2 . Gong Linna, well-known Chinese musician and founder of Chinese New Art Music, put her music teaching methods to practice for the first time at the Tracing Roots practice concert and music festival of the Affiliated High School of Peking University on May 23.

The first song of the concert, Search High and Low, is an allusion (暗指) to the classical poem Li Sao(离骚), “The road ahead will be long. I shall search high and low.” “It’s arranged to be sung by all performers, indicating that we should all search high and low for our roots,” Gong says.

To explore the education and the popularization of Chinese music, in 2017, Gong established a research and development team, which includes ethnomusicologist, Du Yaxiong, and music historian, Zhao Zhongming, to introduce her music teaching methods and summarize the vocal skills of Chinese music.

Gong believed that the popularization of Chinese music should rely on primary and secondary schools rather than music academies. The children’s passion for music and their outstanding performance amazed Gong, “When singing, they are completely absorbed in the music. Music brings light and richness to one’s spiritual world. So, learning to sing is never about passing examinations, but about enjoying the music.”

Lu Yueming, instructor of the school’s art center, said, “The children worked really hard and kept in mind Gong’s instructions. Seeing their performance, I know that they truly fell in love with traditional Chinese music.”

Lu Yueming, instructor of the school’s art center, said, “The children worked really hard and kept in mind Gong’s instructions. Seeing their performance, I know that they truly fell in love with traditional Chinese music.”

“Seeing the children perform my pieces, I realized I should write more songs for them,” Lao Luo, Gong’s husband said proudly. “It’s a great encouragement for me to see how much they like the songs, and they really need content related to Chinese culture.” With an international vision, Gong will continue to write songs based on Chinese folk music or ancient poems.

Gong said children should learn about the beauty of Chinese music. Only when you know about your own sounds, can you have cultural confidence.

5 . A children’s choir (合唱团) from the snowy highlands of Tibet recently ________ their beautiful singing to the capital, Beijing.

The Qomolangma Children’s Choir was ______ in 2020. They recently paid a week-long trip to Beijing to _____________ their music skills and show their______ to national audiences.

When journalists met the choir on Saturday, the children were ________ the recording of a music program at CCTV in Beijing. Before ________ the program, they received professional _________ from teachers at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM). _________, they also visited scenic _________ in Beijing such as the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and so on. Tenzin Dunyu, a 10-year-old member of the choir, told the journalists that he has been playing the zhanian for five years. The zhanian, a beautiful __________, is widely used in songs and dances in Tibet. For him, coming to Beijing and _________ in Tiananmen Square was both a nervous and _________ experience, marking his first journey outside Lhasa. Another 10-year-old member, Tsering Lhamo, has been singing for a year. Her trip to Beijing _________ her horizons, and when it came to what______ her most, she said she __________ enjoyed the cheerful songs of the choir performed at CCTV.

Geng Muyao was the choir’s ________ from CCOM to help the children with training. She ________ that the choir was set up by the Tibetan government and __________ by CCOM. “Many members were __________ of vocal (声乐的) training due to poor condition, so this choir experience means a lot to them. ”she said.

Including children from all over Tibet, the choir primarily shows Tibetan folk culture. Though the members are __________, the choir has performed at important events, achieving amazing success in a short time.

Yingge Dance, a traditional folk art     1     (combine) dancing, Chinese martial arts, and Chinese opera, is popular in the Chaoshan area of Guangdong province in South China. Yingge,     2     is written with the characters for “hero” and “song”, means heroic song in Chinese and Yingge dancers, as     3     (they) name implies, are the avatars of heroes.     4     the dancers each hold is a pair of short sticks and then they strike the sticks with force to create strong beats —     5     artistic display of masculinity. In 2006, the Puning Yingge Dance     6     (list) among the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages in China.

    7    , as young people move out of the villages, so are local folk arts gradually disappearing all around China. In Puning, Yingge is still danced during holidays such as the Lunar New Year and its performers are generally amateurs — farmers who have put down their tools and put    8    costumes. Some of the parts are passed down in the family, from father to son, and so far some villages have started giving performers a basic salary.

    9     (dress) in colorful clothes and wearing heavy makeup, ordinary villagers have created a song of cultural confidence. The     10     (perform), a must-watch for the local people, graces the village square one more time.

7 . How similar are language and music?

Language is part of our daily lives, no matter where we live in the world.     1     Both language and music play a huge role in our culture and here are some of their similarities.

Both language and music have a writing system.

Both language and music have their own systems of notation. Language uses alphabets to represent sounds and create meaning.     2     By reading and writing in these systems, we can communicate and preserve ideas and compositions through time.

    3    

Listening to the language someone speaks can provide valuable clues about their geographical origin. In the same way, we know that styles of music are different around the world, giving us the opportunity to explore many different cultures through their music and providing us with music for every situation.

Both share emotion.

    4     While you may be able to perceive it through my facial expressions, you can judge it with certainty through my words. Similarly, music has the ability to convey emotions such as anger, sadness, or happiness through its sound. Music can show you exactly how the composer was or is feeling, and allows us to share that emotion. When you feel happy, you might want to sing and dance to a happy song to celebrate your happiness.     5     I think we have all used music to express or process our emotions, often combining it with language in the form of song lyrics (歌词).