Multiple-Voice Folksongs

These are songs sung by two or more singers, who render two or more parts. They are also called "two-voice folksongs" or "complex-tone folksongs". For a long time, it was held that the "double-voice" phenomenon did not exist in Chinese folk music. But this view was proved wrong in the late 1940s, when, in the course of collecting folk music among the ethnic minorities of southwest China, a musicologist discovered a large number of such songs. In fact, historical documents long ago testified to the existence of such songs. For instance, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Annals of Sanjiang County contains the following note: "The Dong people have a particularly effective way of singing...a group of singers sing together in loud voices, and one person with an especially fine voice sings solo in between at a low pitch. This modulation is remarkably moving." There are many more similar descriptions, testifying to the fact that multiple-voice singing was a tradition in this region.

Multiple-voice singing is mainly confined to the ethnic minorities of the south and southwest, that is, to the Zhuang, Dong, Miao, Yao, Buyi, Maonan, Mulao, Wa, Lisu, Naxi, Jingpo, Yi and Gaoshan peoples of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian and Taiwan provinces, and the Mongolian people of the north. Some haozi of the Han people, which have exchanges between a lead singer and a chorus, can also be ascribed to this category. The multiple-voice songs of the ethnic minorities are often associated with ritual, ceremonial or festival songs and dances, such as the Great Song and Blocking the Way of the Dong; the Great Song and Small Melody of the Buyi; the Saihai of the Miao; the Tearful Bride of the Tujia; the Butterfly Song of the Yao; the Game Song of the Wa; the Double-Tone of the She; the Drinking Song, Funeral Song and Ritual Song of the Gaoshan; and etc. Other multiple-voice folksongs are haozi sung during the process of work in the northeastern forest regions, along the section of the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province as well as by the Gaoshan people in Taiwan when they were weeding the field and by the Jingpo people in Yunnan Province when they were pounding rice.

China's multiple-voice folksongs fall into five categories:

(1) Round-type songs. The high and low parts follow and alternate with each other. Examples are the above-mentioned Game Song of the Wa and the Pounding Rice Song of the Jingpo.

(2) Imitative Songs. A low voice imitates the melody of a high voice, and they overlap. Examples are the Ka'e and Lalela of the Zhuang and the Whistling of the Dong.

(3) Sustained or fixed low-pitched songs. A low-pitched voice sets off a higher-pitched one with a sustained or fixed melody. With one "active" and the other "passive", they bring out the best in each other as they blend into a unity. Examples are Telling a Story of the "Great Song" form and Sound of the "Small Song" form of the Dong, and the Boiling Pot Song of the Naxi.

(4) Supporting voice songs. A new voice joins in and sings variations and adds adornments to the basic melody. The main melody is very clear, and the supporting voice simply throws it into relief. Examples are Climbing Mount Jia and North-South Road Mountain Song of the Zhuang and the Butterfly Song of the Wa.

(5) Harmony or counterpoint songs. Two voices, one high and the other low, sing different melodies. Sometimes they sing together, and sometimes they alternate, forming a rich harmony. Examples are the Muguaji and Baishi of the Lisu and the Harvest Festival Ritual Song of the Gaoshan.

All these types of songs use tight intervals greater second, greater and lesser third, fourth and fifth. The characteristic interval and the one most widely used is the grater second. It is no coincidence that it turns up again and again in multiple-voice folksongs, having been selected as the favorite interval in the performance of these songs for many centuries. It is the most obviously unique characteristic of Chinese multiple-voice folksongs.

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