What are the distinctive features of folk music?

Characteristics of China National Music

1. location

The so-called locality is also called locality or regionality. China is a vast country with an area close to the whole of Europe (China covers an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, and Europe covers an area of1016,000 square kilometers). Topographically, there are plateaus, mountains, hills, plains and basins; In terms of climate, there are four distinct temperate zones, evergreen subtropical zone and southernmost tropical zone; As far as economic modes of production are concerned, there are different types such as industry, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery. Therefore, geographical climate, natural production conditions, social changes, cultural traditions, dialect pronunciation and so on. Different regions have different characteristics under the same nationality and culture. People's lifestyles, customs, temperament and aesthetic tastes are also different. Moreover, the degree of such characteristics and differences is inversely proportional to the developed traffic conditions and the frequency of foreign exchanges: the more developed the traffic, the more foreign exchanges, and the more blurred the regional characteristics; On the contrary, the more blocked the traffic, the less contact with the outside world, and the more distinctive the regional characteristics. Therefore, in remote and inaccessible mountain villages, the outstanding regional characteristics of folk music are often enough for newcomers to accept and understand. And this is precisely the reason why music produced in an overly closed environment is difficult to spread abroad.

The regional characteristics of folk music are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

① Language features

There are many nationalities in China. According to the statistics of 1990, in addition to 56 identified ethnic groups, there are 749,000 people whose ethnic affiliation has not been determined. Among the 56 ethnic groups, except for the Hui people who use Chinese, the others all have their own languages, belonging to 5 language families, 1 1 language family. Due to historical migration and other reasons, it is more complicated for some ethnic groups to belong to the same language family but different language families. For example, the Yugur people living in the northwest of China belong to Altaic language family, but the Yugur language in the west belongs to Turkic language family, and the Yugur language in the east belongs to Mongolian language family. Pedigree classification divides all languages in the world into language families, language families and language family branches, and classifies languages according to the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of a certain mother tongue. Language family is the general name of cognate languages, which is subdivided into language families and branches according to the novelty of languages. The further down, the closer the kinship of its members. Every national language has its own phonetic system. From nationality to language branch, language family and language family, the higher up, the greater the difference of phonetic system. Pronunciation has four elements: pitch, timbre, sound length and sound intensity. They are also the four elements of music. Phonetic features affect the pitch, timbre, rhythm and strength of music through the lyrics in songs, and influence the musical vocabulary and cavity-moistening methods in instrumental music works with vocal music works as a bridge. In addition, there are differences in dialects within a larger nation. Dialect is a regional variation of a nation's internal language. Take Chinese as an example, there are seven dialect areas, namely, Mandarin, Wu dialect, Gan dialect, Hakka dialect, Xiang dialect, Min dialect and Cantonese. Under each dialect area, it can be further divided into dialect pieces, dialect pieces and dialect points. Generally speaking, the differences between dialects are smaller than those between national languages. However, the differences between some dialects of Chinese, such as Beijing dialect and Cantonese, are greater than those between some national languages, such as Russian and Ukrainian. As far as the restriction of pronunciation on music is concerned, the greater the phonetic difference, the greater the musical difference between different nationalities and regions. Therefore, folk music using national languages or dialects is much more distinctive than professional music using the same language.

There are many dialects in Chinese, and there is a saying that "ten miles have different sounds". This makes the same folk song change its tone because of different pronunciations in different regions. The following are two variations of the folk song Meng Jiangnv from Jiangsu and Hebei. On the basis of keeping the basic musical tone unchanged, some subtle changes in pitch movement lead to differences in personality and temperament between the two tunes. To sum up, Jiangsu's tunes are soft and euphemistic, while Hebei's tunes are vigorous and angular:

After the reunification of China, Qin Shihuang unified laws, weights and measures, currency and writing throughout the country to establish centralized rule and regional exchanges. But he only solved the problem of "homophones", but could not solve the problem of "homophones", so he left rich and colorful folk music to future generations.

② Personality characteristics

On the role of geographical model, Hegel once summarized three aspects, namely, the role of geographical environment on economy, social relations, political system and human character. Geographical environment determines people's lifestyle, but also edifies people's character and temperament. People who have had some travel experience often feel that people in different regions have different personality tendencies. Generally speaking, northerners in China are rough and straightforward, while southerners are delicate and gentle. Writer Shen Congwen once said: "Clouds are partial: the clouds in the north of China are heavy, so are people. The clouds in the south are lively, and people are equally lively. " Feng Zikai also said: "The surrounding scenery has a great influence on people's character. The Qishan Mountain in Guilin has given Guangxi people a unique personality, which is brave and tenacious, straightforward and straightforward. " The Yangtze River in Sichuan is vast, with fast-flowing water and steep mountains. People there are open-minded and tenacious, full of vitality, and folk music is also witty, brave and humorous; The northwest loess plateau is arid and desolate, and the yellow land sets off the blue sky and white clouds over the plateau. There are sandstorms everywhere, where people are simple and deep, and folk music is somewhat desolate in its long history. Jiangnan region has beautiful mountains and rivers and rich products. The people here are smart and witty, the folk music is delicate and euphemistic, and the tunes are beautiful and moving. Northeast China has a cold climate, fertile black soil, simple folk customs and crisp, lively and interesting folk music. ...

Geographical environment has created people, and people have created a culture in harmony with the environment with their own creative personality, and culture has further strengthened the environmental atmosphere. For a long time, people of different nationalities and regions in China have formed their own distinct cultural types under the influence of geographical environment, cultural atmosphere and historical traditions. This cultural type is especially manifested in local operas, which are more spacious, more inclusive and more expressive. For example, Pingju opera is good at expressing parents' worldly wisdom, Yue opera is good at expressing the joys and sorrows of talented people and beautiful women, Qin opera is good at expressing passionate and tragic grievances, and Beijing opera is good at expressing the achievements and struggles of emperors and generals, and so on.

③ Musical features

Due to the different cultural development and traditions, the musical elements of folk music in different regions are also different. Generally speaking, northern folk music mostly uses seven tones, while southern folk music mostly uses five tones; The northern folk music has a large melody sound, and the melody movement jumps into it, while the southern folk music has a small melody sound, and the melody movement advances in multiple stages; The melody line of northern folk music is angular, while that of southern folk music is tortuous. Northern folk music is full of narrative features, while southern folk music is full of lyrical features. Wait a minute.

Through Wuxi Folk Song Wuxi Opera and its northern variant Exploring Qingshui River, we can see the differences in characteristics between northern and southern folk music:

adjust to changing circumstances

The basic mode of transmission of China folk music is oral teaching. Old singers, artists or masters perform by singing when inheriting art, while new singers, young artists or apprentices rely on hearing and memory when learning art, and basically do not adopt the way of inheriting written music scores. On the one hand, China has no perfect notation for folk music; On the other hand, all outstanding singers and artists have the opportunity to develop their talents in the folk music handed down, and to process and adapt it. The achievement of national music is the crystallization of people's collective wisdom for thousands of years. The way of word-of-mouth inheritance causes the uncertainty and variability of folk music, which provides conditions for collective processing; And the continuous collective processing makes the folk music passed down from generation to generation more and more perfect. With this development, the improvisation of folk music in singing and playing has become the standard to test the accomplishment of singers and artists. In the duet activities in rural areas of various ethnic groups and regions, the winners are singers who are good at improvising the tunes and lyrics they have learned. In the ensemble of Jiangnan silk and bamboo, the score is only the basic framework, and each performance is different. It depends on the improvisation ability developed by musicians in long-term practice for on-site processing. In order to cooperate with the tacit understanding, the musicians summed up a set of cooperation methods, such as you are complicated and simple, you move and I am quiet, you break me, you are superior to me and so on. In the past, old opera fans or amateur opera actors often went to the theater not to "see" the opera, but to "listen". They can listen with relish in the audience and shake their heads with their eyes closed. They are familiar with the stories staged on the stage and can almost recite the words and songs of the aria. They came to listen to the impromptu changes of famous actors. When an actor does not sing in a certain place as usual, but performs a live performance, and this performance is more conducive to the performance of the character and the progress of the story, he will applaud.

Improvisation is a creative way of folk music, and the creator is a performer. Although improvisation is only a partial change in a relatively fixed tune, it has promoted the development of folk music through the accumulation of several generations. In this kind of creation, the audience is both an appreciator and a judge, and they don't have to wait for the actor's curtain call to give recognition, encouragement or respectful applause. The noise, cheers and boos on the field express their likes and dislikes in time, and also reflect the closer relationship between the audience and the actors (creators): in addition to the relationship that the audience is the food and clothing parents of the actors in commercial performances, there is a more harmonious, equal and direct relationship between the actors and the audience in folk music, which may be one of the reasons why folk music is more lively than professional music.

3. Propagation variability

The spread mode of folk music from mouth to mouth, as well as the characteristics of locality and improvisation, lead to its variability in the process of circulation. This change can be roughly divided into the following categories:

① Regional differences

When a folk song spreads in a different place, the melody will change because of the change of lyrics dialect. Tunes will also change emotionally because of the different personality characteristics of people everywhere. The above-mentioned Meng Jiangnv (1) in Jiangnan and Hebei actually includes these two changes. Please look at the evolution of the same poem "Embroidered Pocket" in Jinzhong and northern Shaanxi:

The lyrics and tunes of these two poems are basically the same, with only a few subtle differences, but they show emotional differences: the embroidered bags in Shanxi are bright, beautiful and full of joy; The embroidered purse in northern Shaanxi is simple and depressing, revealing a sense of desolation. In addition, the singer of Shanxi Xiudou used bright and sweet timbre, while the singer of Shaanxi Xiudou used hoarse and dull timbre, which highlighted the contrast between the two. When singing the second, fourth, sixth and eighth bars of northern Shaanxi embroidery pocket, the hoarse timbre is combined with the downward melody, which causes a crying effect.

② Emotional variation.

Some relatively simple and straightforward tunes are neutral in emotional expression (such as Example 6), and after being processed and adapted in the process of circulation, they have distinct and meticulous emotional tendencies (Example 7). The former song is simple and straightforward, and the latter song is hot and enthusiastic, vividly expressing a girl's excitement before going to the theatre:

③ Expression of functional broadening variation.

Folk music has a multi-purpose tradition. It is a common creative way of folk music to change the tune of a certain theme into the lyrics of other content and modify the tune to adapt to the new content. For example, some tunes in folk songs were originally used to describe the sad content in folklore (such as Meng Jiangnv (1)), and later used to express love (farewell lover) or heroes in romance novels (sigh of the Three Kingdoms); In the same tune, Broken Bridge can not only show the lingering of women's lovesickness and sadness ("through the heart"), but also show the joy of the bride when she gets on the sedan chair ("sedan chair comes to the door"), or sing the busy production and labor in four seasons ("Four Seasons Songs"); Wait a minute. Some tunes or accents in traditional Chinese opera and Quyi music are smooth at medium speed, lyrical at slow speed, lively, enthusiastic or intense at fast speed. Of course, in addition to changing the speed of these songs, the complexity of the melody has also increased or decreased, and the lines of the songs have to be changed accordingly.

(4) Cross and infiltration between genres.

Some folk tunes have absorbed the expressive techniques of Quyi music and enhanced the expressive functions of telling stories and unfolding plots. Some Quyi music has absorbed the expression techniques of China traditional opera music and expanded the ability to express dramatic conflicts and intense emotions; Some folk instrumental music, from the plot of the track to the structure of music, is strongly influenced by opera; Some instrumental music or vocal music, when playing and singing, absorb each other to moisten the cavity, which broadens the expression technique and scope. And so on.

In a word, the variation of folk music in the process of circulation is a means of its development and enrichment, which makes folk music full of vitality and vitality.

4. Human nature

Judging from the Book of Songs, folk music shows the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, which is different from the ruling class, such as praising labor, hating and laughing at the heartless rich, unfairly resisting the dark rule of the government, sympathizing with the unfortunate experiences of the poor, praising pure love, longing for a better life, and so on. Because the content of folk music is often out of step with the requirements of feudal rule, many emperors in history have ordered it to be banned. For example, during the period from May 5th to New Year's Day in the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Taizu banned singing and dancing, while in the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi, Tongzhi and Daoguang banned yangko and lotus falling. In the face of the emperor's ban, the people showed no weakness. A folk song in northern Shaanxi sang: "The big star in the sky controls the small star, and the platform on the ground controls the military gate. Only when the magistrate controls the magistrate can the magistrate control the singer. " (Folk Songs in Northern Shaanxi edited by He Qifang) Another Fujian citizen sang: "The new official has many things to do, regardless of money or food. If folk songs are banned, the literati will be absolutely. " The contempt for the government and literati, as well as the confidence and pride in the intelligence of the working people, are all great shocks.

Due to thousands of years of feudal rule in China, as well as the constant prohibition and transformation of the rulers, the rebellion and other positive factors in folk music are different in different regions. Generally speaking, this positive factor is greater in rural areas than in cities and towns, and greater in remote areas than in the mainland. There are more genres and varieties rarely performed in big cities than those often performed in big cities.

5. Multifunctional

The function of professional music is to entertain others and perform for the audience on the stage. Folk music is multifunctional. It can entertain itself and sing a song to vent strong feelings when it is extremely sad or happy; It may also be his entertainment, showing off his ability to control music in front of everyone and getting the appreciation and admiration of others; It can be used as a medium to convey the feelings between young men and women, and can also be used for weddings and funerals. It can be the organizer and commander of collective labor, and it can also be a means to impart knowledge of production and life; It can be used as a history book to record the changes of time among illiterate working people, or as a teaching material to publicize the brilliant achievements of national heroes; It can be a child's game, or it can be an encouragement and call from elders or leaders to the people; Wait a minute. The versatility of folk music makes it closely related to all aspects of people's lives, and it has become a folk encyclopedia.