Lolo Tone is a genre of opera prevailing in Lingqiu County and the neighboring area in Shanxi Province. Evolved from Yiyang Tone, Lolo Tone has its prime time in Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty and fell into decay in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era. It is featured by one performer's singing on stage and the others' chiming with the sound of "Lolo Yoyo" behind the stage, hence the name.
Lolo Tone has a long history with ancient modality. Traditional Qu tunes at early stage have been retained in the aria, including The Child, Colored Tone and Goats on the Hillside. Aria structure has been varying during the long-term development. There is a special structure integrated with arias of Qu tune and clapper rhythm, e.g. constitution of a melody by inclined beater, numeral and flowing soundboard. Performance of Lolo Tone is usually added with "Tone Tricking" in falsetto voice at the end of each phrase, with a special mode of accompaniment - "No accompaniment at the time of singing", namely, interlude of musical instrument commences at the end of each phrase.
Lolo Tone is divided into Southern String Music and Northern String Music. As a type of Northern String Music, Lingqiu Lolo Tone is endowed with distinct local features - vivid repertoires with intense flavor of life, lively and understandable actor's lines, and apparent traits of singing and recital with the flavor of Quyi (forms of Chinese folk art). The band would not play accompaniment with drawl, but add it into the end sound of each phrase and stop it after the interlude. Such characteristics have made possible the actors' bringing into full play their performing skills. They may choose singing or recital in fast or slow rhythm as well as high or low volume, with the words being pronounced clearly. Singing and dancing with elegant steps and motions to display intense flavor of life is a specific performing mode used by the female role in Lolo Tone performance. It is said that traditional aria of Lingqiu Lolo Tone is composed of "9 tunes, 18 melodies and 72 Hahas". There are over 40 traditional representative repertoires of Lingqiu Lolo Tone, such as Little Second Sister's Dream, Notes of Brocade, Reading Velvet Flowers, Longbao Temple, Gilt Cabinet, and so on.
