Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, with the development of drama, the bamboo flute has been widely used in various local dramas, taking on the role of the lead or leader. As one of the earliest national musical instruments in China, the bamboo flute has recorded a glorious page in the ancient history of our country, but the real excavation and display of the artistic charm of the bamboo flute is still a matter of nearly 50 years. In the 20th century, the art of bamboo flute in China entered an unprecedented stage of development. In 1938, when Mr. Wei Zhongle, a Chinese folk instrumentalist, went to the United States with the "Chinese Culture Troupe" to perform, he used the Chinese bamboo flute to perform the folk music "Partridge Flying" for the first time, and recorded it in the United States. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the bamboo flute performing arts have gone through the following three periods.
1. 1949-1956.
This is the initial stage of professional bamboo flute solo performance in China. At this stage, there was a group of pioneers of bamboo flute performance represented by Feng Zicun, Lu Chunling, Zhao Songting, and Liu Guanle, who made the bamboo flute from a folk opera accompaniment instrument to a professional solo instrument on the modern stage, from the folk to the professional, they are the guide of China's bamboo flute, these predecessors in the bamboo flute industry, have lived in the folk for a long time, and have a deep folk foundation, due to the difference in life background and region, they have formed a southern (Lu, Zhao), northern (Feng, Liu) school performance style represented by them. These two styles laid the foundation for the further development of bamboo flutes in the future.
In terms of performance techniques, the north is dominated by spitting, slipping, chopping, and flowering; The south is dominated by trembling, giving, stacking, and fighting. At that time, there were no very complicated techniques involved in playing. Most of the repertoire they played is transplanted and adapted from folk opera cards or accompaniments, with a distinctive local style and a strong atmosphere of life, and the real creative significance of the flute solo music is still rarely seen at this stage. From the teaching point of view, the performers have not experienced the professional training of the ** college, and what they have experienced is the folk "oral teaching" teaching method, which is mainly imitation. They have integrated their rich life experience into their performances, with a strong artistic appeal.
2. 1956-1979.
The art form of Chinese bamboo flute solo has developed rapidly. The two major schools of the north and south, represented by Feng Zicun and Liu Guanle from the north and Zhao Songting and Lu Chunling from the south, have carried out a comprehensive exploration of the performance techniques, performance styles, form innovations and creation of Chinese bamboo flutes, thus pushing the development of Chinese bamboo flute solo art to a peak in an all-round way. Marked by the creation of Zhao Songting's "Morning", it is the great development stage of China's bamboo flute. In November 1956, the "Selected Folk Instrumental Songs" compiled by the ** Mass Art Museum included the flute solo song "Morning" composed by Zhao Songting. It can be said that the creation of "Morning" has opened a new page in the creation of China's bamboo flute, and it has begun the stage of China's bamboo flute from simply playing folk to playing and creating with modern significance. The piece absorbs techniques such as the Northern Calendar, Glide, Spit, Chop and Finger Flying Vibrato, and the use of 3 4 beats and the pentatonic transformation of the main tone makes the music very innovative. Compared with its previous folk bamboo flute solo, there are great innovations in terms of image, rhythm and beat, strength and weakness processing. During the same period, there were also repertoire such as "Dove of Peace" composed by Liu Guanle, and after 1956, the Chinese bamboo flute entered a stage of prosperity and development.
In the creation of bamboo flute solo, a single southern and northern style flute has been gradually replaced by multi-style, multi-regional flute music, and the performers have established a set of style systems with different regional characteristics according to different styles in various places, and have their representative works. Moreover, a number of phonemes based on foreign folk ** have been widely used in bamboo flutes, and at the same time, they have also brought rich and colorful performers' techniques.