How do Chinese tones work in songs?
How does that work? The tones do not get messed up when singing because Chinese languages use contour tones. In Mandarin Chinese, what matters is not the pitch of the sound, but the “shape” and “texture” of the sound. A flat tone is going to sound like a flat tone no matter how high or low it’s sung.
How does music work in tonal languages?
A tonal language is one in which the pitch tone is used to distinguish the meaning of words. A single word or syllable spoken in several different tones can thus convey widely varied concepts.
Is Chinese music tonal?
Chinese music, unlike western music, uses a five-tone scale known as the pentatonic scale.
Does language determine music in tone languages?
This article looks at the collective evidence and concludes that language is not a determinant of music in tone languages, but rather that music ac- commodates language when it is convenient but is perfectly willing and able to override linguistic requirements.
How are contour tones preserved in Cantonese songs?
In my experience, in Cantonese songs which preserve contour tones, this occurs by applying a grace note to the syllable, so that it starts below the notated tone. You can hear this in, say, 男兒當自強, where the rising contour tone syllables 膽, 打, 似 are sung with a lower grace note.
What is the meaning of the four tones in Chinese?
Mandarin Chinese, with its four tones, is a typical example. Take the word ma. If you say it the way an English-speaker would say it, just reading it sitting by itself on a page, then it means “scold.”
Why are there so many tone languages?
Tone languages are spoken all over the world, but they tend to cluster in three places: East and Southeast Asia; sub-Saharan Africa; and among the indigenous communities of Mexico. Why there and not elsewhere? One thing these regions might have in common is heat, though it’s hard to imagine how that would make people speak more melodically.
What is the tone of Vietnamese music?
In Vietnamese songs the tones will generally follow the melodies. Of course sometimes there still be some odd, out-of-tone sounds but most of it is a product of an amateur musician. As André Müller said in this answer: