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Decoding Game! 

OPUFT
NOTES
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M PW F
LOVE
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NVTJD
MUSIC
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PG
OF
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DIJOB
CHINA
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NVTJD PG DIJOB
MUSIC OF
CHINA
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Music
of
China
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History of Music in China

• China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Its written
history can be found as early as 17th B.C (Shang Dynasty)

• Chinese had significant influences with other Asian

countries like Philippines, Malaysia, Korean And Japan
because of their interest in trading.
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• Different types of music have been recorded in historical

Chinese documents from the early periods of
Chinese civilization.
• Together with archaeological artefacts discovered, provided
evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the
Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC).
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• These further developed into various forms of music

through succeeding dynasties, producing the rich
heritage of music that is part of the Chinese cultural
landscape today.
• Chinese music continues to evolve in the modern times, and
more contemporary forms have also emerged.
• The Chinese believed that sound influences the
harmony of the universe.
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Musical Scale in China

• The first musical scales were derived from the
harmonic series.
• On the Guqin (a traditional instrument) all of the dotted
positions are equal string length divisions related to the open
string like 1/2,1/3, 2/3, 1/4, 3/4, etc. and are quite easy to
recognize on this
instrument.
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• The Guqin has a scale of 13 positions all representing a natural

harmonic position related to the open string.
• Most Chinese music uses a pentatonic scale, with the intervals
(in terms of lǜ) almost the same as those of the major pentatonic
scale.
• The notes of this scale are
called gōng 宫 , shāng 商 , jué/jiao 角 , zhǐ 徵 and yǔ 羽 .
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Three Kinds of Traditional Music

1. Chinese opera music - meant for theatrical
performance
2. Ensemble or Orchestra music - for culture
audiences
3. Solo instrumental performance
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Classification of Musical
Instruments of China
according to the Materials
Used
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8 Classifications of Chinese Musical

Instruments
1. Silk 5. Metal
2. Bamboo 6. Clay
3. Wood 7. Gourd
4. Stone 8. Hide/Pigskin
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1. SILK - These are instruments that have strings made

of silk.
PIPA( 琵琶 ) - a four stringed lute with 30 frets and pear shaped
body. It has an extremely wide dynamic range and remarkable
expressive power.
- Plucked
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Yueqin
- a moon-shaped lute with shorter neck and four
strings.
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Guqin
- is an instrument that has 7 strings made of silk, bridgeless
zither and is considered one of the oldest instruments in china.
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ERHU
- two-stringed fiddle that is played by moving a bow to and
from the strings
- bowed
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YANGQIN
- a hammered zither where strings are struck with two small
bamboo beaters
- it is used as accompaniment in vocal music
- struck
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2. Bamboo - this group of instruments is mainly

composed of aerophones or blown instruments made
of bamboo.
HSIAO - an end-blown flute made from smooth bamboo.
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3. Wood
MUYU - made from mulberry wood , struck with wooden stick.
PAIBAN - a clapper made from flat pieces of hardwood.
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4. Stone
BIANQING
- is a rack of stone tablets that are hung by ropes from a
wooden frame and struck using a mallet.
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5. Clay
XUN
- is a Chinese vessel flute
- it is one of the oldest instruments of China made of baked-
clay or ceramic
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6. Gourd - these are instruments made from hard wood.

SHENG
- also called as Chinese mouth organ.
- a set of panpipes with 12 to 36 bamboo pipes, used
to accompany folk songs.
- It can be played with an ensemble or orchestra or
only by itself.
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Watch Nintendo
sound.
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7. Hide /pigskin - these are Chinese musical

instruments made from cow head or pigskin.
TANGGU
- is a barrel drum covered with two drumheads
made from pigskin or cow head.
- It is played by striking the central area
with a pair of wooden beaters.
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Learning Task #1
List 10 things to remember about the History
of Music in China and 1 thing about their
musical instruments.