This course will look at music cultures and various forms of music in and outside Mainland China where Mandarin Chinese and local dialects of Chinese are spoken, focusing in particular on instrumental genres of the Han majority. Although it is not the specific aim to present the history of Chinese music per se, the topical organization of the course will more or less follow a chronological framework as attention is drawn to certain issues and prominent characteristics of music and musical life in China and Sinicized areas from ancient times to the present. The ability to read music or knowledge of musical notation will be helpful, but not required.