Sociomusicology: English Coursebook on Chinese Music

3/3/26

English Coursebook on Chinese Music

It is a pleasure to announce a new textbook for learning Chinese music, developed by Dr. Zijin Yao at Beijing Language and Culture University, English Coursebook on Chinese Music. This book offers a detailed description of Chinese music genres in cultural context, with explanations for essential terminology in both Chinese and English languages.

Yao, Zijin, Ren Jie, Wang Xiaoran, Sun Run, and Hebert, David. English Coursebook on Chinese Music (Chongqing University Press, 2026).

This book will be uniquely helpful for any foreigners interested in understanding Chinese music traditions as well as for any Chinese musicians who would like to know how best to explain this music to others (by improving their specialized English language skills relevant to the music profession). It thereby serves as a cultural bridge, in both directions, for the benefit of musicians and music lovers.

It was a pleasure to support Dr. Yao and her team in their development of this unique book. The authors are affiliated with the innovative Music-Culture-Communication program at Beijing Language and Culture University.

Links for purchasing will be provided here in the near future.

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Welcome to Sociomusicology

For nearly 20 years (since 2007), this website has offered musings on contemporary society and its music by David G. Hebert, PhD. He is a sociomusicologist specializing in global music education who has held academic positions with universities on five continents. Dr. Hebert is now a tenured full Professor with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education (GAME) research group and manages the multinational government-funded Nordic Network for Music Education, which organizes annual intensive Master courses and exchange of teachers and students across eight countries. He is also an Affiliated Professor with both University of the Faroe Islands and Kyambogo University (Uganda), and an Honorary Professor in China with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Professor Hebert's research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as processes by which new music traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Born in the 1970s, he is among the most widely-published and globally-active music scholars of his generation (h-index:22), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).