Chinese Music

Context

Ancient traditions Chinese civilisation is one of the oldest in the world.

Chinese musical systems and instruments were developed in China before most other
countries.
Music could influence the soul
Music could affect nature and natural phenomena
Scales are associated with planets and months of the year
Religious chants and songs had to start on a particular note of the scale according to
the month in which the ceremony was taking place
Chinese music is always inspired by nature
Descriptive music is very popular in China

Melody

Improvised quality to the solo (ornamentation)

Repeated melodic fragment by the whole ensemble
Pentatonic scale

Tonality

Neither major nor minor but feels diatonic

Pentatonic scale

Texture

Heterophonic OR Melody and Accompaniment (Homophonic)

Instruments

Percussion
String solo
Plucked string instruments harmony
Wind melody
Pipa/Chin,
Dizi/Hsiao (Xiao)
Ti-tzu
Tou-Kuan
Erhu
Yun-lo
Sheng
Guzheng

Rhythm

Shorter rather than longer notes

4/4 most common metre

Songs

Monosyllabic
Many words have similar pronunciation; it is the intonation that makes the meaning
different
The written characters express the rise and fall of the voice
Music notation used the same characters as the words