Chinese folk music in a narrow sense refers to Han music, referred to as "folk music". China's minority music has more styles and contents, such as Tibetan music, Mongolian music and Zhuang music.

Russian music

Russian music has a beautiful melody, which has a great influence on China's music, such as the songs Night on the outskirts of Moscow, Three Cars, Hawthorn Tree and so on.

Tibetan music

Tibetans are a nation that can sing and dance well, and their songs are beautiful, broad and melodious. Tibetan music can be roughly divided into Buddhist music and folk music. The most famous Buddhist music is the ode-free melody sung by Lama.

Tibetan folk songs are loud and sound like a vast plateau and blue sky, with melodious tunes, but they are also dominated by five tones. Song and dance forms are "Guo Hesheng" and "Guo Zhuo" (Guo Zhuang). Some elements of Tibetan music have been absorbed by Han and Western music. Some Han composers imitated the characteristics of Tibetan music and created some songs, such as "Visiting New Cities" and "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau". In recent years, Tibetan songs in Tibet have also incorporated other musical elements. Besides Cai Danzhuoma and Han Hong, who mainly sing Chinese songs, there are many famous Tibetan singers, such as Rongjia, Yadong and Qiongxue Zhuoma.

In the aspect of drama, the traditional Tibetan opera King Gelsall has been excavated and performed.

Manchu music

Manchus live in the northeast of China and Peking. The most famous folk musical instrument of Manchu nationality is the octagonal drum originated from Qing Dynasty. Manchu lullaby "Youyouzha" and other works are very famous and are often covered by modern Chinese.

Mongolian music

Mongolian folk songs are divided into "long tune folk songs" and "short tune folk songs". There are many meaningless homophonic words in Long Tune, which lengthen the singing and have the style of grassland. The most distinctive musical instrument is Ma Touqin, a stringed instrument, which is named after the horse's head decoration usually engraved on the piano column.

Zhuang music

Guangxi is a place where Zhuang people live in compact communities and the hometown of folk songs. Young men and women often sing the opposite. Some people even say that Zhuang people spend more time singing than talking all their lives. Zhuang folk songs are basically similar to Han folk songs, with pentatonic scale as the main feature. Lyrics have obvious antithesis format, and the content is expressed by symbols, metaphors and other means, focusing on communication in life. Sometimes the lyrics also quote China's classical stories and allusions. Zhuang music can be seen in the movie musical Liu Sanjie.

Dai music

Dai music is similar to the music styles of Myanmar and Thailand in South Asia, with soft tunes. Typical musical instruments are cucurbit silk and elephant foot drum, and the unique timbre of cucurbit silk is the Dai music style as soon as it is played.

Naxi ancient music

Naxi ancient music is music played by Naxi elders in Lijiang, Yunnan. It is said that it was introduced from the Central Plains in the Ming Dynasty. Due to inconvenient transportation and little contact with the outside world, it has been handed down in its original flavor. At present, only a group of old bands can play, and successors are being trained. It is a living fossil of China14th century music, which has aroused widespread concern in the music industry.

Dong music

Dong's Da Ge is the only folk song system in China that adopts harmony. It's basically a female voice, cappella. The harmony of each part of the voice is very harmonious. It caused a sensation in the world and won many awards.

Uygur music

Uyghur music is basically a Central Asian music style, which pays great attention to rhythm. With tambourine, you can play dozens of different rhythms. The main musical instruments are Dutar and Gerwav, and the biggest one is Dongbula. Twelve Muqam is the traditional music of Uygur nationality, which is all-encompassing and the source of many folk music.

Tajik music

Tajik music is very different from Han music. Make good use of semitone, and the melody is euphemistic and changeable, such as Shan Ying's singing. The most typical one is the song written by composer Lei Zhenbang for the film "The Visitor on the Iceberg", which fully uses the melody of Tajik folk songs.

Korean music

Korean music is basically the same as Korean music. The main musical instruments are the long drum and the guzheng, similar to the ancient Zheng in China. It is smaller than the modern Zheng, and its playing method is different. It is played on the knee sitting on the plate. Music melody has its own unique style.