The vocal music in Hakka tea-picking songs comes in many different varieties; by Cheng Jung-hsing's estimate, there are several hundred types.
客家山歌的曲調種類繁多，內容豐富，素有「九腔十八調」之稱。所謂的腔，指的是客家語言特有的腔，調則是小調，根據鄭榮興的估算，客家小調有幾百首之多。