MUSIC OF CHINA

GROUP 2 – 8 KEPLER
MUSIC OF CHINA
The Chinese believed that the sound influences
the harmony of the universe.
The Chinese culture was dominated by the
teachings of the philosopher Confucius.
In which Confucius conceived music in the highest
sense as means of calming the passion and of
dispelling unrest and lust, rather than a form of
amusement.
YUEQIN
A moon-shaped lute with shorter neck and four
strings played with a spectrum, used for
accompanying local operas.
 PIPA
A four-stringed with 30-frets and a pear-shaped body. This
instrument has an extremely wide dynamic range and
remarkable expressive power.
 The modern pipa has 29 or 31 frets, 6 on the neck and the
rest on the body of the instrument
 ERHU
A two-stringed fiddle and one of the most
popular Chinese instruments. It is also used as a
solo instrument as well as in small ensembles or
large orchestra, and by various ethnic groups.
 YUNLUO
 Literally ‘cloud gongs’ or ‘cloud of gongs’, the yunluo is a set of a
ten small tuned gongs mounted in a wooden frame. The yunluo’s
gongs are generally of equal diameter but different thickness.
The thicker gongs produce a higher pitch.
 SHENG
 Also called as Chinese mouth organ and looks like a set of
panpipes with 12 to 36 bamboo pipes. Each pipe is of
different length with a brass reed at the bottom and a hole
that must be blocked in order for the note to sound. This
makes it possible to sound several notes simultaneously, so
chords and melody can be performed at the same time.
Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments.
 DIZI
 The traditional Chinese flute. It can have membrane over an extra hole to
give the characteristic rattle effect. The player plays the dizi by blowing
across the mouthpiece and produces the different notes by stopping the six
holes found in the rod.
 ZHENG
 An ancient Chinese instrument that has an arched surface and an
elongated-trapezoid with 13-21 strings stretched over individual
bridges. Its playing range spans three to four octaves.
 PENGLING

 These are two small bells made of high-tin bronze, without internal
clappers, and hemispheric or bottomless gourd-like in shape. The
instrument has a delicate, clarion and melodious tone. It is a
coloring rhythmic instrument, either in ensembles or in theater
music, bringing an effect of peaceful dreams.
