Understanding Of The Relationship Between Performing Skills And Musical Expression In Teaching And Performing Of Erhu

In learning and performing Erhu on stage,understanding the relationship between performing skills and musical expression has and always will be crucial.It concerns teaching,performing,and artistic as well as cultural cultivation.The study in this paper is based on the thoughts that derived from the seven years of learning from Ms.Song and the understanding comes from learning and performing with Ms.Song on stage.The paper consists of four chapters.Chapter one focuses on my reflection towards performing skills and musical expression during three phases of learning.Chapter two discusses how to manage the relationship between performing skills and musical expression regarding different Erhu compositions: traditional works,works with style,modern composition works and cross-border musical works.Chapter three illustrates how to deal with the relationship between performing skills and musical expression in preparing and delivering bachelor graduation recital,master mid-term and graduation recitals.Chapter four talks about the appreciation approaches and standards of tasting and performing music pieces and how to transform when performing Erhu to gain inspiration and combine art and life to enrich the performing the instrument,in the aspects of multi-appreciation and enriching the expressiveness of music,which is also a review of the thoughts given by Ms.Song's teaching practice and my own exploration.As far as Ms.Song concerns,“skills(performing skills)” and “sound(musical expression)” or “skills(performing skills)” and “emotions(emotion expression)” can be united rather than contrasting.They both serve the ultimate goal of expressing emotions.On some level,when they unite,skill is music and music is skill.Ms.Song's understanding about performing skills is comprehensive and dialectical.In her eyes,skill is above the controlling of the instrument,it is also the understanding and expressing the inner beauty of music and achieving the harmony between music and performer.Ms.Song's ultimate goal is to enable her students to see the world in a higher place and broader view through music by training their performing skills and musical expression in a multidimensional approach with multiple angels;to enable students to communicate with the history,the presence,the future,themselves,others and even cross national borders and across the universe,though music.Ms.Song's state and pursuit of art also align with Chinese classical aesthetics.The integration of playing and performing,as well as skills and emotion are states of life in their origins.The concept “unawareness of heart and hands” she came up with,is in high connection with Chinese classical aesthetics,which is also the art state,Unawareness of the Surroundings,Integration of Inside and Outside,that Wang Guowei mentioned in Jen-Chien TZ'u-hua.