Which Chinese songs can a beginner actually learn? We graded 50 hits (video)
We graded 50 popular Chinese songs by HSK words, speed and repetition. Only five fit before HSK 5. Find the hits within your reach.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:21The short answer
- 0:37How we graded 50 hits
- 1:39Only five fit before HSK 5
- 2:23Teresa Teng first
- 3:14Repetition beats speed
- 4:25What China plays now
- 4:59Songs at your level
- 5:32A song in a week
- 5:58What to do next
Transcript
Start
Search for easy Chinese songs, and the lists you find recommend 116 different songs. So we graded 50 popular hits instead. Only five of them fit before HSK 5. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: which Chinese songs can a beginner actually learn? We graded 50 hits.
The short answer
The short answer: very few. Two slow Teresa Teng ballads are the exception. You could learn The Moon Represents My Heart, or Sweet as Honey, with just the HSK 1 words. Start there, or with songs written for learners.
How we graded 50 hits
We read 15 lists of Chinese songs for learners. They agree on surprisingly little. Of their 116 songs, 90 appear on just one list. The exception is The Moon Represents My Heart: nine lists name it. Few lists say why a song is easy. So we counted. Half of our 50 songs are the ones learners are told to sing: songs that at least two lists recommend. The other half is what China plays now, from Apple Music's most-played chart for China on 8 October. We read each song's time-synced lyrics through LRCLIB, a free lyrics library, and kept only counts. Then we measured three things. New words: the ones that aren't on the HSK lists up to your level. Speed: Chinese syllables a second. And repetition: lines that repeat an earlier line. A song is within reach when it has 15 new words or fewer at your level. That's about two words a day for a week.
Only five fit before HSK 5
Here's how steep the climb is. At HSK 1, two songs are within reach. Two at HSK 2. Three at HSK 3. Five at HSK 4. Then 10 at HSK 5, 22 at HSK 6, and 43 at the top band, HSK 7 to 9. Seven songs stay out of reach even there. Why so steep? Songs love literary words. 梦, dream, is an HSK 4 word. 眼泪, tears, wait until HSK 5. And pop songs are full of both. So below HSK 5, your real choice is the top five songs, or songs written for learners.
Teresa Teng first
The two easiest songs we measured are both Teresa Teng classics: The Moon Represents My Heart, and 甜蜜蜜, Sweet as Honey. Each uses about 30 different words, the fewest of all our songs. They're also the two slowest, at about one syllable a second. And six lines in ten repeat an earlier line. Here's who comes next. Fairy Tale, by Michael Wong, is within reach at HSK 3. Friends, by Wakin Chau, and Nothing to My Name, by Cui Jian, at HSK 4. Then five more at HSK 5, from Wang Leehom, Karen Mok, Eason Chan and G.E.M. The lists got this one right. If you know the HSK 1 words, The Moon Represents My Heart is a week's work. Learn 15 words, and you know every word in the song.
Repetition beats speed
The strongest pattern in our data is repetition. Songs that repeat more of their lines ask for fewer new words. A chorus you hear four times, you learn once. Take the five most repetitive songs, like Friends and Simple Love. At HSK 3, they leave about 16 new words. The five that repeat least leave about 59. And that holds across all 50 songs. So look for a chorus that keeps coming back. It's the cheapest vocabulary you'll ever learn. Speed matters less than you'd think. Apart from one rap, every song we measured runs under three syllables a second. Conversation is faster. A study of recorded phone calls found Mandarin speakers manage about four syllables a second, with the pauses taken out. And speed and vocabulary don't move together. G.E.M.'s The Only One is the third-slowest song here, yet it leaves dozens of new words at HSK 3. The fastest song is a rap: Mr. Almost, by MC HotDog, at almost five syllables a second. Words decide whether you can ever sing a song, so fix the words first.
What China plays now
What China plays now is harder. At HSK 3, a typical song from the lists leaves 39 words you haven't learned. A typical chart song leaves 46, and repeats less. All five songs within reach before HSK 5 come from the lists. The lists miss, too. Little Apple is on five of them, and LingoAce calls it one of the easiest Chinese songs to sing. By our count, it's the third-fastest song we measured, and it leaves 54 new words at HSK 3. Catchy isn't the same as easy.
Songs at your level
On the guide's page, a finder puts all 50 songs in order for your level, fewest new words first. Pick your level and how fast you can follow. Each card shows the words to learn first, and links to an official recording. At HSK 1 or 2, real pop is a big step. SayMei's 175 songs are written for the HSK 1 course, and they teach the everyday words these hits are built on. Look Over Here, Girl sings left and right four times each. SayMei's Left Turn For Dinner teaches both.
A song in a week
Here's how to learn a song in a week. One: pick a song within reach. Two: learn its new words first. Three: listen without reading, then with the lyrics in characters and pinyin. Four: say each line in your speaking voice, because the melody bends the tones. Five: sing along a few times a day. Six: sing it from memory by the end of the week.
What to do next
What to do next? Start with Teresa Teng: both ballads fit from HSK 1. Check your level in the finder. Choose songs that repeat. Warm up with learner songs. And learn tones from speech, then sing. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. The full guide, with the song finder and every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.