BACALSO, Carla Andrea B.

14 March 2022
GE 6 - K Our Shining Days
Directions: Discuss the similarities and differences on the scale, timbre, harmony, texture and
rhythmic between the 2 genres.
● SCALE
○ Similarities: oftentimes use 12-note chromatic scales
○ Differences:
■ Chinese Folk Music = highly pentatonic scale and oftentimes heptatonic
or 7-note diatonic
■ Western Classical Music = major and minor scales

● TIMBRE
○ Similarities: Obvious to subtle timbre
○ Differences:
■ Chinese Folk Music = brighter in tone color
■ Western Classical Music = fuller in tone color

● HARMONY
○ Similarities: Harmony is not always present in every musical piece. Some have;
some do not.
○ Differences:
■ Chinese Folk Music = not emphasized nor prioritized; oftentimes simple
harmonies are done to maintain Confucian norms of simplicity and clarity.
■ Western Classical Music = dissonant harmonies; consonant harmonies

● TEXTURE
○ Similarities: The distinct textures used in each genre bring out their innate musical
identities making it easier to be recognized as either Chinese Folk Music or
Western Classical Music.
○ Differences:
■ Chinese Folk Music = Monophony and Heterophony
■ Western Classical Music = Polyphony and Homophony

● RHYTHMIC
○ Similarities: Flexible rhythms
○ Differences:
■ Chinese Folk Music = loose rhythmic coordination with tempo from slow
to fast or flexible, and duple meter and subdivision.
■ Western Classical Music = complex/flexible rhythms making use of
syncopations, stresses, and constant rhythmic change.
Directions: Describe the instruments they played and how they are related to each other.

The instruments that the ensemble played were highly string or chordophones
accompanied by percussion and wind instruments. The folk musicians used Ruan (moon-shaped
lute), Yangqin (Chinese dulcimer), Pipa (pear-shaped four-stringed lute), Guzheng (Chinese
zither), Erhu (Chinese violin), Tang Gu (Chinese drum), Dizi (Chinese transverse flute), Suona
(Chinese trumpet), Sheng flute, Xiao (Chinese vertical end-blown flute), and Zhong (Chinese
chime bells). On the other hand, the classical musicians used violin, cello, harp, trumpet, flute,
clarinet, and grand piano in their orchestra. The Western and Eastern instruments relate to each
other in such a way that the (1) Chinese counterpart to the grand piano was the traditional
Chinese dulcimer, Yangqin which was mentioned in the movie that theoretically, the two share
the same roots, (2) the harp against the Guzheng, where both musicians pluck the strings from a
huge instrument, (3) the violin and cello against the Ruan, Pipa, and Erhu handy string
instruments played by plucking or by a bow, and (4) the trumpet, flute, and clarinet against the
Xiao and the Sheng flute. All instruments from both genres are capable of playing the same
melody, however, traditional chinese instruments produce a sharper sound than the western
classical musical instruments.

Directions: Give a short reflection on the movie instruments.

In the Chinese movie, Our Shining Days, it evidently reveals how music influences
people’s principles, preferences, and perceptions to their environment. When talking about the
world’s continental or regional music, Western Classical music is a genre that is widely
acknowledged and performed by many due to its popularity, reaching a wider audience around
the globe. On the other hand, Folk music is a genre that is innate to a country's cultural identity
and is oftentimes practiced by the minorities. Through this movie, I saw how the gap between
classical and folk musicians affected their social lives, treating each other as something less or
more than the other — which for me is unacceptable. The two genres possess their own unique
characters representing various aspects of one's life, equally deserving to be given a spotlight.
Folk musicians should not be discriminated against nor maltreated because they advocate for
their cultural identity, bringing their ancestral roots to the present generation to not remain kept
in the past, but instead, keeping it alive at the present. The traditional Chinese folk musicians
from the Affiliated High School of Zhongxia Music Academy did not just prove their talents and
fight for their worth through their ensemble, but more importantly, gave justice to the beauty and
richness of the Eastern Folk Music.