Yao Siyuan Music Education Research, Theory And Practice

Yao Siyuan, the contemporary distinguished musical educator, musical theorist, and composer, possesses respectable personality and enjoys fairly high academic authority in the field of China's musical education. All his 60 years' musical experience is closely related to musical education, on which Mr. Yao has conducted wide range of research and exploration and made distinct contributions. Therefore, the thorough study of his ideas concerning musical education is of both theoretical and realistic significance for the invigorating socialist musical culture and building of musical education system with Chinese characteristics.The core of Yao's ideas concerning musical education is that "Musical education shall center on aesthetic education". Such ideas are put forward to counter against the loss of the essence and independent value of aesthetic education, which loss is the result of centering on politics, targeting at supplementing moralities and promoting wisdom in China's musical education at the initial stage of reform and opening up. He has consistently for the past decades appealed to various departments to list aesthetic education among the national law system so as to create a favorable political and cultural environment for aesthetic education. As time goes by, such appeals are increasingly sonorous and receiving frequent responses.Yao's musical education practice covers middle school, teachers' in-service training institute, musical departments of Beijing Normal Institute and Capital Normal University. All through such practice he always considers issues from the perspective of enhancing China's national aesthetic judgment qualities. He has formed a series of concepts concerning the teaching mode, course arrangement, teaching ideas for musical education in senior teachers' colleges, such as equal attention to teaching skills and academic education; integrating teaching, artistic practice and scientific research in musical education; strengthening basic courses, expanding selective courses and reducing required courses. All these ideas are based on the frontline teaching practice for many decades, which are of high reference values to push forward the reform of musical education in senior teachers' colleges. He not only devotes his heart and soul to improving the public's musical and cultural qualities but also calls on all the musicians to support such work. He has expanded his attention to the widest range, which are...