The Pedagogy of Chinese Traditional Music at the China Conservatory of Music

Today there are fifty-six ethnic groups living in China, which are collectedly known as “The Chinese Nation” (Zhonghua Minzu), and these hold abundant traditional musical resources with long histories. The China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, is a musical institution specializing in Chinese traditional music education. Among the faculty of our conservatory are several well-known experts who focus on the development of basic musical knowledge and practice of Chinese traditional music, including its theory and analysis, its morphology, and its history, as well as special issues of research of Chinese traditional music. While these subjects interact, they also form the basis of an educational model. Owing to the efforts of many over several generations, we have built a distinctive educational system of Chinese traditional music. This curriculum in traditional music now stands out more clearly as a counterpoint to the recently developed curriculum in Western music history.