Chen Jianchen started playing yangxiao (simple harmonica) at the age of 6. He started playing the harmonica at the age of 14 and has been engaged in performing and teaching activities since he was 20 years old. He is one of the pioneers of the harmonica industry in my country.

At that time, he read in the newspaper that foreigners ridiculed China as a "country without music". He was very angry and determined to use the harmonica as a bridge to popularize my country's music industry. He founded the Asia Harmonica Association in 1933 and the Shanghai Harmonica Association in 1935, and served as the president. In 1938, he founded the "Shanghai Harmonica Factory" and served as the director and producer. In 1946, he founded the "Global Harmonica Factory" and served as the manager. In 1949, he served as a representative of the Second Shanghai People's Congress. In 1950, he joined the "National Music Workers Association" (later changed to the Chinese Musicians Association). He was appointed No. 1 and No. 2 in Shanghai. Representative of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Literary and Art Circles Congress. In 1951, he served as a representative of the Shanghai People's Congress from All walks of life to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. He has been a deputy to the Luwan District People's Congress since 1954, and a member of the 5th and 6th CPPCC after the Cultural Revolution. In 1956, as a representative of the Shanghai delegation, he was invited to Beijing to participate in the "First National Music Week" and took photos with Chairman Mao and other central leaders. In the same year, he participated in the "Shanghai Branch of the Democratic National Construction Association." On November 1, he was appointed as the deputy manager of the "Shanghai Sports, Culture, Education, Arts and Crafts Industrial Company" by Shanghai Mayor Chen Yi.

In order to develop harmonica music in my country, Chen Jianchen He worked hard day and night to train harmonica talents, and continuously opened various training classes, such as beginner classes, advanced classes, solo classes, etc., specializing in teaching harmonica playing skills. In the 1930s, eight classes were held every day. , the number of people can be imagined. In order to improve the level of playing and increase the knowledge of music theory, harmonica music theory classes, harmonica teacher training classes, and harmonica teams were organized to cultivate harmonica playing talents and teaching talents. According to incomplete statistics, the association has trained approximately 200,000 students. In addition to running the above-mentioned classes in the association, it also provides harmonica tutoring services in various universities, middle schools, factories, stores and government agencies. There have been branches in this city and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as branches in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. Some of them were inspired by harmonica music and switched to other types of music to further their studies and became famous musicians.

Chen Jianchen has compiled a large number of books on the harmonica over the years. Since 1933, he has officially edited and published the "Collection of World Harmonica Famous Songs Five" - ??Collection of Famous Harmonica Solo, Ensemble and Ensemble Songs, and "Collection of Harmonica Music for Chinese and Foreign Film and Television Films". 》K Popular Harmonica Famous Songs Collection”, “Harmonica Playing Method”, “Harmonica Master’s Guide”, “Harmonica Repair Method”, “Stave Music Quick Method”, “Pocket Harmonica Playing Method”, “Advanced and Intermediate Harmonica Solo Collection”, “ Collection of Famous Harmonica Songs for Liberation", "Selection of Popular Harmonica Songs from China and Foreign Countries", "80 Famous Chinese and Foreign Harmonica Songs" and more than 50 kinds of books. His works include "Fighting for Steel", "Advance to Socialism", "Harvest Waltz", " "Festival Carnival" and other solo and ensemble pieces, and compiled hundreds of loose-leaf ensemble, ensemble, and solo pieces.

In 1939, he was the first in China to use harmonica music to dub the movie "Red Pink Falling". , founded the country's only harmonica magazine "Shanghai Harmonica World" monthly, which was well received by Chinese and foreign harmonica enthusiasts. After the suspension of publication, it was resumed in 1983 with the approval of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee and changed to a quarterly magazine. The post office and China International Book Trading Corporation It was published publicly, but due to lack of funds, it had to suspend publication again in 1986. Under the leadership of president Chen Jianchen, the Shanghai Harmonica Club has continued to perform various performances in the 65 years since its establishment. In addition to special concerts, it has also Touring performances in Jiangsu, Hangzhou, Xi'an and other places. After liberation, labor unions and student unions were established in factories and schools. The Shanghai Harmonica Club was invited to perform at the founding meeting. It was very popular with the audience and performed more than ten times a month on average. Sometimes I have to attend three or four venues in one day. I also go to radio stations to record broadcasts, videotapes at TV stations, and record records for record companies. I was invited to participate in the "Shanghai Spring" and the 72nd "Weekly Radio Concert" hosted by Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station. 》Performances totaled more than 3,000 times, and four separate harmonica solo championships were held. The judges were all famous musicians.

A concert will be held after the final, and all ticket sales will be donated to charities and relief for unemployed workers. In 1951, three charity performances were held at the Lyceum Theater and the People's Theater to "donate aircraft and artillery" to the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. They also participated in performances at various publicity and celebration activities, and performed condolence performances for workers and PLA commanders and fighters.

In April 1942, in order to safeguard national self-esteem, Chen Jianchen resolutely refused to register with the Japanese Military Police and held a concert at the "Tiangong Theater" without their approval. During the second show, Japanese military police rushed into the theater and ordered the show to stop. Chen Jianchen was escorted to the "Super High School". Before he could stand still, he was punched and beaten severely by the Japanese military police.

In order to promote the development and exchange of harmonica, Chen Jianchen jointly organized or co-organized city-wide and national harmonica solo competitions in the 1980s with the Shanghai Musical Association, Group Arts Center, Municipal Education Bureau, etc. Among them, in 1985, the city's children's harmonica competition was jointly organized with Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station, TV Station, Municipal Children's Palace, "Children's Singing" Editorial Department, Shanghai Harmonica Factory and other units. The number of participants reached about 1,000. It was the first harmonica competition in the history of our country. The event with the largest number of participants wrote a glorious page in the history of harmonica in our country. We also sent personnel to provide guidance on harmonica teacher training courses for primary and secondary school music teachers sponsored by the Municipal Education Bureau. He is also committed to the exchange of international harmonica activities and has received visits and exchanges between regional and international harmonica individuals and groups. There are Hong Kong Liang Rizhao, Chen Guoxun, Yunsheng Harmonica Club, Yueyou Harmonica Association, Taiwan Liu Jinshan, Taipei Huangshi Harmonica Orchestra, Chinese Americans Xu Deming, Huang Qingbai, Japanese tabloid Masatoshi I, Singapore Sun Renguang, Zhou Jinshi, Ho Zhongrong, National University of Singapore, Ye Qing Harmonica Research Group...

In 1984, the All Japan Harmonica Federation formed a delegation of more than 60 people to come to Shanghai to exchange experiences and visit for performances. The Shanghai Harmonica Club performed with them on the same stage as the harmonica ensemble "On the Field of Hope", "March of Old Friends", "Sakura", etc. Chen Jianchen and Hisataka Saito of Japan are respectively the conductors. This performance became the most popular concert of the year. After the Japanese delegation returned to China, they held a summary meeting specifically for this visiting performance and edited and published a special issue to commemorate it. In 1985, at the age of 75, Chen Jianchen visited the Hong Kong import and export industry and received a grand welcome and hospitality. During his stay in Hong Kong, he was interviewed and performed by Hong Kong Radio Television Station, Asia Television and Green Village Radio, and was also interviewed by news reporters. Hong Kong's "Wen Wei Po" and "New Evening News" both published long interviews. I was invited to visit the rehearsals of various harmonica groups, observe the performances of the YMCA harmonica band, and also gave out prizes and gave demonstration performances for the harmonica and harmonica competitions in Hong Kong.

In order to improve the art of harmonica playing, Chen Jianchen has the courage to explore and innovate. As early as the 1930s, many people, including some musicians, believed that the harmonica could not change the key, and it was also difficult to play the high and low semitones in the music; the harmonica could only play folk songs. In order to solve this problem, Chen Jianchen adopted a fixed-key playing method in harmonica playing. That is, no matter what the key of the music is, he always uses two harmonicas in the key of C and C sharp (#C) to play the original key. Since many music pieces have many rising and falling semitones, , so it is extremely difficult to play, especially for fast music, it is even more difficult. But he made up his mind, and under strict training, the harmonica team's playing level improved rapidly, and finally broke through the difficulty of more than half a tone. In April 1940, a concert was held at the former "Carleton Theatre". All large ensemble pieces are played using this method, which makes the level of harmonica playing a leap forward. At the same time, during his solo performance, he played the overture to "Harmonica and Hell" by the famous composer Offenbach using nine harmonicas of different keys. Harmonica lovers and spectators who heard the news crowded at the door to buy tickets. The black market ticket price was 4 yuan a piece (this was the ticket price for Mei Lanfang's performance that year). As a result, the theater had to close the iron gate. This incident caused a sensation in the entire Shanghai harmonica community and also caused considerable repercussions in the music industry.

In order to make the harmonica performance more colorful, Chen Jianchen pioneered the use of harmonica accompaniment for female solo singers before liberation. In 1953, he used the banhu concerto to perform "Victory Drum" and "Northern Shaanxi Suite", which enriched the To enhance the tone and volume of the performance, a harmonica solo was used as accompaniment by a small band; the large ensemble added a variety of Western and ethnic instruments. In my country's harmonica world, Chen Jianchen is known for his continuous innovation. In the 1960s, he created the first harmonica string quartet, harmonica, accordion, and guitar trio composed of harmonica, guitar, and cello. Shortly after the Shanghai Harmonica Society resumed its activities in 1980 after the Cultural Revolution, these forms were used again at the concert commemorating the 45th anniversary of the society's founding held at the Shanghai Concert Hall, which achieved excellent artistic results and received the warmest praise from the audience. welcome. Central People's Broadcasting Station and Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station have recorded live recordings many times to report on this performance and Chen Jianchen's innovative spirit. At that time, his harmonica solo "Country Road" accompanied by a small band was recorded and broadcast by Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station, and it resounded in the streets and alleys on both sides of the Pujiang River. When Japan held the International Harmonica Tape Competition at the end of 1981, Chen Jianchen participated in the harmonica ensemble "Victory Drum" in the form of banhu concerto. He learned from the organizer's recording broadcast that it was highly praised by all the judges and won the second place in the ensemble competition. This is It was the highest honor my country's harmonica received in international competitions at that time. The Central People's Broadcasting Station once made a special report with the title "Liu Xiao harmonica brings glory to the country". The Social and Cultural Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Musicians Association jointly issued an honorary certificate to Chen Jianchen of the Shanghai Harmonica Club.

Under the leadership of Chen Jianchen, the Shanghai Harmonica Club has gone from a difficult and bumpy road to today's development and growth, and it has taken a total of 65 years. Today, the Shanghai Harmonica Club has not only far-reaching influence in China, but also abroad, especially in Southeast Asia and Japan. , also has a high reputation.

For sixty-five years, Chen Jianchen has devoted his life to developing harmonica music and cultivating harmonica talents, and it has yielded fruitful results.

Chen Jianchen is the A pioneer of harmonica music who has the courage to explore and constantly innovate, he has made indelible contributions to the harmonica industry in China! He has written a glorious page for the Chinese harmonica music scene!