When first reading the poem, I read it in a slow voice, emphasizing the o’s and the a’s. It’s hard not to, given that the majority of adjectives in the first three lines are melancholy words with long and stressed vowels. When listening to it, I think the way Hughes stresses certain vowels in words like “droning” (1), “drowsy” (1), “melancholy” (17), and “moan” (10) helps the audience further understand the gloomy cloud that looms over the poem by making the words sound like actual groaning. The cloud mentioned is how an old singer’s songs are about the “weary blues.” Hughes uses imagery to illustrate an old man tapping his feet and moving his body and fingers upon the piano to the rhythm of the music. In line 23 when he repeats “thump” and pauses after each time, he is creating the illusion of the old man keeping time with his feet which help the audience create an image of the scene. His usage of rhyme also makes the poem seem like a part of the song he’s talking about. His volume and speed stay semi-consistent, changing only towards the end. Whenever he quotes from the old man, he changing his voice to let the audience know that they are not his words. At the end of the poem, lines 31-35,  Hughes slows his pace. This could be either to signify the ending of his poem or the change of topic. Death is mentioned more in these lines than throughout the poem so the latter seems like the better explanation.