Subject: Re: sometimes behave so strangely From: Cornelia Fales <cfales@xxxxxxxx> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:01:00 -0500 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>> I wondered about this, and I asked a Chinese friend how they reconcile > tones and melodies. She said they basically ignore the tones in song > lyrics. However, I would think that might led to some (perhaps > amusing) confusions. I don't know Chinese, would it be possible to > have some lyrics which when put in a particular melody would have a > drastically different meaning? > Though ethnomusicologists have long known that in nearly every culture that speaks a tonal language there exists at least one major vocal genre characterized by a correlation between melodic and the tonal contour of the sung text. In many cultures, all vocal genres show the same correlation. In some African cultures, even nonvocal genres occasionally have melodies that reflect a text (usually a well-known proverb or other formulaic text) that is absent - this is how talking drums work.