‘The Differences Between Chinese and Western Music’ by Tian Yuxi, narrated by himself for you
(coin=100) Music, in a broad sense, I think should be regarded as the extension of culture, a crystallized form of the essence that culture nurtures. In this sense, traditional Chinese music is the rich aesthetic experience accumulated through the long historical activities of the Chinese nation. Due to differences in its fertile soil (complex culture), it is obviously distinct from Western classical music (mainly symphonies). We can validate this point through the following examples: A piece of "High Mountains and Flowing Water" has a melody that is ancient, elegant, beautiful, and deep; the rhythm is steady and stretched; the tone is lingering, gentle, and delicate; it embodies feminine beauty. A piece of "Symphony of Fate" has a bright and brisk rhythm, wide range, clear and strong melody, passionate emotion, and grandiose momentum; it embodies masculine beauty. Therefore, when we extend this to traditional Chinese music and Western classical music, we find that the differences above are not just differences in the style of two pieces of music, but also a reflection of the differences in Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds in terms of musical aesthetic views and artistic expression forms. Speaking of the differences between traditional Chinese music and Western classical music, we can look at it from the following two aspects: Technically, Western classical music has theory, standards, and a large amount of written and auditory documentation, making it easy to transmit; whereas traditional Chinese music does not have a complete set of composition theories and rules, making it more prone to being lost. Traditional Chinese music focuses on melody lines, while Western classical music emphasizes harmony. Traditional Chinese music emphasizes breath, whereas Western classical music emphasizes rhythm. The biggest technical difference between the two lies in timbre and performance methods. Artistically, traditional Chinese music mainly expresses the thoughts of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and emphasizes intuitive insight, so it is more subjective. Western classical music emphasizes aesthetics and functionality, so it is relatively objective. The expression characteristics of traditional Chinese music and Western classical music differ: Western classical music excels in profound seriousness, highlights the opposition between subject and object, often carries the color of tragedy or drama, embodying an artistic spirit of "majestic beauty"; traditional Chinese music excels in vastness and depth, emphasizes the integration of "emotion" and "scenery," unifying subject and object, embodying an artistic spirit of "harmonious beauty." Ultimately, the biggest difference in art lies in aesthetic orientation and values.Therefore, it is not surprising that Westerners love to play symphonies, where the more musicians and instruments on stage, the more grandiose it appears; while Chinese people can achieve the same artistic effect without this, as a single pipa can play the heroic sacrifice at Gaixia, a guzheng can perform the tide of the Yangtze in spring, and a single gǔxūn can express reflections on the rise and fall throughout history. In short, due to differences in social and cultural backgrounds, there are differences in musical creation methods and aesthetics: mutual learning and mutual promotion while maintaining original styles will be the inevitable path for the future development and prosperity of both! In terms of instruments played, we have the dizi, xiao, and suona, while the West has the clarinet and saxophone; in stringed instruments played with a bow, we have the erhu, danxian, and horsehead fiddle, while the West has the violin, cello, and guitar; but in plucked instruments, we have the guqin and guzheng, while the West has the piano. Comparing these instruments structurally, our instruments are much simpler than Western instruments, and the principles of sound production are also much simpler. Of course, this simplicity in structure and sound production does not arbitrarily mean that our instruments have limited expressive power in music, but at least in terms of musical intensity, relying on metal sound production is far stronger than relying solely on plant materials and animal skins. Moreover, Western instruments do not reject the sound production methods of Chinese instruments. Naturally, we can think of the bianzhong from Hubei, which is mostly made of bronze. However, the bianzhong is played by striking, with two points of impact, whereas the piano has ten points of striking. Simply in terms of efficiency and flexibility, the piano is far ahead.
