Contemporary challenges in learning and teaching folk music in a higher education context: a case study of Hua'er music

Literature reviews suggest that traditional approaches in folk music education are not necessarily compatible with the conventions of formal music education. Whilst many recent studies have tended to define these non-classical music learning contexts as 'informal', the practice of folk transmission music appears to be much more complex and fluid in the real world. This case study presents an example of teaching and learning experiences of folk singers in a contemporary society in Western China. In this particular context, 'informal learning' was found to be influenced by 'formal' music practices, whilst a 'formal approach' in a classroom has found to be reversely altered by the 'informal oral tradition' that was recently proposed in Chinese Higher Music Education. Based on qualitative interview data from four musicians, three major findings are reported on current transformations of Hua'er music practices. Pedagogical suggestions were further discussed on a possible dual-input (was termed 'formal' and 'informal' in Jaffurs's study) learning approach, which may contribute to the success of folk music education at college level.