Northern and southern traditional schools of bamboo flute learning and playing in China

This article highlights principal characteristics of bamboo flute playing traditions, which are classified into two main schools: Northern and Southern, established during the Qing dynasty, the final imperial era in Chinese history (1644-1911). The local differences of these schools are manifested almost in all aspects, including technical skills, instrument design variations, notation methods, repertoire genres, and traditional interpretative approaches. The article examines essential aspects in performance techniques of these ancient musical traditions, which competed and influenced each other, ultimately contributing to general advancement of bamboo flute playing skills. The relations between the Northern and Southern performance schools in 17th-20th centuries in China fostered further development of technical, expressive, and artistic techniques, preserving the enchanting allure and technical proficiency of bamboo flute playing until nowadays. A key focus of this article is description of the mastery concept in musical performance, based both on the performer's technical skills and virtuosity and their attainment of a unique state associated with aesthetic experiences necessary for self-expression of the performer.