ABSTRACT
The focus of this case study is on addressing the challenges inherent in bringing authentic 1 folk singing performance into the mainstream higher education music curricula in China. To contextualise the pedagogical issues emerged with a recent state promotion of indigenous music culture in education sectors, this research adopted a multi-methods approach for data analyses. Research participants comprised experienced folk musicians, music tutors and undergraduate students in local higher education colleges in Gansu, Western China. The chosen music was Hua’er, a genre that is culturally significant and, therefore, has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The initial observation was intended to identify distinctive musical features of videoed folk song performances within the oral culture, as well as to note the social context where it originated. Quantitative data of 18 field-based folksong recordings from five contemporary folk practitioners were subjected to psychoacoustic analysis to search for common musical features in performance. At last, teaching and learning approaches of Hua’er music were observed in four higher-education-based lessons. Methodological implications are drawn from a proposed collaborative learning approach that may able to ensure positive educational outputs and enrichment of music culture in HE, which was criticised to be dominated by non-indigenous musics. By providing research-based insights into indigenous folk song and performance, suggestions for related successful pedagogical strategies are also discussed.
