Nanqu music includes three categories: "finger, score, and tune". The notation method is unique. The band combination is divided into two types: "upper four pipes" and "lower four pipes".

Nanqu music includes three categories: "zhi, score, and tune":

"Zhi" is a big piece of music with lyrics, score, and pipa fingering instructions.

"Pu" is an instrumental performance score without words but with pipa fingerings. There were originally thirteen major sets, which were later increased to sixteen major sets; the sixteen major sets of Nanqu were "composed", with "four" (four seasonal scenes), "mei" (plum blossom exercise), and "zai" (eight horses) The four sets of "Gui" (birds returning to their nests) and "Gui" (birds returning to their nests) are the most famous.

"Qu" is Sanqu (also known as Caoqu), which accounts for a large proportion of Nanqu music, with no less than a thousand songs.

The Gongchi harmony used in Nanqu is different. It is a unique notation format, with "X (the common writing of the word "Chi"), Gong, Liu, Shi, -". These five characters represent "Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu" in sequence. Use a fixed roll-call method. The band combination of Nanqu has a fixed form, which is divided into two types: "upper four pipes" and "lower four pipes".

①The upper four guans are divided into two different combinations: "dong guan" and "quality guan":

Dong guan - five types of dong guan, erxian, pipa, sanxian and clapper .

There are five types of quality control: pinxiao (i.e. flute), second string, pipa, third string and clapper.

②The lower four wind instruments include Nanai (alto suona), Pipa, Sanxian, Erxian, Xiangzhan, Dog Bark, Duo (wooden fish), Sibao, Shengsheng (copper bell), and flat drum. , there are ten types, so it is also called "Ten Tones". In Hui'an area, gongs, bronze bells, small hairpins and shengs are used.

The upper four pipes belong to the silk and bamboo band, and the lower four pipes belong to the wind and percussion band.