Chinese Musical Instruments

中国民族乐器

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HistoryAccording to incomplete

statistics, China now has more

than 600 varieties of

National musical instruments with

unique characteristics.These traditional National musical instruments can

be generally divided into four

categories: Bowed, Plucked Strings, Wind

and Percussion in accordance with the sound

and playing methods.

Twelve Girls Band女 子 十 二 乐 坊

Jasmine Flower茉 莉 花

(0:27-1:43)

COMPOSITION OF INSTRUMENTS

IN TWELVE GIRLS BAND

★ Four Erhu 二胡

★ Three Chinese Lute(Pipa) 琵琶

★ Two Bamboo Raft 竹笛

★ Two Dulcimer(Yang-chin) 扬琴

★ One Ancient Zither(Gu’zheng) 古筝

CATEGORY

according to the style of performing

• Bowed

• Plucked Strings

• Wind

• Percussion

Erhu

• Erhu is a Chinese musical instruments, the youngest .But the Erhu is a bowed instrument that has become the most widely spread and most representative in China.The Erhu has a soft sound.It is suitable for playing soft and meticulous lyrical music.It is a solo musical instrument with rich impressive forces 。

• The erhu consists of a long vertical stick-like neck, at the top of which are two large tuning pegs, and at the bottom is a small resonator body (sound box) which is covered with python skin on the front (playing) end. Two strings are attached from the pegs to the base, and a small loop of string (qian jin) placed around the neck and strings acting as a nut pulls the strings towards the skin, holding a small wooden bridge in place.

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Plucked string instrument• Plucked string

instruments ， according to the shapes ， performance ， and playing methods of musical instruments ， plucked string instruments can be divided into two categories ： one represented by the pipa ， and the other the guqin and guzheng 。

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The earliest guqin had five string.Emperors Wenwang and Wuwang of Zhou Dynasty knew music well enough to add two strings to guqin. That’s why the guqin usually has seven strings.

The guzheng is one of the oldest Chinese plucked string instrument.The most commonly used one has 21 strings.

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• 琵琶 pipa When it is

played ， the left hand controls the strings ， and the right hand plays it.

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RuanThe ruan ( 阮) is a Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute

with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern ruan has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets.

In Chinese orchestras, only the zhongruan and daruan are commonly used, to fill in the tenor and bass section of the plucked string section. Occasionally the gaoyinruan is used to substitute the high-pitched liuqin.

The ruan comes in a family of five sizes:

•Soprano: Gaoyinruan ( 高音阮 , lit. "high pitched ruan"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5)

•Alto: Xiaoruan ( 小阮 , lit. "small ruan"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4)

•Tenor: Zhongruan ( 中阮 , lit. "medium ruan"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4)

•Bass: Daruan ( 大阮 , lit. "large ruan"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)

•Contrabass: Diyinruan ( 低音阮 , lit. "low pitched ruan"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)

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Chinese Wind instruments

• Bone flutes Unearthed from remains of the neolithic Age at Jiahu Village ， Henan Province between 1986 and 1987 ， are the most ancient musical instrument discovered by archeologists in china 。 About 7500 years ago 。

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Hulusi ( 葫芦丝 ) – free-reed wind instrument with three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes and the other two are drone pipes; used primarily in Yunnan province

The flute is also known as the cross flute or bamboo flute. Traditional flute are mainly made from bamboo. The flute has six tone holes, one blowing hole and one flute diaphragm hole.

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The paixiao ( 排箫)

is an ancient Chinese wind instrument, a form of pan pipes.

Sheng ( 笙 ) – free reed mouth organ consisting of varying number of bamboo pipes inserted into a metal (formerly gourd or hardwood) chamber with finger holes

The Xun ( 埙) is a globular, vessel flute from China.

It is one of the oldest musical instruments in China and has been in use for approximately seven thousand years. The xun was initially made of baked clay or bone, and later of clay or ceramic.

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Percussion-Made with Hide

Paigu ( 排鼓 ) – set of three to seven tuned drums played with sticks

Bangu ( 板鼓 ) – small, high pitched drum used in Beijing opera

Dagu – ( 大鼓 ) – large drum played with two sticks

Percussion-Made with Metal

Bianzhong ( 编钟 ) – 16 to 65 bronze bells hung on a rack, struck using poles

Yunluo ( 云锣 ) – literally "cloud gongs"; 10 or more small tuned gongs in a frame

Dulcimer (Yangqin)Belongs to Plucked string and Percussion instruments

StringsModern yangqin usually have 144 strings in total, with each

pitch running in courses, with up to 5 strings per course, in

order to boost the volume. The strings come in various

thicknesses, and are tied at one end by screws, and at the

other with tuning pegs. The pegs and screws are covered

during playing by a hinged panel/board. This panel is

opened up during tuning to access the tuning pegs.

BridgesThere are usually four to five bridges on a yangqin.

From right to left, they are: bass bridge, "right bridge",

tenor bridge, "left bridge", and the chromatic bridge.

During playing, one is supposed to strike the strings on

the left side of the bridges. However, the strings on the

"chromatic bridge" are struck on the right, and strings on

the "left bridge" can be struck on both sides of the

bridge.

Hammers

The hammers are made of flexible bamboo, and one end is

half covered by rubber. Due to their unique construction,

there are two ways to play: with the rubber side for a softer

sound, and with the bamboo side for a crisper, more

percussive sound. This technique, known as (fǎnzhǔ), is

best utilized in the higher ranges of the yangqin.

Additionally, the ends of the sticks can be used to pluck the

strings, producing a sharp, clear sound. Glissandos can also

be achieved in this way by running the ends of the sticks up

or down the strings

Cylindrical

nutsOn both sides of the yangqin,

aside from the tuning screws,

are numerous cylindrical

metal Nuts that can be

moved for fine tuning the

strings or to raise the strings

slightly to eliminate

unwanted vibrations that may

occur.

Manner of Performance• The sticks are held, one in each hand, and hit the

strings alternately. In the orchestra, the yangqin often adds to the harmony by playing chords or arpeggios. As the yangqin is softer than other Chinese instruments, it is usually positioned at the front of the orchestra, in the row just in front of the conductor.

The yangqin has been called the "Chinese piano" as it has an indispensable role in the accompaniment of Chinese string and wind instruments.

The yangqin is a chromatic instrument with a range of slightly over

four octaves. Middle C is located on the tenor bridge, third course

from the bottom.

The pitches are arranged so that in general, moving one section away

from the player's body corresponds to a transposition of a whole tone

upwards. Similarly, moving one section towards the left of the

performer generally corresponds to a transposition of a perfect fifth

upwards. These are only rules of thumb since the arrangement has to

be modified towards the extremes of the pitch range to fill out notes in

the chromatic scale. Such an arrangement facilitates transposition.

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Moonlit River In Spring

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