INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPTUAL MEANING OF “Si Liu Ju” IN XIPING FOLK SONGS

Abstract

"Si Liu Ju" is a frequently used professional term in the music culture of Xiping Folk Songs. However, neither folk artists nor music professionals have been able to provide a clear interpretation of the concept of "Si Liu Ju" in Xiping Folk Songs. Faced with this research gap, I used methods such as literature review, case analysis, interviews, and observation to conduct in-depth research on 22 Xiping Folk Songs works that used the theme melody of "Si Liu Ju". Research has found that "Si Liu Ju" in Xiping Folk Songs first refers to a musical structure. This musical structure is based on the two sentence structure of the upper and lower senses as the melody. The melody of the upper and lower senses changes once to four lines, and changes twice to six lines, known as "Si Liu Ju". In addition, in Xiping Folk Songs, "Si Liu Ju" specifically refers to a type of melody, which is the folk songs from the same source. The entire melody belongs to Six tone Zhi mode with "Biagong" added in terms of mode analysis.The melody of "Si Liu Ju" serves as the introduction and ending in the Xiping Fold Songs of the middle and long sections. The introduction part often starts with the bass. The ending part uses the technique of "Qingjue sound changes to Gong sound" to elevate the entire melody to a pure fourth interval. Thus, the melody of "Si Liu Ju" ends at the mid to high notes. The research results not only fill the gap in theoretical research on "Si Liu Ju", but also provide people with a clearer understanding of the conceptual meaning of "Si Liu Ju" in Xiping Folk Songs.