Have you practiced your pitch recently?
If not, I encourage you to get started now so that you can be more easily understood
by native English speakers.
Learning to change and vary your pitch will help you pronounce words more accurately,
call attention to the most important words and ideas in your speech, and be able to express
different emotions and attitudes through intonation.
Welcome back to the English with Kim YouTube channel, where you're going to learn what
to say, how to say it, and why it matters.
If you want more tips to help you communicate more confidently in English, be sure to hit
subscribe for more videos.
If you're completely new to the concept of pitch, please be sure to check out my video,
the Power of Pitch, where I explain a simple exercise that will help you stretch your vocal
cords and be able to get started working on your pitch.
If you're ready to go deeper, let's get started with some pitch exercises.
In this video, we're going to discuss two types of pitch changes that you're going to
need to master in order to sound more like an American.
We're going to talk about steps and glides.
Depending on the way words and syllables are linked together in natural speech, you may
need to step up and down, or you may need to glide up and down.
A step is a noticeable rise and drop from one pitch to another.
Let's look at a few examples.
Notebook, notebook.
You notice I'm stepping down from a higher pitch to a baseline pitch.
Let's try another.
September, september.
In this example, we're stepping up to the second syllable, which is stressed: sepTEMber.
A very, very common phrase I use is United States: United States.
As you notice, we're stepping up to "states."
A common verb we can use when discussing pitch is the verb contrast, contrast.
As you can hear, I'm stepping up from a lower pitch to a higher pitch in order to stress
the word correctly.
Another common longer word that I often use is communication, communication.
I'm stepping up to "ca": communication.
And you'll also hear some steps in phrases.
You'll actually hear them in entire sentences.
So let's say for example, tables and chairs, tables and chairs.
I'm stepping up to "chairs."
Now, let's talk about pitch glides.
A pitch glide happens when we need to show a change in tone on a particular word or phrase.
Sometimes we change our pitch noticeably on simple, short, one syllable words, or we may
glide between different tones, or we may need to change our pitch on words that are linked
together because of connected speech.
You'll also notice gliding between vowels and consonant sounds, depending on how these
words are linked together.
Here are some examples of glides that help express different emotions and attitudes in English.
Oh?
Oh.
Really?
Really.
Okay?
Okay.
Today?
Today.
What?
What?!
Huh?
Huh.
Hmm?
Hmm.
As you can hear, learning how to glide between one pitch to another pitch while maintaining
that same sound or vowel is really essential to communicating different emotions and attitudes
through your intonation.
Let's talk about a few reasons you may change your pitch in order to express
different emotions and attitudes.
You may glide up in order to ask a question or you may glide down
in order to finish a statement.
You may have a rise in pitch because you're questioning someone or
double checking what you heard.
You may show excitement and curiosity by a lot of variation in your pitch
throughout the sentence.
It's happy intonation.
Some people have certain patterns that you can hear through their pitch.
Someone like me is very expressive and I use a lot of different pitch while I'm speaking.
The idea is that it keeps you listening.
Some people may use less pitch variation in order to show disappointment, disapproval,
or annoyance.
Be sure to check out my other resources on intonation in the description below the video.
Now, let's talk about some practice exercises you can use in order to feel more confident
changing your pitch by gliding up and down or stepping up and down.
In order to practice steps between different levels of pitch.
I encourage you to start working with nonsense sounds like "da-da" or "lo-lo" or any combination
of consonants and vowels that you choose.
In fact, this can be a great way to combine your practice of pitch while also working
on troublesome consonants or vowel sounds.
In the end, they all work together, so it's a good idea to challenge yourself to work
on some sounds that you find a little bit difficult.
To get started practicing the different steps up and down between pitch,
think about stress patterns.
Most of the time when you have a rise in pitch, it's because you're stressing a certain syllable
or a certain word.
It's more effective to practice these patterns so that when you learn a new word, you can
associate it with this particular stress pattern.
For example, let's practice two-syllable words that are stressed on the first syllable: DA-da,
DA-da, DA-da.
Or, LO-lo, LO-lo, LO-lo.
As you can hear, I'm starting at a higher pitch and stepping down to a lower pitch.
Now let's look at two-syllable words that are stressed on the second syllable: re-RE,
re-RE, re-RE.
Soo-SOO, soo-SOO, soo-SOO.
As you can hear, I'm stepping up from a lower pitch to a higher pitch.
Now let's look at a few examples of three syllable words.
Once again, these words may be stressed on the first, second, or third syllable.
It really depends on the word.
Let's practice.
DA-da-da, DA-da-da, DA-da-da.
Lo-LO-lo, lo-LO-lo, lo-LO-lo.
Re-re-RE, re-re-RE, re-re-RE.
I hope your ear is starting to detect these stress patterns and you're able to associate
them with words you may actually use in everyday speech.
Like I said, you can combine any of these different consonant sounds in order to practice
stepping up and down, depending on the way a word would be stressed.
Although this video is specifically focused on practicing pitch, I want you to remember
that you're going to lengthening that vowel sound on a stressed syllable in addition to
making it higher in pitch.
It's helpful to just practice that kind of rhythm in order to make it easier when you're
practicing your sentence stress.
When you feel more comfortable changing your pitch on these nonsense sounds, then you can
look for a word list of two- and three-syllable words stressed on different syllables and
start practicing with those.
The idea is that you want to create pitch variation between stressed and unstressed
or reduced syllables.
For more detailed information on word stress and why it matters, be sure to check out my
video on word stress in American English.
It'll be linked in the description below the video as well as in the cards.
Once you feel more confident creating these steps, it's time to practice stress in phrases.
We have pitch variations in phrases that follow predictable stress patterns.
For example, consider these common expressions: ins and outs, ups and downs, right and wrong,
United States, European Union.
As you can hear, there is a noticeable step from a lower pitch to a higher pitch on those
last words and each of those phrases.
Because it's so important to get your pitch right in order to express yourself clearly
in English, be sure to look for these patterns and practice them.
I also have a number of resources that can help you below the video.
In order to practice gliding up and down in pitch.
I encourage you to combine this practice with working on your vowel sounds.
Like I said a moment ago, the vowel sound is where a lot of the changes happen
on stressed syllables.
Let's look at a few examples.
Ahh, ahh.
Ohh, ohh, Ooh, ooh.
Iiii, iiii.
Uhh, uhh.
Let's try that one more time.
Ahh, ahh.
Ohh, ohh, Ooh, ooh.
Iiii, iiii.
Uhh, uhh.
Once you feel more confident gliding up and down on various vowel sounds, then it's time
to practice with words.
I gave a few examples earlier in the video, but let's practice a few more now.
Okay?
Okay.
Okay?
Okay.
No?
No.
No?
No.
About?
About.
About?
About.
Today?
Today.
Do?
Do.
Right?
Right.
These exercises will help you increase your sensitivity to how we use pitch in order to
communicate our meaning and express different emotions and attitudes through intonation.
You'll start hearing these pitch changes and pitch variations and soon be able to start
doing them yourself.
For more stress and intonation practice, please be sure to check out my playlist on intonation
patterns in American English.
It's linked in the cards in also in the description below the video.
Now it's your turn!
In the comments, let me know how pitch is used in your native language.
wWhat do you find easy or difficult about pitch in American English?
I would love to hear how these exercises have helped you, so be sure to check back in and
leave a comment.
Once again, I'm Kim from englishwithkim.com.
I'm your guide to the essential conversation skills you need to sound more natural in English.
If you like this video, please be sure to give it a thumbs up and share it with a friend.
Have a good one.
Goodbye.