On February 10, 1929, the first day of the first lunar month, Li Chongguang was born into a farmer's family in Beiluotang Village, Zhaili Town, Qixia County, Shandong Province.

"My father has four brothers. Except for my eldest uncle, who has a boy, the rest are all girls. My third uncle's family doesn't even have a girl. I have two sisters, and the second sister's daughter My name is Brother Ling, and I hope to have a younger brother. The whole family is very happy. I have become the real treasure of the whole family.

My mother was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to raise a child, so she found the poorest family in the village with the most children to be my godmother. The godmother gave me a begging basket and a dog-beating stick. This is what I have always wanted to beg for in my life. One reason. My godbrother can draw eagles, and the paintings look like real ones. This may have something to do with my love of painting."

"There is no music environment at home, and my father can play some music. , I can sing a few lines of Peking Opera, and my sisters can sing "Su Wu Shepherd", which is the only song I heard when I was a child. I didn't have any music class in the first or second grade of elementary school. I have seen Japanese planes dropping bombs, and I have also seen the Eighth Route Army attacking Japanese cars, with bullets flying over my head. I have hated the Japanese since I was a child, and I would sing He Luting's "Song of the Four Seasons" and also listen to the opera. When I was 13 years old, the Eighth Route Army was promoting the anti-Japanese war in the village, and the children got together and sang. So I became interested in songs, and copied the songs in a notebook, and I also tried to compose music myself. It’s really ridiculous to think about it.”

As an only child, Li Chongguang’s special status in the family is reflected in his father’s extreme emphasis on his early education—he entered elementary school at the age of 6 and was sent to his aunt’s house for school at the age of 9. , left his hometown to go to school at the age of 11 and began to learn English, which was rare in rural areas at that time. To this day, he still remembers the words of his enlightenment teacher: Learning Chinese opens one eye, and learning a foreign language opens the other eye.

The repeated studies in his childhood cultivated the talented Li Chongguang's tenacious character, strong cultural ambition and tenacious self-learning ability.

When he was 13 years old, he faced a choice - "The captain of the County Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was good friends with my father and tried his best to persuade my father to let me study in Yan'an. My father was worried and finally sent me away. I went to my uncle's house in Qingdao. After arriving in Qingdao, I went to elementary school for half a year. I didn't want to be dependent on others, so I wanted to start a business and be self-reliant. As a result, I became an apprentice at a cotton cloth shop and learned how to do business, delivering goods, running errands... all the time. After working for three years, I became the accountant. "

"During these three years, I learned to play the harmonica. When I went out to do errands, I would play it randomly. The reason is simple, because she is a widow and very romantic." When he was studying at his uncle's house in Qingdao, his cousin's piano inspired Li Chongguang's endless yearning for music. However, the tuition fee of $1 per hour for piano lessons at that time was an astronomical figure to him. Later, music became his ultimate dream in life, and self-study became his usual way to embark on the road of music.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, Li Chongguang felt that he had no future as a businessman and turned to study. I transferred to the second grade of the municipal boys' middle school. After two years of hard work, I graduated from the middle school and was promoted to high school without taking the exam. Half a year later, he dropped out of school again because his uncle's family had financial difficulties.

"During my two and a half years of middle school life, I developed a strong interest in music, art, and literature. I have carefully studied the poems of Bing Xin, Zang Kejia, Ai Qing, and Ma Fantuo, and I have also tried to I wrote it and copied it into a small book. It’s a pity that these things have been lost. It would be interesting to look at the exercises when I was a student.”

During this period, Li Chongguang learned the staff and studied by himself. Piano, and performed on radio broadcasts and concerts. To this day, Teacher Li still clearly remembers the piece of the performance: "For Alice". The music teacher at that time, Li Zheng, and his wife became his guide and role model in music life. Their role as an example was based on the progress of civilization and not just on the level of music - "I have a very close relationship with my music teacher, and I often visit the teacher. When I went home, the teacher copied the song with accompaniment he wrote into my memory book. I also used beautiful colored paper to draw the musician's head and write about the musician's life, and gave it to the teacher.

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“Teacher Li Zheng is a student of Lao Zhicheng. He teaches us to sing his songs and tell his stories. I admire him very much because he can play the piano and compose music. I thought that in 40 years I would be able to work in the same company as the old man.

Teacher Li Zheng’s wife is a music teacher at a girls’ middle school and plays the piano very well. Our two schools established a choir. We sang "Yellow River Cantata", Ma Sicong's "Motherland", "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "Blue Danube"..."

"My dream at the time Just like my teacher, he has a small house, a piano, a gramophone, and a warm home. ”

Old Shanghai, Nanjing West Road, Street Stall Boys

At the beginning of the last century, European style spread eastward. Shanghai Beach enjoys the glory of Paris in the East and is at the forefront of the civilization and fashion of the times.

In June 1948, due to difficulties in life at home, Li Chongguang and his father went to Shanghai with the help of relatives, where they set up a stall on the bustling Nanjing West Road to make a living selling knitted lace. Holding a dictionary or a harmonica, he often had to avoid being chased by Indian patrols, attracting surprised looks from passers-by... The desire for knowledge of the street stall boy vividly bloomed on the edge of the civilized world.

Every time I see Shanghai. The school bus from the music college passed by, and Li Chongguang, who had a music dream, was filled with sorrow. Shanghai, like Qingdao, has become another stage of his life legend. When talking about this bitter past, Teacher Li not only laughed and said that he had been there for more than half a year. I crossed the sea a century ago.

“At that time, I never dreamed that I would study at the Central Conservatory of Music, the highest music institution in China, nor did I expect that I would be the principal of the Middle School Affiliated to the China Conservatory of Music. , went to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to hold a meeting to express opinions on music education. When I was at the Central Wuqi Art School, I also stayed at the International Hotel in Shanghai. "

Li Chongguang's ups and downs in school as a teenager allowed him to accumulate rich self-study experience despite the hardships, which also laid a valuable natural foundation for his future research on children's music education. He said with a smile I am a "stupid teacher" and I believe that teachers who are too smart cannot patiently and carefully discover and solve problems from the perspective of students. Only "stupid teachers" can adapt to and understand the learning ideas of beginners and open up music for them. In 1949, after the liberation of Qingdao from Shanghai, Li Chongguang and his classmates went to Peking to take the exam. They arrived in Peking on the eve of the liberation and were very lucky.

In November of the same year, the school was merged into the Tianjin Central Conservatory of Music, and Li Chongguang became a student in the composition department of the country’s highest music institution, and since then he has entered the music palace he dreamed of.

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Opening Teacher Li's graduation certificate, the inner page of the diploma has the words "Serve the People" printed in traditional Chinese, and it has the autograph of Principal Ma Sicong.

Teacher at the Central Conservatory of Music. In Li Chongguang's words, receiving personal teaching from a generation of music masters was tantamount to "reaching the sky in one step." Talking about his alma mater, Li Chongguang was full of gratitude and deeply regretted the poor enrollment standards and numerous political movements at that time. Since it took more than 9 months to manage the Huaihe River during my studies, the whole class was postponed for a year if they did not meet the graduation level, and the study period was as long as 6 years.

"After graduating from college, I was assigned. I went to the Central Conservatory of Music to teach sight-singing and ear-training. Meng Guibin, a young veteran cadre, famous singer and composer, was in our class. There was a dispute during dictation. My score was in beat 44, and he recorded it as It was 42 beats. I said he was wrong. He disagreed and said that musically it should be 42 beats. I said you should record the music according to what I played, but he had nothing to say. ” In September 1956, he was transferred to the Middle School Affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music to teach chorus and basic music theory, beginning his 40-year teaching and research work in music theory.

After 50 years of teaching, you have written numerous books. You must have accumulated considerable knowledge. Rich experience and experience? Basic music theory is usually regarded as a basic course and is not taken seriously?

“Basic music theory has always been a course that is not taken seriously in China (in fact, it is also the same internationally). , it is the earliest, but has the most problems.

When I was a student, the only basic music theory book was "Preliminary Music Theory" compiled by Mr. Miao Tianrui (written by Burton Song). The composition department held a summer training class in Xinxiang and I taught basic music theory. When I teach workers at the Tianjin Cultural Palace to learn basic music theory, I refer to this book.

I have taught basic music theory for more than 50 years, but have never taken this course. Fortunately, when I officially started the course, the Chinese translation of Sposobin's "Basic Theory of Music" had been officially published. This is an unprecedented basic music theory textbook with high academic value. I learned a lot of new knowledge that I had never heard of before. It was eye-opening and inspired. Just because I often say this, this book is good, my lovely students. During the movement, we drew a cartoon and hung it from the third floor to the first floor of Tianjin Conservatory of Music. It showed Sposobin sitting on a lotus seat, with me worshiping below. After the movement and until now, I still say that Sposobin's "Basic Theory of Music" is a very good basic music theory textbook. "

Frank, upright, and meticulous, Mr. Li Chongguang is still like this to this day. In his letter to Zhao Qian, he wrote frankly:

"In seeking academic value in my work, I am looking for After searching and finding nothing, I suddenly remembered something someone said: Li Chongguang's book is not an academic work. At the time, I couldn't accept this statement, but now I think about it, and it does make some sense. So I wanted to find academic value in a book that is not an academic work. Isn't it asking for trouble? At the same time, I also remembered what another person said: Li Chongguang The book is very operable. At the time, I didn’t understand how it could be operable again. The more I thought about it, the more interesting it became. The books published now seem to lack some operability. My books are all based on teaching practice, so they are more convenient to operate. Therefore, I think my book lacks academic value, but has practical value. This is probably an important reason why it has survived for more than 40 years and sold more than 4 million copies. ”