Say it again, Sam

A few days ago I overheard a conversation that was happening far enough away that I could hear the "notes" of the voices but not understand the words. It hit me that all cultures have a certain "music" to their language. Think of someone exclaiming, "Hi! How are you?" I bet in your head you played a certain "tune." And I bet if we each hummed or whistled or played that tune we'd be real close in terms of the notes and duration - the "melody" of the phrase.

That got me to wondering if there are some linguistic tunes that are the same or similar across cultures? Could we recognize some phrases simply by their melody? Obviously there are other "songs" when speaking that are not the same in each language. Could those cause conflict, especially if one is speaking in a language that is not their native one? We all know that differences in accents and where someone puts emPHASis on different sylLABles can cause difficulties in understanding. Can a change in pitch, cadence and literally the notes used in speaking also cause such problems?

Since then, I've also started noticing people who speak in more of a monotone, and how hard it is to follow what they're saying. Their "song" is missing, and that causes the communication to be less efficient, it seems.

Have you ever noticed any of this?