Theory and practice of applying the principle of continuity of pre-university and university levels of violin teaching in China

Fan Jinwen Postgraduate student, Department of Performing Arts, Moscow State Pedagogical University 119991, Russia, Moscow, M. Pirogovskaya str., 1 teoretina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The violin is one of the most popular European musical instruments in China, so many people want to master this instrument. There are so many applicants that there are not enough educational institutions that operate only in large cities. In this regard, private music education is widespread in China.

In total, there are three ways that a novice musician can go.

The first is vocational training, which is based on the same principle in Chinese music schools as in Russia. At the age of 8-9, young violinists enter the music school of the first stage and study for six years in the specialty and general subjects, including non-musical ones. The difference between Chinese and Russian schools is that, secondly, there is a single program for learning. In China, this process depends on the teacher, who will determine the pace suitable for the student and prepare the repertoire.

Increased attention is paid to the elaboration of techniques, and for this Chinese teachers use a variety of sketches and plays. Scales and polyphonic compositions are rarely included at the very beginning of training and are not mandatory.

Future violinists, in addition to their specialty classes, go to solfeggio and music theory. Chinese and English languages, mathematics, etc. are often found among the general education subjects in Chinese music schools.

After graduating from the first-level school, the best students go to the second-level school, where they also study for six years, and the last three years include disciplines that are taught in European colleges. This is harmony, the history of world music and the history of Chinese music. Some schools may additionally offer orchestra and ensemble classes. Students come to study once/twice a week, audition annually and take exams. Usually, the audition is arranged in the second month after the summer holidays in order to activate the students. The great role of technology remains, so students should perform exercises that would demonstrate their preparation. During the academic year, two exams are held, summer and winter, as well as a technical test. Teachers select works by Chinese composers for the winter exam program, and foreign ones for the summer exam.

Upon completion of the music school of the second stage, students transfer to the university. It can be a conservatory or a special faculty at a university or a pedagogical university.

Such a system in Russia is called a three-stage one: school-college/college-university, for many years it has proven itself to be effective, contributing to the integrity of music education and the most acceptable for the implementation of the continuity principle.

The second way that novice violinists can go is to start studying at a secondary school. As we have already mentioned, professional educational institutions operate only in large cities, and not everyone has the opportunity to enroll there. Therefore, after taking violin lessons at an ordinary school, young violinists transfer to a secondary professional art school. It differs from the musical one in that it does not work at the conservatory, and the curriculum includes not only purely musical subjects, but also dance, painting, and theatrical art. Education in such a school can last from four to six years. Students who have successfully graduated from the institution can enroll in the conservatory.

The disadvantage of this format is that the educational process does not have a unified system and standardization. The quality of education depends entirely on the teacher, his pedagogical skills and professional knowledge, and the ability to organize productive classes. Now there are many qualified teachers in art schools, who, like in professional schools, learn sketches, plays, play scales with young violinists, and also work with compositions of large forms. However, students often have only a few plays in their repertoire.

Another significant disadvantage is that students master only the specialty, but not other subjects important for the development of a musician, such as solfeggio or music theory. This creates additional difficulty when continuing education.

The third stage is admission to a vocational school, which corresponds to the College of Arts according to the program. The training lasts for four years. Such schools operate in almost any major city in the Middle Kingdom and are therefore more accessible. There are classes in solfeggio, harmony, music theory, as well as ensemble and orchestra. Students attend school twice a week, and during the year they take two exams — winter and summer, the requirements for which are more lenient than in schools operating at conservatories. The winter program includes "technical" compositions (plays, etudes, works by Bach), and the summer program includes large forms, more often a sonata or part of a concert.

Upon completion of their studies, students can transfer to a conservatory or pedagogical university, or immediately go to work in an orchestra. However, statistics show that half of the violinists who have followed this path of musical education choose another specialty, far from music.

The third way that aspiring violinists can go is to study on a private basis. This option is the least optimal of all three presented, since students practically do not receive knowledge and skills, because they study only in their free time from regular school. The only skill that a child acquires is the mastery of the violin. It often turns out that admission to the conservatory after private lessons is impossible. Most of the stream can only afford to study at the music faculty at the university, and later work as a violin teacher for beginners themselves.

As you can see, learning to play the violin in China is variable, and students often receive their initial knowledge and skills privately. It is worth noting a noticeable difference between the systems of Russia and China, in which there is a strict differentiation regarding the training of performers and teachers. You can become a performer, in many ways, only through the "professional path".

Currently, there are ten conservatories in China, located in the largest cities of the country. Two of them are located in the capital of China. It provides professional training for violinists who not only own their instrument, but are also competent in other important matters. First, students study for four years in the bachelor's degree, and then for three years in the master's degree. Postgraduate studies are available only at some pedagogical universities, but not at the conservatory.

In the bachelor's degree, violinists, in addition to their specialty, study quartet, ensemble with piano, music theory, solfeggio, harmony, analysis of musical works, listening to musical masterpieces, history of Chinese and foreign music, folk music, aesthetics, methods of teaching violin performance, pedagogy, Chinese and English, computer technology. Thus, many of the subjects taught coincide with the curriculum used in conservatories in Russia. However, Chinese conservatories do not offer classes in philosophy, history, economics and physical education. The most noticeable difference is the lack of piano discipline.

It is also worth noting that violinists are required to write a term paper on performance problems during the year, and defend it at the end of the academic period.

Let's consider what requirements are currently imposed on students at the Shanghai Conservatory ^[1].

An exam is held twice a year at the conservatory. In the first year, the winter program includes a concert, and in the summer — a performance of a scale or sketch. In the following courses, in winter, students perform a sonata or some kind of virtuoso work. A teacher can include a Bach composition in the exam program. In the summer, they rent out part of the concert. The performance is evaluated on a 100-point scale, where a value less than 60 means an unsuccessful exam.

The Master's degree program lasts for three years. Students study the specialty, aesthetics, the history of European and Chinese music, the methodology of teaching the violin, the history of musical instruments of the world, etc. To pass the exam, students give a solo concert.

Each of the ten conservatories operating in the country assumes a high quality of education. The differences between them can only be in the teaching staff, the presence of connections and the activation of the inner musical life. For example, the oldest conservatories operating in Beijing and Shanghai often host concerts and master classes with world-class professionals. For example, classes and concerts were held in Shanghai by I. Perlman, I. Menuhin, and in recent years the educational institution has been visited by such violin masters as K. Vengzhin, A. Steinhardt, Nam Yun Kim, etc. It can be concluded that students of conservatories in Shanghai and Beijing are brought up in an environment that focuses on world performing standards, in which The principle of continuity in learning is manifested.

Upon completion of their studies, violinists can start working in an orchestra or become teachers at universities or lower-level educational institutions. Statistics show that the vast majority of students continue to work in their specialty, which demonstrates the prestige of higher violin education in China at the conservatory level. It is precisely these educational institutions that other universities in the country focus on.

The Beijing or Central Conservatory was opened in 1949, and Ma Sytsong became its first rector. Before that, the state Conservatory had been working in the building for nine years. After the war, the educational institution was moved to Nanjing, and then to Tianjin. The Conservatory also absorbed part of other art institutions in China and became known as the Central One. In 1958, it was moved to Beijing, and two years later it gained the status of one of the main higher educational institutions in the country. In 1999, the conservatory was included in the state "Project 211".

The unstable situation after the formation of the PRC forced the state to turn to the experience of the Soviet music school and adopt its educational system in 1953. Many Russian teachers helped their Chinese colleagues to implement the principles of Soviet musical education, including violinists V. D. Trachtenberg (a student of L. Auer), S.M. Mikityansky, P.N. Makarenko, L.B. Kogan, R.N. Sobolevsky, Yu.I. Yankelevich, D.F. Oistrakh, and others. They contributed to the formation of an inextricable link between the Russian and Chinese violin schools, supporting the principle of continuity in the training of future violinists.

Until the early 1990s, the Soviet violin school was predominant in the Chinese education system, and many talented Chinese violinists were educated on the basis of its methods and principles ^{[2, p. 33]}.

At the moment, according to information from the official website, the conservatories have 96 violinists and 10 violin teachers. Previously, the professor of this instrument was Lin Yaoji. Currently, the teaching staff includes Wang Zhenshan, Lin Zhaoyang, Chai Liang, Xue Wei and others ^{[4, p. 74]}. The Central Conservatory is the most prestigious music institution in China, and after completing Lin Yaoji's class, such famous violin masters as Hu Kun, Xue Wei, Chai Liang, Li Chuanyun and others came out of its walls. Chen Lixin and Lu Siqing studied in Wang Zhenshan's class ^[3].

Every year, famous musicians from abroad visit the Central Conservatory in Beijing to perform for the Chinese public, organize master classes or stay at work. For example, I. Menukhin, I. Stern, I. Perlman, A.-S. Mutter, M. Vengerov and others were invited to the country. A large number of Chinese musicians regularly travel abroad. Teachers gain new experience from foreign colleagues, and students acquire new knowledge and get acquainted with an unusual culture for them during internships. This is the main idea of the principle of continuity in violin education.

Since 2003, the Conservatory has had its own Music Publishing House, which has already published over 600 books and collections. These include a large number of collections of violin works, in particular, the most outstanding works by Ma Sytsun, O. Shevchik and others. On a regular basis, the publishing house publishes research conducted in the field of violin art. This includes, for example, the works of Yang Baozhi ^[5], Chen Jie and He Rong ^[6], Wu Hui ^[7], etc.

The other largest higher music educational institution in the country is the Shanghai Conservatory. Its origin is closely linked to the development of culture and education in China.

At the end of the nineteenth century, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the country faced serious transformations related to modernization. During this period, progressive thinkers sought to implement Western standards in order to update traditional educational structures.

In the 1920s, when Shanghai was the cultural capital of China, the idea of creating a music academy in this city was born. Then, in 1927, the institution received its official name — the National Conservatory of Music. Its founder and first president was the famous Chinese statesman and teacher Cai Yuanpei, who had a broad outlook and a deep understanding of musical culture.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the staff of the institution, it continued its development. The Conservatory attracted outstanding teachers and talented students, becoming a center of attraction for young musicians who sought to receive a high-quality musical education.

The institution was renamed many times until it was named the Shanghai Conservatory in 1956. In the following decades, it continued to actively develop and expand its training programs, offering students a variety of specialties and opportunities for professional growth. A large number of masters of their craft worked here, including the famous violinist Zheng Shisheng. Many excellent musicians came out of the walls of the educational institution, for example, famous violinists Yu Lin, Huang Mengla, Wang Zhilin and others.

Today, the Shanghai Conservatory is a multidisciplinary educational institution providing education in a wide range of musical disciplines, and produces talented and internationally recognized musicians who make a significant contribution to world musical culture. The teaching staff of the conservatory includes Yu Lin and Huang Meng.

Thanks to active international cooperation, the Shanghai Conservatory has become a real bridge between cultures and countries. Every year, many students from all over the world come to the educational institution to enrich their musical knowledge and skills under the guidance of experienced teachers. Due to its prestige, the Shanghai Conservatory often invites outstanding musicians from different countries such as Russia, Japan, the USA, Germany, Spain and others to tours and master classes. This ensures the exchange of experiences between different cultures, supports the principle of continuity, inspires students and contributes to the creation of unique musical projects. For example, for 20 years, starting in 1990, the educational institution was visited by such famous musicians as I. Stern, I. Perlman, P. Zuckerman.

In 1956, a publishing house was established within the walls of the conservatory, which published more than 50 collections of violin works. Of the latest editions, Zhao Yangqing's collection "108 Compositions for Violin", published in 2015, can be noted. The publishing house has also published many interesting studies from authors such as Tang Shuzhen ^[8], Chen Lingqun ^[9], Fan Lei ^[10], Zhou Mingyong ^[11], Lu Hong ^[12] and others.

As mentioned earlier, musical and pedagogical activity flourished not only in conservatories, but also existed within the framework of pedagogical universities. And if the primary task of the conservatoire was to cultivate new performers, then qualified teachers mostly came out of universities. All this led to significant differences in the links of the education system, which concerned, among other things, the requirements for students.

The curricula at universities differ markedly from those of the conservatives. There are much fewer compulsory subjects in them — specialty, solfeggio, harmony, music theory, analysis of musical works, history of Chinese and foreign music, listening to the best musical samples. But students can choose one or two subjects as an elective. It can be an orchestra, choir, quartet, ensemble, computer technology, conducting, instrumentation, piano, concertmaster class. The last four subjects are not studied by violinists in conservatories.

Similar universities operate in every province of the People's Republic of China and exist in almost any major city. The most prestigious universities are those located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chongqing, Harbin and other cities. It is worth noting that the curriculum may differ for each university.

It is much easier to enroll in a pedagogical university than in a conservatory. For example, in Harbin University, summer and winter exams are taken, just like in a conservatory, but there are no strict requirements for the program here. Students can choose any piece corresponding to their performing skills, together with the teacher.

Upon completion of their studies, some graduates may become orchestra members, but most of them enter the teaching field. Since there are much more pedagogical universities in China than conservatories, most of the violin teachers received their education there.

In parallel with the formation of the performing arts, the violin playing technique has received multilateral development and scientific justification. The development of Russian and European teaching systems has become the basis of the Chinese methodological system adapted for China and taking into account the individual characteristics of students.

Thanks to the application of the principle of continuity of pre-university and university levels of violin playing in China, Chinese violin art by the turn of the XX-XXI centuries not only reached the world level, but became one of the brightest, independent and deeply original areas of world violin art.