Xihe Dagu

It is also called guci or dagushu which is mainly popular in northern China. Dagu has a long history and is somewhat influenced by guzici of Song Dynasty. The performers beat the drum while singing. The main accompaniment musical instruments are sanxian, sihu, pipa, dulcimer. Genres of dagu are many such as muban dagu, jingyun dagu, Xihe dagu, Leting dagu, meihua dagu, tiepian dagu, jingdong dagu, dongbei dagu, Lu' an dagu, Xiangyuan dagu, Shandong dagu, Jiaodong dagu, Anhui dagujingdezhen dagu, Heluo dagu, Hubei dagu. The early dagu titles are mostly long and performed with ballad singing and story-telling; while the later ones are short and performed mainly or solely with ballad singing.

Music or dagu belongs to banqiang-style music. Their tunes are based on lyrics and full of changes depending on the emotion of the plot and the words used in the lyrics. The performance in highly expressive and variable gestures is catered to both nobility and commoners.