Music and Instruments
Written by Jennifer
In China, music is very
important. There are
many recordings of traditional Chinese music. Chinese music is as
old as the Chinese civilization. The instruments dug up from the
places of the Shang Dynasty (1766-1027 BC) include the sheng, panpipes,
bronze bells, and the stone chime. When Europeans first started
learning about music, China had already developed lots of music.
Melodies and tones are very prominent in Chinese music. There are
two different scales: the five tone, or pentatonic, and the seven
tone, or heptatonic. The pentatonic is used for older music, and
the heptatonic is used for more modern music.
Modern Chinese music today is very similar to western music. Just
like in America, Chinese people go to concerts to see their favorite
pop stars. Today, orchestras play traditional, classical, and
modern music. Many different instruments are played in China-
everything from keyboards to guitars.
| Many different stringed
instruments are used in traditional Chinese
music. There are three major divisions, with several smaller
categories within each division. The first division includes the
Plucked String Instruments, in this division the first category is the
Lute family. The first instrument in this category is the
Pipa. It is
a four stringed instrument with 30 frets. It is shaped like a
pear.
To play it, you attach five little plecetras to each finger of your
right hand. The next instrument is the Liuqin. It is also a
four
stringed instrument and is basically a smaller version of the
Pipa. It
is used for folk songs, local operas, and is sometimes a soloist
instrument. The next is the Sanxian. It is a three stringed
instrument with no frets. It has a long neck. San stands
for three
and xian stands for stringed. Therefore it is a three stringed
instrument. It is popular in the north, and is played in local
operas
and some folk songs. Another instrument is the Ruan.
It is one of
the more ancient instruments and it is moon shaped. The fret
numbers
vary. The next is the Yueqin. It is also a moon shaped
structure with
a short neck and four strings. It accompanies in operas.
Yue stands
for moon in Chinese. |
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The second category is
the
Zither family. The first instrument is the
Guqin. It is a seven stringed zither with no bridges. It
has over 300
years of history. The next is the Zheng or the Guzheng. It
has 16 –
25 strings, and movable bridges. The third and last category of
the
Plucked String Instruments is the Harp family. The only
instrument in
this category is the Konghou. It is one of the more ancient ones
and
it was found in the Spring autumn period (around 600 B.C.) It is
similar to a harp and its bridges span the strings so it looks similar
to a Guzheng. It has a mellow, graceful sound. |
| The second division is the
Bowed Stringed Instruments. The first
category is the Huqin family. First of all, hu means foreign and
qin
means a general name for all stringed instruments. The first
instrument is the Erhu and it is a two stringed fiddle. The
second is
the Zong-Hu, which is like a Erhu, but has a deeper sound, which makes
it more suitable for singing tunes. The next is the Jing –
Hu. It is
a two stringed instrument and is the highest instrument in all the
Huqin family. Another instrument is the Ban-Hu. It has many
other
names such as Pang-Hu, Qin-Hu, Hu-Hu, Dan – Xian, and more. This
instrument is usually used for solos and expresses joyful and
passionate moods. The next is the Gao – Hu. It is good for
high
pitched tunes that the Er – Hu can’t play. It is used in folk
melodies
and in operas. It has a vivid and brisk rhythm. The next
instrument
is the Sihu. It is a four stringed Huqin. It is used for
accompanying
local operas. The last instrument of the Bowed String Instrument
division is the Morin Khur, also called the horse headed violin.
It
sounds like a human voice. It has a warm rich tone. It also
has a
beautiful sound. |
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| The third division is
the
Hammered String Instrument. The only
instrument in this division is the Yangqin. It is a Chinese
hammered
dulcimer. It is played with two bamboo sticks. It is
easy to see why
people think of stringed instruments when they think of traditional
Chinese music—there are so many of them! Because there are so
many,
this music has a wide variety of sounds, pitches, and tones. |
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Sources and Pictures:
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~twees/liuqin.jpg
http://www.chinesecultureonline.com/product_images/7/pipa_1_big.jpg
http://research.umbc.edu/eol/8/dujunco/yangqin.jpg
http://chcp.org/music/erhu.jpg
http://www.asza.com/iruan.gif
http://www.freewebs.com/nusco2/konghou3.gif
http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/
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