“A Music Tour with the Zheng” is a MOOC course featuring the Zheng playing and introductions to a series of some best-known classic, folk and contemporary musical works of China.
Zheng is a traditional Chinese instrument with a written history of over 2000 years. Today the zheng is one of the most popular instruments in China, and with a new age of cultural exchange, its practitioner base has been well expanded internationally.
This course is designed to incorporate wider interests of learning the zheng as well as learning the music culture of China with an easier approach to the instrument. Dr. Sun Zhuo carefully selected a series of well-known musical pieces which representing different genres, regional styles, and different ethnic groups of China, then rearrange them into simple, but catching short zheng pieces. During the lessons she will demonstrate these pieces on the zheng with detailed explanation of playing techniques, while giving profound introductions to the cultural background of the music.
By reducing difficulties in playing techniques and in reading complicated musical scores, the course is widely applicable to people who has interests on the zheng but has very basic knowledge of it. By following the course, international wide learners could not only gain an access to the zheng but also a perspective to the rich music culture of China.
