Native New-Yorker Tan joined the Central Conservatory in 1978, and soon found that his lack of grounding in Western music was a serious handicap. To compensate, he went flat-out to absorb Western music and theory.
一九七八年入學之後，由於西洋音樂底子和同學相差一大截，譚盾全心追求洋化，拼命地吸收西方的音樂和理論。