21.09 Pitch Accent and Lyric Drills
This note captures how I bridge formal pitch-accent study with lyric-based shadowing. The aim is simple: keep speech sounding natural when conversations in 21.02 Post-Class Note or presentations from 21.01 Learning Japanese demand it.
Why pitch accent still matters
- Tokyo-style Japanese relies on high/low pitch patterns rather than stressed syllables. A single drop or rise can separate words such as 雨 (あめ, rain – LH) and 飴 (あめ, candy – HL).
- Native listeners notice when prosody slips even if grammar is correct. Recording myself and comparing against trusted references exposes flat intonation before it calcifies.
- Resources I lean on:
- NHK 日本語発音アクセント新辞典 — official pitch patterns and sample audio.
- OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary) — searchable accent graphs for verbs, nouns, and conjugations.
Lyric drill routine
- Pick the track. Pull clean lyrics from the reference note (e.g. 53.01 Nobishiro - Creepy Nuts) or official booklets so I am not shadowing fan-made mistranscriptions.
- Mark the pitch. Annotate downstep marks above the lyrics using NHK/OJAD patterns or tutor input. I keep both kana and romaji so my eyes do not drift to English.
- Shadow in three passes.
- Slow reading with exaggerated highs and lows.
- Tempo-matched delivery alongside the original track.
- Solo recording without backing audio to check muscle memory.
- Log the take. Store timestamps, observations, and tutor feedback in minor-notes so I know which sections to revisit.
- Extract reusable phrases. Promote hooks or bridges into Anki cards or presentation scripts inside 21.01 Learning Japanese when the rhythm fits a work scenario.
Tracking improvement
- Monthly snapshot: Record one benchmark song or news clip each month and tag the file with date + focus (e.g.,
2025-09-news-downdrift.m4a). Comparing successive recordings highlights whether the correction stuck. - Tutor checkpoints: Ask for accent-specific feedback every few lessons. Annotate corrections directly in the lyric note and leave a short summary in 21.02 Post-Class Note.
- Setlists: Rotate between rap, ballads, and spoken segments so I practise varied pacing. When a drill feels “done,” move it to an archive list and introduce a fresh challenge.
Quick reference table
| Drill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Shadowing loops | Three-pass recordings with mic setup, tempo notes, and corrections. Use bullet lists inside 21.02 Post-Class Note rather than cluttering this page. |
| Lyric cadence | Rotation schedule for songs and spoken monologues. Keep no more than three active at once to avoid splitting focus. |
| Pitch tracing | Screenshots from OJAD or Praat with brief takeaways (e.g., “downstep on サ turns too early”). |
| Quarterly reset | At the start of January, April, July, and October, capture a self-evaluation paragraph covering wins, misses, and the next drill to prioritise. |
When to branch out
- Use lyric drills to repair accent drift spotted after business presentations or interviews.
- Swap to scripted dialogues when preparing for keigo-heavy meetings; lyric cadence alone cannot teach sentence-final politeness.
- If a song sits outside your comfortable range, drop the key or pick a spoken-word piece—accuracy beats bravado.
Additional references
- 国立国語研究所 日本語発音アクセント入門 — concise guide on accent classes and downstep rules.
- Pronunciation Clinic (NHK World) — bilingual explanations and short drills for common mistakes.