Do We Sing Like We Speak

This paper investigates whether intonation patterns in spoken language map to melodic profile patterns in music. The study focuses on polar (yes/no) and interrogative (wh) questions, and commonly found terminal intonation patterns for these kinds of questions in British English. We analyse the f0 of the main melody of 50 audio excerpts, from 49 different British pop songs by 47 distinct artists, for which the lyrics correspond to the desired questions types. Comparing the f0 of the main melody to the intonation patterns observed in authentic conversation, we test the null hypothesis that there is no correlation between question intonation patterns in speech and melodic profiles in songs with question lyrics. The data rejects the hypothesis, and we conclude that intonation patterns of questions in speech and in song melodies are correlated.