The Status Of Chinese Traditional Orchestras At Middle Schools In Shanghai

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of the Chinese traditional orchestra of middle school in Shanghai, which include the status of the orchestra, the teachers' and the students' opinion about their orchestra, and variables related to personal background include gender, age, and area.The method of questionnaire survey was adopted. The population included Chinese traditional orchestra at middle school in Shanghai area. A non-random cluster sampling method was used. A total of 30 orchestras participated this survey. Based on existing literature, three questionnaires was developed for the school administration officers, the Chinese traditional orchestra teachers and the students. Data was analyzed via descriptive statistics, independent t-Test and one-way ANOVA.The researcher summarized three points of the results as follows:1. As far as the status:Most schools that hold the Chinese traditional orchestra were public school and art characteristic school, 80% Chinese traditional orchestras at middle schools were developed less than 10 years and funded by the government. Most of the orchestras consisted about 30 players, had special classroom, had more than two lessons every week, and firmly performed more than two times each semester.2. As far as the opinions of Chinese traditional orchestra teachers:The teachers thought the students at middle schools have great interested in take part in the Chinese traditional orchestra, and the students improved their music ability much better. Most teachers pointed out that the number of repertoire was limited, and it limited the development of the Chinese traditional orchestra in middle schools. The teachers indicated "music expression" was the most difficult.3. The background and comments of the students in the Chinese traditional orchestra.The students in urban began to learn the instruments earlier than the students in rural area. Most of the students could play more than two kinds of instruments. Most of them learned instrument from tutors. The students displayed they liked to participate the concert and the music competition.They were also more interested in Chinese traditional music arts, and their music abilities were improved much after joining the orchestra. The students in urban indicated learning in "rhythm", "tempo" and "dynamics" much easily than did the students in rural area. The girls displayed to love to perform and participate the music competition much more than boys did.