There are Dage, broadsword, big three-stringed dance, sheepskin dance, Lusheng dance, etc. in the ancient towns of Yi people, Dage has the most national characteristics. Playing songs, also known as "stepping songs", began in tribal times and prevailed in Weishan, Nanjian, Yangbi and other Yi-inhabited counties. During festivals, weddings, funerals, weddings and funerals, the Yi people's shanzhai should play songs, with the spring fire as the center, Lusheng leading the dance and flute accompaniment, and men and women naturally form a circle together. The content of Dage is rich, and the lyrics are divided into the upper branch and the lower branch. The upper branch is a metaphor and the lower branch is a narrative. echo each other, a man and a woman, ask and answer questions. When singing, men often use fake voices, the female voice is sweet and emotional, and the dance movements are lively. There are 12 steps and 7 steps, including "straight song" and "turn song", accompanied by clapping, twisting feet and patting sheepskin. In the "song turning", it is divided into "full turning", "half turning", "full turning" and "three turning", showing "bees picking flowers", "turtledoves drinking water", "flies rubbing their feet", "happy magpies climbing branches", "hens squatting in nests" and "castrating chickens". Playing songs is often all night long, and the dance is flourishing. There is a famous saying in the tune of playing songs that "a piece of tofu and two pieces of meat come out when playing songs", which is a summary and reflection of the Yi people's playing songs. Yi people are a nation that can sing and dance well, and they are rich in folk songs and dances and music arts. No matter during labor breaks or weddings and funerals in the New Year, they should express their feelings through songs and dances. Song and dance music is an important part of Yi people's spiritual culture. Due to the distribution characteristics of Yi people's large dispersion and small settlements, there are many kinds of song and dance music of Yi people, with different styles, rich national and local characteristics in content and expression.

The lyrics of Yi folk songs are extensive, which is one of the important sources of Yi folk literature creation. In the traditional Yi society, people often preach history, emphasize morality, inherit customs, express love, joys and sorrows by singing, and their singing is fluent and euphemistic, cadence or gentleness, which is extremely artistic. Folk songs can be divided into narrative songs, love songs, bitter songs, labor songs, wine songs and folk songs.

Dance plays a very important role in the cultural life of the Yi people. Yi dance has various forms, rich life interest and national style. "Tapping songs" is the most popular dance. Among the Yi people in various places, "Ta Ge" is also called "Da Kick", "Tiao Ge", "Left Foot" and "Tiao Guo Zhuang", which is a dance form with a long history of Yi people. In Long Ting of Weishan, Yunnan Province, there are murals painted during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, which reflect the Yi people's "tap song" dance. Their dance forms and dances are almost the same as today's Yi people's "tap song" dance, that is, with the bonfire as the center, the dancers form a circle, the leading dancers play musical instruments such as lusheng in front, and others dance hand in hand. Their dance movements are vigorous, the steps are adjusted in unison, and everyone dances while singing.

In addition to "stepping on a song", there are many forms of yi dance, including four-string dance, Luo Zuo dance, "A Xi Yue", cigarette box dance, bronze drum dance, flower drum dance, Dong Geduo lotus dance, Lusheng dance, blanket dance, Qiao Zi dance, rice transplanting dance, opposite foot dance, bell dance, wine ceremony dance, waist drum dance, hippocampus dance and so on.

Four-string dance, called "Ye Qiebi" in Yi language, means dancing on the yueqin, which is popular in Eshan, Shuangbai and Xinping areas of Yunnan. Luo Zuowu is a kind of folk dance, which is called "Luo Zuobi" in Yi language and spread in Honghe, Yuanyang, Jinping and other places on the south bank of Honghe River in Yunnan. "Axi Yuetiao" is a favorite dance of Yi people in Axizhi and Sanizhi, Yunnan Province. When dancing, men play the grand lyre and play the flute, while women clap their hands and dance in front of men. Generally, they dance when the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, so it is named "Yuetiao". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the national song and dance "A Xi Yue Yue", which was compiled and processed on the basis of the Yi folk dance, enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. Other dances, such as cigarette box dance, are mainly performed in Gejiu, Shiping, Jianshui, Mengzi and Kaiwu in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and Yuanjiang and Tonghai in Yuxi Prefecture. Bronze drum dance is mainly performed among Yi people in Funing, Malipo, Guangnan and Xichou in Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Dongge Duohe is one of the more distinctive songs and dances among the Yi people in Liangshan. Wine ceremony dance is a kind of yi dance popular in northwest Guizhou. Jinzhu dance is a traditional sacrificial dance of the Yi people in Napo, Guangxi.

There is also a kind of Nuo opera popular among the Yi people in the northwest of Guizhou, which is called "Cuoji" in Yi language, which means the era when human beings have just formed. The dancer of "Cuoji" is a male, whose costume is peculiar. He wraps the top of his head in a cone with cloth, wears black clothes all over his body, white cloth belts on his upper body and legs, and wears wooden tools coated with white mud on his face. Performers use rough movements to express human life in the early days of the Republic of China, usually on the third to fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, mainly to eliminate disasters and pray for a bumper harvest of grain and prosperity of six livestock in the coming year.

The folk instrumental music of the Yi people is very rich, including solos and ensembles. Among the solos, the yueqin music of the Yi people in Liangshan, Liangshan, Liangshan, Liangshan, Liangshan, Liangshan and Leibo are the most distinctive, and the flute solo of the Yi people in Yunnan's boundless mountain area is over the mountain and herding sheep, and the Bawu solo of the Yi people in Honghe, Yunnan is Ali. Ensemble was formed very early in history, and the most famous one was "Nanzhao's Sacred Music" played by Nanzhao Court Band when it went to Chang 'an in 8 AD. Its scale was grand and its music was beautiful, and it won a high reputation in Chang 'an, Tang Dou at that time.

The modern Yi folk ensemble music is represented by the Song and Dance Suite of Nie Suzhi Yi and the Axi Dance of Axi Yi. The famous song "Guests from afar, please stay" is based on the folk music of the Yi Sanizhi.