In certain forms of entertainment,
peep shows and Russian
rayok, patter is an important component of a show. The
radio DJ patter, known as
MCing, is among the roots of
rapping. The form can be traced back as early as the 1890s among the other popular music styles like 'story ballads' and 'parlor waltzes.' Patter also has operatic origins as well, the form of the
patter song being featured in the
operettas of
Gilbert and Sullivan. So important is patter to the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta form that it forms one of the seven identified tenants of their style. Patter then became a signature in the style known as
Savoy opera. It is thus also used of any rapid manner of talking, and of a
patter-song, in which a very large number of words have to be sung at high speed to fit the music. A western square dance
caller may interpolate patter—in the form of metrical lines, often of nonsense—to fill in between commands to the dancers. ==See also==