Traditional Chinese Instruments

The Chinese culture is long, and during each generation they invent different instruments for entertainment and for a symbol of the Chinese culture. Among the many traditional Chinese instruments are the erhu, pipa, gouzheng, liuqin and the dize. Below I am going to describe how the instruments are played.

Erhu is an instrument pronounced as èrhú (urrh-hoo) in Mandarin. Erhu is a violin like instrument with a bow like a violin’s bow. Erhu is not as loud a violin because the sound box is smaller, at the end of the instrument. The sound box of erhu traditionally has a snakeskin cover, but modern instruments are made with modern materials. The famous songs of erhu are “The Moon over a Fountain(二泉映月)”, “Horse Racing(赛马)”, “Jackdaw Playing in the Water(寒鸦戏水)”, “The Moon over the Han Palace(汉宫水月)”, and the “Celebrating the Spring Festival(闹春)”

Guzheng: Pronounced gǔzhēng (goo-jung) in Mandarin. Guzheng is a large instrument with 18–23 or more stringed instrument and was said that it was an ancestor of the Japanese Koto. Guzheng is played by one hand plucking the strings while the other hand press on the strings to create a certain note. Below are the traditional songs played on the guzheng“High Mountain and Running Water(高山流水)”, “Fishing Boat Sings the Evening(渔舟唱晚)”, “Jackdaw Playing in the Water(寒鸦戏水)”, “Fighting the Typhoon(战台风)”, and “The Moon over the Han Palace(汉宫秋月)”

Pipa: The pipa (pípá, pee-pah) is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with frets like the ones on a guitar. Pipa sounds like a banjo and it is also played by one hand plucking the string while the other hand presses on the string for a certain note like the guzheng. Pipa is famous for the songs below. The House of Flying Daggers(十面埋伏), King Chu Doffs His Armor(霸王卸甲), Fortress Song(塞ୖ\\曲), Zhaojun Departs the Frontier(昭君出塞), Gold and Sand(大浪淘沙)"

Dize: Dize are generally made of bamboo, and they usually have six or more finger holes. One hole is covered with paper so that the flute has a peculiar buzzing sound that people like. There are a lot of different types of dize, they are different by the sound they make. The longer the dize is, the stronger and fuller the sound is. The classical melody of dize are “Guangling Verse(广陵散)”, “Moon on Guan Mountain(关山月)”, “Wild Geese on the Sandbank(平沙落雁)”, “Plum-blossom in Three Movements(梅花弄)”, “Orchid(幽兰)"

Liuqin is the Chinese instrument that I play. Liuqin is a plucked stringed musical instrument with a pear-shaped body like the pipa. Liuqin is often used to accompany the traditional Chinese opera. Its appearance, structure and the law of playing is similar to Pipa. The difference between liuqin and pipa is the fact that pipa is played by wearing the special finger plectra on fingers to use the finger plectra to pluck the strings and make a sound. To play pipa requires long fingers and long arms but the most important step to become a professor is to practice. Liuqin is played by holding onto a pick and picking the string. Some of the famous songs played on the liuqin is: “ Sword(剑器)”, “After Rain Courtyard(雨后庭院)”, “Spring to Yi River(春到沂河)”, “kapok Blossom(木棉花开)”, “Moon on Guan Mountain(关山月)”