In this segment, we're going to talk about rhythm. We're going to start by talking about rhythm in language and how it's created and what the components are and how you do it. Line length is determined not by the number of syllables, but by the number of stressed syllables in a line. What is a stressed syllable? What is an unstressed syllable? And that sort of goes to, what is a language? Every language has basically the same purpose. And that's to communicate ideas as efficiently as possible. Consequently, every language tends to speak legato. That is to say we don't stop between our words, we just keep going, connecting all of the sounds together as we move. That's the reason why when you are listening to somebody speak a language that you don't know it sounds like they're really talking fast. Now, I don't think that I'm really talking fast here, but if you didn't know English it would sound like I'm really talking fast. What you have in order to slow things down is a way of listening to what I say that makes the language efficient. In spite of the fact that it's a legato and that I'm not stopping between my words. If I was stopping between my words, then it would seem to be not only inefficient but after a while it would get boring and perhaps even a little irritating. So I'll stop so that legato is the norm for language. So what we do, at least in English and, of course, really in every language, is that we build a couple of extra layers. And some languages build layers differently than others, but in English we build layers by creating pitch variations in the language. Now, let's divide the language into two categories, words with many syllables, multi-syllable words and one-syllable words. Let's talk first about multi-syllable words. Multi syllable, multi syllable, multi syllable. Five syllables in the world multi syllable, multi syllable. And what happens when I say, I want you to listen to these following multi syllable words. I want you to listen to the following multi-syllable words. Now, that's a lot of syllables. I want you to listen to the following multi-syllable words. But really it doesn't sound like I'm talking fast because you're able to identify the various syllabic groupings because of my pitches that I use, multi syllable, multi syllable, multi syllable. When I learned that world multi syllable which of course every child knows, when I learned that word I learned not only the string of vowels and consonants in multi syllable, multi syllable, but I also learn at the same time, the melody. I also learn at the same time, the melody. Mul ti syl la ble, Mul ti syl la ble, and note that in that word, we have three places where the voice a little higher and two places where the voice is at its lowest. So in the word multi syllable, you have mul syl and ble being the higher pitches and the second and the fourth syllable mul ti syl la ti a ti a being the lowest. But note that between mul syl and ble that even though they are three high pitches, the middle one in this case syl is the highest pitch. We call that, therefore, the primary stress, and that's going to make a big difference when we start talking about the relationship of language rhythm to melodic rhythm, so we'll keep that to the side for the moment. So multi syllable, multi syllable. And so, by listening to the pitches, we have this little melody that's created, multi syllable. So when they say I want you to listen to the following multi syllable words, you hear those five syllables as one idea. And because you hear it as one idea, it doesn't feel like I'm talking too fast. And know that I want you to listen, listen to the following, listen to the following. Listen, listen. Those two syllables are higher pitch, that is stressed syllable. Lower pitch, unstressed syllable. I want you to listen to the following, following and notice at the fol of following is the highest pitch. Follow, low, low is the pitch and then the ing is just slightly higher than the low. Following, following, and maybe even the same pitch, so that the melody of listen and following and multi syllable now give us a kind of safety net in being able to understand this legato flow of syllables. And just to hear a limited number of ideas because we have learned that the five syllables of multi syllable really mean only one thing. And so, we are really attending to the ideas, not to the flow of syllables. Every language builds that in. So that when we're talking about words of two or more syllables, that category of multi syllable words, we learn, as we learn the words, the melody. That is to say, we learn where the stressed syllables are. And all you have to do is just say the word without listening, banana, banana, banana, without listening to the word as it goes by and say it three or four times without any paying attention on what you're saying. If you start listening, you're in a screwed up every time but just do it three or four times so that you get it in your mouth the right way, and then slow it down and listen, listen, listen to where the higher and lower pitches are, and that will always tell you where the stress syllabus are. Note, by the way, that you can also look up the multi syllabus words in what's called the book of agreements. That book of agreements list all of the the words in our language and especially the multi syllable words. It will show you where the primary stress is, that is where the highest pitch is. The book of agreements is also by the way called the dictionary. So you could look it up there too. So our multi syllable words are easy. They will always have a melody. Now, I want you to note, while we're on this multi-syllable thing, that pitches can sometimes vary. That in the US, for example, regionally the word P-O-L-I-C-E is pronounced in generally in the northern part of the US as police, but in the southern part of the US it's pronounced police, and so there's a difference in pitch between police call the police and call the police. Those regional differences are really helpful in writing a song that say takes on the characteristic of a southern sheriff or something like that. Where he's going about, hey, did you call the police and therefore you are capturing the sort of dialect of that character by properly stressing the word that he would stress. But for the most part, we say most words in the book of agreements in the same way. In the word multi syllable, we can call mul and ble, let's called them secondary stressors. That's going to be important again later on. Because what it's going to ultimately mean is that the primary stress of a multi syllable word, ought to be joined in the melodic rhythm with a stronger position in the bar, a stronger rhythmic position in the bar., than the secondary stresses. The secondary stresses may go in relatively strong positions but not as strong as the primary. And the unaccented syllables, the unstressed syllables would go on stressed positions in the bar. This we will come to know and love as preserving the natural shape of language.
