Cultivation Status
Applied talent refers to the following characteristics of professionals who are competent for practical work: possessing a certain theoretical foundation, mastering solid professional knowledge and skills, being able to use what they have learned to solve practical problems, demonstrating innovation and practical abilities, and having a teamwork spirit and strong communication skills (Cao, 2011). At present, there are some problems in the cultivation of applied talents of music majors in domestic universities, such as deemphasizing the importance of theoretical knowledge, practical links, and close contact with market demand under the traditional teaching mode. At the same time, instructors' teaching ability and methods need to be further improved in the cultivation of applied talents (Wang & Zhang, 2022). Therefore, the cultivation of applied talents for music majors refers to the development of students with the ability to meet the needs of social and economic development and cultural construction and who have solid music professional knowledge and skills along with innovative and practical abilities in music creation, performance, teaching and management (Huang & Luo, 2021).
Its training objectives and requirements include demonstrating the following: (1) a solid foundation of music theory and professional skills and competency in music creation, performance, teaching and management; (2) an innovative spirit and practical ability, the ability to actively participate in music creation and performance, and constant improvement of their own ability in practice; (3) a comprehensive interdisciplinary foundation and extensive applicable knowledge in the fields of music art, cultural communication, science and technology; (4) an international perspective and language fluency, and the ability to adapt to international trends and cultural exchange needs; (5) a spirit of teamwork and capacity for leadership and management to complete tasks such as music creation, performance and teaching (Shu et al., 2021). With the support of internet remote technology, the goals and requirements of training applied talents for music majors are constantly evolving and expanding, including but not limited to the application ability and practical experience in online music creation and performance, remote music teaching and curriculum design, music industry management and market expansion (Zhu et al., 2022). The scale of music education in China from 2017 to 2022 is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Scale of Music Education in China From 2017 to 2022
As China's higher education system continues to grow, more and more universities are offering art degrees, and the number of students studying music is also rising. Students majoring in vocal music outnumber those majoring in piano by a significant margin. Vocal music is a more popular major in universities than piano since it requires less time to master and yields faster results than piano. Over time, there will be a greater number of graduates specializing in vocal music, which will lead to a severe oversupply and more challenging employment conditions.