’s [jungle intoning](https://youtu.be/4KP9PNSUME4?t=209) in _Somewhere Down That Crazy River_ skeeves me out a tad. Great snogging at the end of the video, though. While common with probably most bands of their ilk (god I hate that word), David Grubbs (Squirrel Bait, Bastro) and Steve Albini (BigBlack, Rapeman, Shellac) immediately come to mind. Lee Hazelwood was probably planet earth’s greatest talk-singer ever. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/14 "2019-12-27T00:04:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Does Jack Webb “singing” _Try A Little Tenderness_ count?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sixNZWWh7aM) Not bad for a dramatic reading, which is all it is. It’s not singing in any form or fashion whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/15 "2019-12-27T01:38:41Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Not bad for a dramatic reading, which is all it is. It’s not singing in any form or fashion whatsoever. Sounds like one of Joe Friday’s speeches to the husband at a domestic dispute. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/16 "2019-12-27T03:10:24Z")
This exists in classical music, too. It’s called _sprechstimme_ (as **Skywatcher** points out above), and I’ve heard it in the work of Alban Berg (bits of _Wozzeck_) and Arnold Schoenberg (_Moses und Aron_). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/17 "2019-12-27T03:49:58Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > This exists in classical music, too. It’s called _sprechstimme_ (as **Skywatcher** points out above), and I’ve heard it in the work of Alban Berg (bits of _Wozzeck_) and Arnold Schoenberg (_Moses und Aron_). Is \*sprechstimme \*just, as was said earlier, a limited vocal range or is there more involved? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/18 "2019-12-27T04:04:33Z")
Ever hear Richard Burton perform “Camelot”? Or Robert Preston do “You Got Trouble”? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/19 "2019-12-27T09:09:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Other examples are Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys Neil does both this and “proper” singing. And he certainly doesn’t have a limited vocal range. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348/20 "2019-12-27T11:14:20Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Ever hear…Robert Preston do “You Got Trouble”? I would call that Proto-Rap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-talk-singing/845348.md?page=2)