So I have the uncanny ability to pickup accents and tonalities in my speaking on a whim and usually i'll do it without noticing it. well lately i changed my voice from apparently a educated low tone to that of someone always looking to have fun. I didn't realize this until one of the females in my barracks pointed it out. anyone know why this could be that i do it?

Do you by any chance have perfect pitch? (look it up on Wikipedia if you don't know what it is)

I (and others with perfect pitch pitch I've met) have said they have an uncanny ability to do this as well. I am also a vocalist (I actually taught myself to sing by listening to Queen albums and backward-engineering Freddie Mercury's vocals. It is an unconcious process/skill I have that is attributed to having aural perceptual abilities which others do not.

Also, have you been hanging around different people or hanging in different places? This can also naturally occur if you drastically change your lifestyle and dramatically effect your most common emotional states.

- Chris

i was an army kid growing up so i moved every 3 years and i can mock things really well but this is like an unconscious change not like im purposely doing it

Hahaha. I have something like this. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I speak in different tonalities and pitches depending on who I'm talking to. It used to frustrate me, but now I'm pretty much amused by it. Do you know anything about this condition, Chris? I also happen to be pretty skilled at impersonations and am able to do a wide range of voices.

People with perfect pitch tend to be able to do this. On average I have heard only about 1 in 10,000 americans have it but it grows far more common among tonal language speakers where very precise tone dictates meaning in statements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_pitch

These people are able to analyze frequencies of sound in the same way other people are able to analyze frequencies of light and identify colors so they can unconciously copy tonalities and pitches of others.

- Chris

When talking to someone its common to slightly mimmick mannuerisms or vocal tonalities of the person your talking to. Sometimes you might laugh the same way they do, or use the same expressions. Often times this happens involuntarily. It's a way of unconsciously making yourself more comfortable to talk to. Logic dictates if you sound familiar, you must be familiar, and the person you're talking to will be more friendly towards you.

But if you think about it, its a subtle way of seeking rapport. You're changing they way YOU talk and express yourself, to match THEM. For what purpose? If your notice yourself doing it I reccommend taking a good look at where you are in the relationship (formal or informal) with this person. If they have more value relative to yours, you're likely to want to be like them.

I read a couple of you see this is a skill that few are born with. Robin Williams comes to mind where he can immitate people or draw from a large repretoir of voices. That is talent. But when it comes to conversing with someone you just met and changing yourself to align with them... it becomes a problem. Keep your own frame. Maybe you'll notice people trying to align with you.

_________________
"If you keep doing what you've been doing, then you'll keep getting what you've always gotten" -anonymous

one of the times i did notice it before i picked up on the way my roommate spoke and his mannerisms. It wasn't that i found him alpha because it was always a tossup between myself and my buddy colin when we'd go out. this was more of a conscious example of it though because i noticed the way he spoke could be used when talking to girls whereas he was just doing it out of being to lazy to repeat what he said.


something like this:
*see something random*
"i wish i was cool like that, what?"
"huh?"
"wait what?"
"no what did you say?"
"listen the first time"

Thanks for the link, Chris. I skimmed the article and I'm really not sure if I have perfect pitch or not, but I'll look further into it. I hope I do have it, though, because that would be pretty fucken cool considering that only about 1 in 10,000 Americans have it. Essentially, perfect pitch is just being able to replicate voices and sounds, right? Because I'm good with sounds, too.

Pretty interesting diggidoyo, but this doesn't apply to me. My varying voices sound nothing like the person/people I'm speaking to. It's just something I do unconciously for some weird reason. Also, Whitey, I don't get your last post about your roomate. Explain...