In the music major art examination, it is divided into: instrumental performance major, vocal performance major, musicology major, composition and composition theory major, recording art major and music performance major. Among many conservatories, the instrumental performance major carries the most weight, has the most majors, and has the largest number of students enrolled. The musical instrument performance major is roughly divided into two directions: Western musical instrument performance and ethnic musical instrument performance. Western musical instruments are generally divided into keyboard instruments and orchestral instruments.

Chinese and Western musical keyboard instruments in the art test include not only the piano, the king of musical instruments, but also electronic keyboards, synthesizers, accordions, organs, etc. Orchestral instruments include flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, tuba, French horn, violin, cello, viola, double bass, harp, guitar, percussion, etc. Different from keyboard playing, keyboard playing is often played alone, while orchestral playing is mostly played in groups.

The national musical instruments in Yi Kao include guqin, zither, pipa, sanxian, liuqin, dulcimer, zhongruan, erhu, banhu, flute, pipe, sheng, suona, percussion, etc. Compared with Western music, students who choose national musical instruments must not only be familiar with simplified musical notation, but also have an understanding of staff notation. It should be noted that all candidates majoring in musical instrument performance will take additional tests on music theory and sight-singing and ear-training. Many schools screen out students with excellent scores in music theory and sight-singing and ear-training.