The Introduction of Traditional Chinese Instruments

Speaker: Chih- Chen Ph. D Director of Little Giant Chinese Chamber Date: April 1, 2017 Chinese Instruments

 Wind Instruments  Plucked-string Instruments  Bowed-string Instruments  Percussion Instruments Wind Instruments: Di

 Chinese transverse  206 B.C. - 220 A.D.: Introduced from  Structure : with reed membrane 1 blow hole, 6 finger holes, 1 membrane hole  Transposing instrument; by player  Register: 2 octaves  Category: Bandi, Qudi etc.  Related types: , Bangdi (short Di)  Distribution: Northern China  Function: Accompany Bangzi opera  Register:

Qudi (long Di)  Distribution: Southern China  Function: Accompany Kun opera  Register: Wind Instruments:

 Chinese vertical flute  Used by the southwestern people of China in ancient period  Structure: Bamboo without membrane 1 blow hole, 6 finger holes  Transposing instrument; by player  Register: 2 octaves Wind Instruments: Sheng

 Chinese mouth organ  12 - 14th century B.C.  Structure: Bamboo pipe, brass reed, sheng body  Register: Depends on the number of pipe  Category: Traditional - 13, 17, 19, 21, 37 reeds Modern - 24, 26, 36, 38, 42 reeds Orchestra - soprano, alto, tenor, sheng

21 reeds sheng Traditional sheng

Tube Position remains unchanged 36-reed Soprano sheng Techniques

1. Flutter Tongue 花舌

2. Rapid Double Tongue 碎吐 3. Throat-Tongue 呼舌 Techniques

4. Scale-wise Grace Notes 瀝音

5. Glissando 滑音 Plucked Instruments:

 Before 581 A.D. - 618 A.D.: Plucked-string instruments played in hand-held positions with outward fingering technique called "pi" and the inward one called "pa"  The pear-shaped pipa: Introduced from Central Asia  Structure: 4 steel strings; 6 Xians ( on the neck) 24 Pins (frets)  Tuning: A-d-e-a; 12 (12 ET)  Register: A-e3 Plucked Instruments:

 Willow Leaf String; Liu-ye-qin  Distribution: Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu province  Function: Accompany willow-string opera, Sizhou opera  Structure: 4 steel strings and 24 frets  Tuning: g-d1-g1-d2; 12 ET  Register: g-d4 Plucked Instruments: (260 B.C. - 220 A.D.): Han Pipa (265 A.D. - 420 A.D.):  Structure: 4 steel strings, 24 frets  Modern: Soprano, alto, tenor, bass ruan  Tuning: Alto ruan G-d-g-d1; 12 ET Tenor ruan D-A-d-a; 12 ET  Register: Alto ruan G-d3 Tenor ruan D-a2 Right hand Left hand Plucked Instruments:  An adaptation of the Persain Santur  Introduced to coastal areas of Guangdong Province in south China late in the (1368 A.D. - 1644 A.D.)  Structure: Trapezoidal shape; 4 rows of bridges, each row with 10~13 chessman-shaped bridges, and each bridge with 1~5 strings; Yangqin has more than 140 strings  Register: Four octaves (G-a3), with full chromatic capability

Plucked Instruments: Zheng

 Already existed in the (403-221 B.C.)  Structure: 21 strings zheng - 21 strings (steel strings flat wound with nylon); movable bridges Bowed Instruments:

 Chinese  Introduced from Central Asia to China more than a thousand years ago; evolved from the of the (618 A.D. – 907 A.D.)  Tuning: d1-a1  Register: 3.5 octaves (d1-a4)  Function: music Accompany Cantonese opera  Register:

Zhonghu  Function: Used in  Register:

Percussion Instruments

 Metal types

 Wood types

 Skin types Percussion Instruments: Matel types Percussion Instruments: Wood types Percussion Instruments: Skin types Percussion Instruments: Others Thank You