本文以原住民傳統音樂、漢人移民帶來的唐山音樂二個面向，來為臺灣的音樂探源。由於臺灣島上最早居民後裔的各原住民族群，原本並沒有文字，但數千年來，音樂對其文化傳承與社會教化，曾充分發揮實用功能，迄今仍是全民珍貴的文化資產；而目前在臺灣人口結構中居最大多數的漢人移民後裔，從唐山帶來的傳統音樂，經兩、三百年的適地演化，在日治時代後期，隨著現代傳播科技的發明，率先邁出新的步伐，歷經逾百年的演進，臺灣現代音樂的發展早已躍居華人圈之樞紐。加上近年來臺灣的音樂蓬勃發展，屢屢在世界舞臺上嶄露頭角、驚艷四方，然而，無論是精緻音樂或流行音樂，如何以傳統音樂為源頭活水，挹注現代音樂的新生命、新精神，仍應是持續努力與關注的焦點。

The study tried to observe the origin of Taiwanese music from two aspects. They are the aboriginal tradition music, the Han people music from mainland China. In the past, there is no character in Taiwan aborigines; the music was fully functional for their cultural heritage and social education. Until right now, it is still one of our precious cultures. On the other hand, Han people are the majority in Taiwan. They brought the Chinese traditional music here for two to three hundred years. Later on, the music was evolving during the period of Japanese occupation. And then, because of media and technology, Taiwanese modern music has been developing to be the leader of all the Chinese people around the world. Taiwanese modern music has been booming over the world for the past few years. Nevertheless, how to enrich our modern music with a new life and spirit from the tradition is always the goal. That is also what we should continue to do more efforts and to pay more attentions.