Inheritance and promotion of chinese traditional music culture in college piano education

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to study the issues of inheritance and promotion of Chinese traditional music culture in college piano education. The research methodology builds on an empirical approach through a survey using a questionnaire for data collection. The present study involved 174 students from six Chinese colleges. Accordingly, students were divided into two groups based on the training approach. The experimental group included 87 students who received education under the previously elaborated program aimed at promoting Chinese traditional music culture; and the control group consisted of 87 students who received piano training under the conventional program. The results showed that for only 8% of the respondents the use of traditional Chinese music is the basis of learning, for 61% this type of music is practically not used. 88% of teachers concluded that there is a need to use Chinese traditional music in education because it displays elements that convey the symbolism of the Chinese people. The teaching criteria were to inform students about the need to apply Chinese national music while playing the piano; to introduce folk compositions for practicing technical elements into instruction; to update the repertoire and build students’ interest. Training based on the aforementioned criteria demonstrated that traditional music has become more popular. In particular, many students in the experimental group began to use this type of music while creating videos and shows (29%), participating in competitions and concerts (25%), and arranging musical compositions (21%). In the control group, students used folk music only while listening to musical compositions in their free time (57%) and teaching private piano lessons (11%). The present study has scientific and practical value as it demonstrates the effectiveness of promoting national music in educational institutions.