Speech becomes songSourced
Repeating a spoken phrase can make it sound musical
Repeated playback of a short spoken phrase can make it seem sung, even though the recording itself has not changed. Diana Deutsch discovered the speech-to-song illusion in 1995. Repetition changes the listener’s impression rather than turning the original speaker into a singer.
The sound stays put while perception moves.
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Speech-to-song illusion · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-05