M-Pop
Cantopop and Mandopop sound very much like “lounge music” to Western audiences. Strings typically carry the melody when the vocalist is silent. The bass plods along with a constant rhythm, and the percussion is subdued and steady. One distinctive feature to help identify the ensemble as being Chinese influenced is the frequent use of portamento in the string melody. Sliding between pitches is a common performance technique found on the erhu, a traditional fiddle found in Chinese folk music, particularly around Shanghai. Certainly, this technique is used in other parts of the world, but its prevalence in the popular music from Taiwan and China is a carryover from the folk style of erhu performance. Cantopop and Mandopop stars invariably have silky, smooth voices well suited for pop ballads, which are standard in the repertoire. Though Western influences have brought harder-edged sounds into the rock and hip-hop genres, the distinctive feature of C-Pop and M-Pop is the soft, nostalgic character exemplified by performers like Teresa Teng.