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Chinese Music |
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Chinese Traditional Music |
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Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums. Instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: skin, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone. Chinese orchestras traditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked strings and percussion. Many traditional folk ensemble pieces are adapted into solos.
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Chinese Music Instrument |
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Woodwind: dizi, sheng, paixiao, guan
Strings:
Bowed: erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin
Plucked and struck: guqin, sanxian, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu
Percussion: paigu, gong, bells
Instrumental pieces played on an erhu or dizi are popular, and are often available outside of China, but the pipa and zheng music, which are more traditional, are more popular in China itself. The qin is perhaps the most revered instrument in China, even though very few people know what it is or seen and heard one being played. The zheng, a form of zither, is most popular in Henan, Chaozhou, Hakka and Shandong. The pipa, a kind of lute, believed to have been introduced from the Arabian Peninsula area during the 6th century and improved, is most popular in Shanghai and surrounding areas.
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erhu: The Erhu, also called 'Huqin', was introduced from the western region during the Tang Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), it was refined and improved and new variations appeared. It was also an important instrument for playing the melody of Beijing Opera. When playing, the player usually stands the Erhu on his lap, and moves the bow across the vertical strings.
Famous erhu pieces and notable erhu performers: The well-known music 'Two Springs Reflect the Moon' was created by the
blind folk artist Liu Yanjun, also named A Bing by the people. Though he could not see anything of the world, he played his Erhu using his heart and imagination. This melody conjures up a poetic night scene under the moonlight and expresses the composer's desolation and hope.
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Pipa: Originally named after the loquat fruit, the earliest pipa known was found to have been made in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC ¨C 206 BC). By the the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), the pipa had reached its summit. It wwas loved by everyone--from the royal court to the common folk--and it occupied the predominant place in the orchestra. Many well known writers and poets created poems and mentioned it in their works. Bai Juyi, the master poet, vividly depicted the performance like this: rapid and soft notes mingled were just like big and small pearls dropping onto the jade plates. Afterwards, the pipa underwent improvement in playing techniques and structure. Players then changed from holding the pipa transversely to holding it vertically, and from using a pick to using the fingers to pluck the strngs directly. In modern times, the volume and resonance has also been improved.
Famous Pipa pieces: The traditional music work 'Spring Moonlight on the Flowers by the River', which has a history of over one hundred years, has brought harmony and a sense of beauty to untold numbers of people.
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DiZi/Chinese Flute: The earliest flute was made from bone over 7,000 years ago. In the times since then, most flutes were made of bamboo, which allowed even common people to play it. By covering the holes and blowing through the side hole while moving the fingers flexibly between the six holes, a sound will be produced that is leisurely and mellifluous like sound from far away. This always reminds people of a pastoral picture of a farmer riding on a bull while playing a flute.
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