26 Traditional Chinese Instruments -- Page 1
Erhu
Sheng
Yangqin
Banhu
Zhonghu
Xiao
Ruan
Pipa
Gong
Jinghu
Souna
Guan
26 Traditional Chinese Instruments -- Page 2
Zhuihu Gaohu
Dahu
Yueqin
Muyu
Liuqin
Bangu
Sanxian
Pengling
Gehu
26 Traditional Chinese Instruments -- Page 3
Zheng
Guqin
Cymbals
Dizi
Chinese Music
Instruments, History
and Performers
1. Musical
Instruments of the
Chinese
2. Musical Scenes in
China
3. Music History of
China
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Choices
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I. The Plucked String Instruments
1.
The Lute family
o
Pipa (pi-pa or p'i-p'a) - fourstringed lute with 30 frets and
pear-shaped body. The
instrumentalist holds the pipa
upright and play with five
small plectra attached to each
finger of the right hand. The
pipa history can be dated
back at least 2000 years and
developed from pentatonic to
full scales. This instrument
has extremely wide dynamic
range and remarkable
expressive power.
To hear what it sounds like select the link below.
http://www.philmultic.com/liufang/MP3/music/guzheng/li
u%20fang%20-%20Track%2001.mp3
1.
The harp
family
o
Konghou(Kong Hou) - One of the most
ancient Chinese music instruments that
appeared in written texts of the Spring and
Autumn period (around 600 BC). The structure
of the Konghou looks similar to the harp,
however, with its bridges spanning the strings
in the way similar to guzheng. There were the
wo-konghou (horizontal konghou), su-konghou
(vertical konghou) and phoenix-head konghou.
Unfortunately not much of this ancient
instrument has been preserved. The
reproduction of the konghou started in the mid
50's. The structure of Today's konghou is a
combination of su-konghou and wo-konghou
with the shape similar to harp. The performing skill is diversified.
Besides right-hand techniques, the left hand can play vibratos,
glissandos, etc. The tone quality is mellow and graceful and has a
typical Chinese flavour.
1.
The zither family
o
Guqin
- seven-stringed zither
without bridges, the
most classical Chinese instrument with over 3000 years
of history. It is literally called qin yet commonly known as
"guqin" where "gu" stands for ancient. Confucius (around
600 BC) was a master of this instrument. To learn to play
qin used to be regarded as a very important element for
education for the purpose of enriching the heart and
elevating human spirit. In Imperial China, scholars and
ladies of the high society were expected to master the four
arts, namely, the qin (guqin), qi (weiqi, which has
somehow been known as "Go" in the West according Japanese
pronuciation), shu (Calligraphy), and hua (painting). Being on top of
the four traditional arts, the guqin has historically been regarded as one
of the most important symbols of Chinese high culture. Unfortunately
only small number of people in China could play the instrument,
because classical musical education of this kind has never reached
general public. The situation for today has not been improved much.
The situation for lute pipa was similar. Due to this reason, a lot of
ancient repertoire were lost with the pass-away of masters or the
written scores were burned or destroyed in war or social turmoil.
However, the guqin repertoire has been much better preserved than all
other instruments. Since november 2003, Guqin has been registered as
one of the master pieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of the
humanity by the United Nations' Educational, Cultural and Scientific
Organization (UNESCO) (more...)
o
Music of the Guqin
http://www.geocities.com/risheng99/iRuan - very
ancient four-stringed moon-shaped lute with long
and straight neck and various number of frets, dated
back at least to Qin Daynasty (around 200 BC). Ruan
is used to be called "p'i-p'a" (pipa) or qin-pipa. Since
the introduction of the oud-like lute through the "silkroad" in the early Tang Dynasty (around 5th century), the pipa gradually developed into the
present form, and the old form of pipa with straight-neck and round body got the name
"Ruan", after the name of the master player of this instrument, Ruan Xian who was one of
the seven great scholars known as "The Seven Gentlemen in the Bamboo Forest" in Chinese
history of the 3rd century (the Six Dynasties). They were truely good friends. Ruan Xian and
Ji Kang, master of guqin (Chinese 7-stringed zither), are most famous for their musical
achievements and the life as true artists. The Ruan is mostly used for Peking opera, and now
also in modern Chinese orchestra. There are family of ruan of various size including "Zhong
Ruan" (middle Ruan) and "Da Ruan" (large Ruan) used in the same sense as viola and cello
in western orchestra. nstruments/samples/guqin.
To lisen to the ruan
http://www.geocities.com/risheng99/ins
it is a Chinese song little sisters on meow
truments/samples/ruan_sample.mphttp://www.btinternet.com/~xiangxing/music/REV/REV12LittleS
istersOnMeadow.mp33mp3
two little stars
opera
http://music.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedia/chinesemusic/Children/KD15.Two_Little_Stars.mp3