Singing Dialogue

Viola Spolin was aware that singing uses another area of the brain and is important to help ‘unhook’ your dialogue from the meaning. New rhythms and patterns emerge and can also help memorized dialogue in scripted material, as a rehearsal technique

Singing often descends into sing-song or reciting dialogue in a monotonous scale. Encourage the players to give melody to their dialogue. This can be done by throwing in gibberish and asking them to do an opera or a sunny Broadway musical.

This example of singing dialogue shows the game in performance. Note the playing around with melody and even counterpoint. This is an example of the game in the hands of skilled singing improvisers, Pat Musick and Gail Matthius.