臺灣正統佛教僧俗團體中，音聲實踐(musical practice)是無法與作教徒的生活及儀式分離開來的。在注重修持的佛教徒日常生活中，舉凡飲食起居、行立坐臥、進退應對，都不離音聲實踐的規範。他們在日常生活的許多行事中都必須低聲或高聲持誦或唱念佛號、真言或經文。這些行事或舉動，必須在音聲實踐裡才具有真正修行的意義。在儀式的情境中，如果儀式的儀文沒能被“音樂化”（廣義而言）--換言之，被宣讀或被吟唱--，這個儀式便被視為沒有舉行過或無效的。由此可見“音聲實踐”在佛教儀式中的重要性。在佛教儀式中，“音聲實踐”是無所不在的。但是，對於僧侶而言，“音聲實踐”並非一門純藝術(pure art)，它也缺乏專門而系統化的語彙，它尤其無法以西洋觀點對“音樂”(Music)的定義加以界定。本文研究的目的在於了解：在佛教僧團中“音聲實踐”本身究竟代表著什麼？為什麼在佛教儀式中“音聲實踐”是無所不在的？除了儀禮需要及宗教特定功能外，究竟“音聲實踐”在佛教儀式中，扮演怎樣的角色？在儀式情境中，“音聲”是如何被思考、被實踐和被詮釋的？有關佛教的音聲概念及音聲在儀式中的應用的探討，本文的研究步驟主要透過僧侶音樂養成訓練的觀，以及對佛教儀式音樂實例的分析，進行多層次的解讀，以期拼湊出佛教徒們的音聲概念。本文分析的素材主要建立於十多年來在佛教僧團中進行的觀察及所蒐集來的文字和有聲資料。至於分析實例的選擇，本文特別以有著非常豐富的音樂素材及象徵意義的佛教水陸法會及其音樂作為研究對象。關於音聲實踐在儀式中角色的探討，本文將從音樂與儀式時間、空間、參與者、物品的關係進行交叉分析，並將以Tambiah所提出的展演理論做更深入地探討。

　　In orthodox Buddhist groups in Taiwan, the life and rituals of Buddhists cannot be separated from musical practice. For devout Buddhists, whatever related to their daily life has much to do with musical practice. In their daily life, even when performing tasks, they have to chant Fohao (the name of Buddha), mantras, or sutras, either aloud or in a low voice. These actions are meaningful only when combined with musical practice. As to rituals, when not musicalized (recited or chanted), they are considered ineffective. From this fact, we know what important roles “musical practice” play in Buddhist rituals. In Buddhist rituals, “musical practice” is omnipresent. However, to a monk, “musical practice” isn’t pure art. It lacks systematic terminology, and it absolutely cannot be defined as “Music” from the western point-of-view. The purpose of this study is to understand: 1. what “musical practice” stands for in the assembly of monks; 2. why “musical practice” is omnipresent in Buddhist rituals; 3. besides needs for social etiquette and certain religious functions, what role “musical practice” plays in Buddhist rituals; 4. and how “musical practice” is regarded, practiced, and interpreted in Buddhist rituals. The purpose of this study is to explore Buddhists’ music concepts and the application of these concepts to Buddhist rituals, and I will observe the musical training process of Buddhist monks, analyze and interpret examples of Buddhist ritual music at various levels so that conclusions to Buddhists’ concepts about sound and music can be reached. The material collected is mainly from the observation and collection of verbal and audio records over the past 10 more years. As to the selection of examples for analysis, I choose the “Shui-lu’ rituals, which has affluent musical elements and symbolic meanings, as our study target. And, I will discuss the roles “music practice “ play in Buddhist rituals through cross analysis of the relationships between music and he ritual’s time, space, participants, and objects used; then, I’ll adopt perspectives from Tambiah’s performative theory to further explore the roles of “musical practice”.