Download The Music of China

The Music of China
What do we already know about
Chinese music?
 It’s very old.
 Instruments specific to China.
 Maybe it tells a story?
 Lots of string instruments.
 Maybe similar to Japanese music?
 Pentatonic Scale
Instruments
Strings (Lute, Zither, Bowed, Dulcimer), Winds (Flute, Free Reed),
Percussion
Lute - Pipa
 Four-stringed lute with 30 frets
and a pear-shaped body. The
instrumentalist holds the pipa
upright and plays with five small
plectra attached to each finger
of the right hand.
 Vibrato is created by shaking the
left hand.
 Musicians use tremolo to sustain
the notes (make them last
longer).
 Songs
 White Snow in the Spring
Sunlight
 Opening of Heaven’s Gates
Lute - Yueqin
 Guitar like instrument.
 Yueqin video
Zither - Guzheng
 A large 18–23-or-more stringed
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instrument. It is said that it is an
ancestor of the Japanese koto.
Unlike Japanese koto players who
kneel on the floor, Chinese
musicians sit in chairs in front of
guzheng desks.
Often performed solo.
Moveable bridges for tuning.
Finger plectra on the right hand.
Left hand bends the strings to
change pitch or create vibrato.
Evening Song From The Fishing
Boat
Fighting the Typhoon
Bowed - Erhu
 A two-stringed fiddle, which is one of
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the most popular Chinese instruments.
It was once mainly used in operatic
performances, but now it is popular as a
solo instrument.
It is a two-string, violin-like
instrument that is played with a bow set
in between the two strings. It isn’t as
loud as a violin because the sound box
is small. The sound box traditionally has
a snakeskin cover.
It is used to imitate the sound of
singing, bird calls, and horses.
Autumn Moon Over the Han Palace
Horse Racing
Dulcimer - Yangqin
 Hammered dulcimer
played with two flexible
bamboo hammers.
 Plays a role much like a
piano.
 Spring on River Qing
 Journey to Lhasa
Flute - Dizi
 Dizi are generally made of
bamboo, and they generally
have six or more finger holes.
One hole is covered with
paper so that the flute has a
peculiar buzzing sound that
people like.
 It is a transverse flute,
therefore it is held to the side
and air is blown over the
sound hole.
 Moon on Guan Mountain
 Flowing Water of Paradise
Free Reed – Hulusi and Sheng
 Free Reed - a musical
instrument that
produces sound as air flows
past a vibrating reed in a
frame. Air pressure is
typically generated
by breath or with a bellows.
 HulusiVideo
 Hulusi - Deep in the Bamboo
Forest
 Sheng
Percussion
 Chinese music does not
have a large focus on
percussion however some
simple percussion
instruments are used, such
as gongs, chimes, and
barrel shaped drums.
Characteristics of Chinese Music
Characteristics
 Pentatonic scale
 Focus on melody, not harmony
 No emphasis on rhythm or beat.
 Use of ornamentation – tremolo, glissando, grace notes, etc.
 Three kinds of traditional music
 Chinese opera music meant for theatrical performances,
 ensemble or orchestra music for cultured audiences, and
 solo instrumental performance.
 Traditional Chinese music is supposed to be simple, tranquil,
and facilitate appropriate conduct. It is meant to be happy
and is often inspired by nature.
Enjoy these examples of Chinese
ensembles.
 Sunny Spring, White Snow
 My Motherland - Dizi solo in beginning and example of
singing technique.
 Heavenly Home
 A full concert of Chinese music.
Terminology from Slides
 Glissando – Sliding with finger or plectrum on the string(s) to
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create a sliding, continuous sound.
Tremolo – playing a single note quickly in repetition. Used to
sustain notes on plucked instruments.
Dulcimer – trapezoid shaped instrument. Played by striking
strings with hammers made of bamboo.
Zither – string instrument, played by plucking the strings with
plectrums attached to the fingers. Strings are tuned with moveable
bridges.
Free Reed – Mouth organ, wind instrument where air flows past a
vibrating reed in a frame.
Trill – playing two different pitches quickly in succession.
What do we now know about Chinese
music?