Module 4 · Lyric Writing
Cantonese lyrics start with respect for the tones
Cantonese has six tones. When a word’s tone fights the melody’s direction, the listener hears it as “off-key” — even when the singer is perfectly in tune. That’s the biggest difference between Cantonese and Mandarin lyric writing.
Tone-matching exercise
Choose the melody direction and see which tone class belongs at the phrase’s peak, and which to avoid.
Choose a melody direction
Tip: tone-matching isn’t checked word by word, but by where the stress falls in the phrase. The phrase’s peak usually wants a higher-tone word.
Lyric structure templates
A four-minute pop song is really five sections telling one thing.