Music, song, monolog and dialog

The singing part of Peking Opera consists of more that two musical modes; however, xi pi and er huang are commonly used. Xi pi was adapted from Shaanxi bangzi (the songs of Shaanxi opera), whereas er huang was adapted from Hui qiang and Han diao (Anhui and Hubei operas, respectively).

The spoken part of Peking Opera can be performed as a monolog, a dialog or as an aside. In general, the aside is used only by the clown or the frivolous female. This device allows the character to speak to the audience from the stage and is done for humorous effect.