Folk songs have three characteristics:
First, they have the most direct and closest connection with the people’s social life
The authors of folk songs are the people. They created it in order to express their lives, express their feelings, and express their will and wishes during their long-term labor and life practice. In the past, working people were deprived of the right to master culture and were illiterate, let alone music. However, they composed and sang their own songs by word of mouth to meet the needs of life. For example, "The Hardship of Long-Term Workers" and "The Difficulty of Recruiting Workers" express the tragic feelings of long-term workers who suffered from fraud and oppression; "Embroidered Purse" expresses the girl's yearning for her lover and her longing for a happy life; "Haozi", etc., express the heroic spirit of workers in their struggle against nature; "Flower Toad", "Dongsi Niang", etc., sing out the innocent character of children during their games. But "there are fake poets, but there are no fake folk songs" (Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong). The thoughts and feelings of the people expressed in folk songs are the most real and profound.
Second, folk songs are gradually formed and developed through extensive mass improvisation and oral singing. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of countless people
The creation process, singing process and spreading process of folk songs are integrated into one. Improvisation occurs in the process of singing, and singing and spreading occur in the process of compilation. Of course, the creation and development process of traditional folk songs is slow and spontaneous.
Third. The music form is simple, simple, approachable, lively and flexible.
The musical form of folk songs is short and concise. Most of them use segments as the basic structural unit. The structural form of a single segment repeated to form a segmented song occupies a large proportion in folk songs. The musical materials and expressions of folk songs The techniques are very economical and refined. The tones of folk songs mostly have a strong local flavor and local color. They are closely integrated with dialect pronunciation. The musical performance is very life-like, the form is flexible and vivid, and there is no fixed rhythm. Good at change. Have strong adaptability to various contents, lyrics, singing occasions and conditions.
The formation of Chinese folk songs
my country's folk songs have a long historical tradition and rich artistic heritage. They were produced in the collective labor of the people as far back as primitive society. Because there are no written texts and musical scores, there is no complete information available on the folk songs of that time. "Guofeng" in "The Book of Songs" contains 160 folk songs from northern my country. Although they are only written records, they are enough to show that from the 11th century BC to the 6th century BC, Chinese folk songs had a fairly complete and mature style. art form. For thousands of years, the Kuomintang Revolution has been closely accompanying the people, expressing their thoughts and will, recording their history, and nurturing writers and artists of all generations. "Yuefu Folk Songs" of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. The "ququci" of the Tang and Song Dynasty, the "sanqu" and "xiaoling" of the Yuan Dynasty, the "ballads" and "xiaoqu" of the Ming and Qing Dynasties... are just a few pearls that have survived in the vast ocean of folk songs. They radiate eternal brilliance in the history of Chinese national culture. In the past half century or so, Chinese society has undergone fundamental changes, and the Kuomintang Revolution has also embarked on a new course. During this period, a large number of new folk songs were produced, and they made great progress in all aspects.
Under the influence of widely varying natural conditions, social conditions, lifestyles, and labor methods, folk songs have developed richness and diversity in subject matter, style, color, expression means, artistic experience, and tonal materials. It has many ways of classification.
From the perspective of subject matter and content, it can be roughly divided into: those that reflect social contradictions and class struggle; those that reflect production and labor; those that reflect love and marriage; those that reflect daily life; those that are funny and enlightening; those that sing legends Stories, news about people, scenery and historical sites, etc.
From the perspective of subject matter and situation, it can be roughly divided into: chants, folk songs, minor tunes, dance songs, custom ritual songs, etc. Among the new folk songs produced in the past half century, two new theme elements, marches and carols, have emerged. From the perspective of style and color, there are fifty-six ethnic groups in our country, and the folk songs of each ethnic group enrich the treasure house of music culture of the motherland with their own unique style and characteristics.
For some ethnic groups with large numbers of people and wide living areas, such as Han, Tibetan, Mongolian, Kazakh, Uyghur, Zhuang, etc., they can also be subdivided according to different local characteristics.
As we all know, opera, folk art, national instrumental music and other types of ethnic folk music are developed on the basis of folk songs, and professional music creation is also inseparable from the nourishment of folk songs. And they enrich the content of folk songs with their respective artistic characteristics and professional skills, refine the form of folk songs, and exert a positive influence on the development of folk songs.
Folk songs from all ethnic groups, regions and periods in our country are like gorgeous white flowers blooming all over the field, so beautiful. What is introduced here is just a drop in the ocean of folk songs.