Speech Therapy

Music, speech, and language are related in a number of ways. For example, music and speech both have rhythm, frequency, duration, pitch, and timbre, and utilize prosodic information, such as inflection and phrasing, to help portray the meaning of a message. Before a child is able to say words, he or she can imitate the rhythm and musical contours of language. While speech and music share neural networks, there are substantial differences in the way that music and speech are perceived and produced. Broad neural networks are activated by music and can involve coordinated auditory motor patterns. The evidence to support the use of music in speech and language interventions is still in early stages; however, music is used in speech language pathology (SLP) rehabilitation.

The musical aspects of language include melodic contour, timbre variations, “motherese” or infant-directed speech, rhythm, and nonverbal aspects of language. Speech and language terms and their musical equivalents include frequency (hertz), duration, spectrum (tone, or quality of voice) and amplitude (decibels), which [Page 1054]correspond to pitch, rhythm, timbre, and dynamics, respectively.

Singing and speech share common elements that can help expand the communication potential of people with speech disorders through instruction in basic singing techniques, such as correct breathing patterns, coordinated phonation, and efficient diction. These techniques may lead to improved speech production, suggesting that rhythmic speech, breathing, and vocal exercises enhance patients' speech rate, pitch, variability, and intelligibility. Compared to speech, singing offers the advantage of more continuous voicing, and a slower rate of phonation, which facilitates additional time for differentiating and processing individual phonemes. The tempo of singing, combined with the melodic contour, can enable improvements in the rate of speech, articulation, and prosody.