Compare and contrast the two singers and their folk songs (Jin’s “Weeding Song” and Zhao’s “Releasing the Horse into Pasture.”)

What will be an ideal response?

• Both songs use a two-phrase design with vocal cries added to the solo singing.
• "Releasing . . ." is more straightforward in structure.
• "Releasing . . ." is in a clear duple meter vs. the un-metered "Weeding Song."
• Zhao's repertory includes songs from all across the Chinese world, while Jin's repertory is a local set of tunes and songs.
• Jin learned to reshape one main melody to fit a wide range of song texts; Zhao memorized in the classroom a contrasting series of fixed-format songs.
• Jin sings in Wu, a local dialect in his region; Zhao sings her songs in the widely used Mandarin Chinese.