Chestnut and paulownia boards for the traditional musical instruments were air dried to compare moisture contents(MC), drying rates and drying times between the air drying for 70 days in a yard and the shed drying for 150 days in a closed shed when piled in early June. An average final MC and the drying rate of chestnut boards were 20.6 percent and 0.78%/day for the air drying, and 16.6 percent and 0.44%/day for the shed drying. An average final MC and the drying rate of paulownia boards were 16.7 percent and 1.53%/day for the air drying, and 13.5 percent and 0.77%/day for the shed drying. Drying rates of air-dried boards were nearly twice as high as those of shed-dried boards for both species. Air drying rates of chestnut and paulownia boards were very high and exhibited falling drying rate above the fiber saturation point(30%), and then decreased irregularly. However, shed drying rates of chestnut and paulownia boards were high and exhibited falling drying rate above 55 percent MC for chestnut boards and above 80 percent MC for paulownia boards, and then decreased irregularly.