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Ancient Chinese Music
If you want to listen to ancient Chinese music go here.

Music held great significance in the Tang period. In fact, many aristocrats and Emperors had possession of personal dancing and singing troupes that could entertain them at whatever time they pleased. Different styles and ideas began to permeate as Tang adopted the music/dances/instruments of other foreign lands. Furthermore, other lands began to adopt Tang's music as well. (for example: Tang music was played in Japanese courts.)

Tang differed from ancient traditional Chinese music in several ways. For example, they replaced a five-tone scale with a seven-tone scale. Also, instead of playing just one instrument at time, they began to improvise or modernize by adding more instruments to create harmony. Since Tang opened their music up to other countries such as Korea, India and Turkestan, they were able to adopt new forms of music for their enjoyment.

Opera became a very popular form of music. The lyrics often described historical events with a touch of humor. Another form of singing that developed was falsetto, which is a type of singing in which a person sings in an unnatural range (a range that is too high for them).

Emperor Ming Huang was the first emperor to have dramas performed in his court. The majority of the performances were ballets. Plays were not as often performed and usually consisted of only two actors. As a result of his enjoyment of plays, Emperor Ming Huang also founded the Pear Garden, a drama school. However, the school ended up training more singers and dancers than actors.

It can be said that music was a valuable part of life- especially for aristocrats. It is said that in addition to literature and the likes, potential men (most likely those eligible to become officials) had to learn and understand music. Even renowned poets wrote lyrics for the popular songs that were played in the courts during the Tang dynasty.