These are a few examples of traditional Chinese instruments. These instruments are used in the Chinese orchestra and solos.
Perhaps the most recognizable Chinese instrument, the Erhu is a spiked fiddle with two strings. The bow is permanently attached between the two strings.
The Sanxian is a fretless lute instrument.
This Hammered Dulcimer is called a yangquin. Notice the speed that the player can get out of the hammer in his left hand. This is due to the flexible material that the implement is made of.
A new trend on the internet is arranging modern pop songs for these traditional Chineese instruments. This cover of a Sia son is performed on the Guzheng and Zhongruan, a zither and lute.
The most bizarre of the Chinese instruments is the Sheng. The Sheng is a mouth harp. Sound is achieved by blowing into the mouthpiece, and notes changed by covering and uncovering holes.
The
Chinese orchestra has had an interesting progress through the 1900’s. It’s
beginnings are traced back to the 1930’s. Before the 1930’s music and its
importance to society has been growing and developing. In the beginning
development of the traditional Chinese orchestra during the 1930’s traditional Chinese
music was played. Usually around this time frame many countries would be
westernizing their music, however China is keeping to traditional Chinese music. This trend will soon dissolve and allow further expansion into Western music and their instruments. Also, interesting to the development of Chinese orchestra, instruments have
been changed. The traditional Chinese instruments were then modernized and
standardize. Such things as standard notation and theory were introduced. Along
with the development of Chinese orchestra comes the creation of solo repertoire.
Examples of these traditional Chinese instruments are the following: Guzheng
(zither), yangqin (hammer dulcimer), pipa (pear-shaped lute with frets), yueqin
(moon-shaped lute with frets), sanxin (fretless lute), erhu (spiked fiddle),
erxian (highter pitches spike flute), dizi (flute), shang (mouth organ), and
suona (double reed instrument).
This is the first example of a traditional Chinese orchestra.The song is called "The Dream of Love" and is performed by theChina Traditional Orchestra of Zhejiang. The intro is begun with a traditional Chinese instrument called a dizi. The dizi is s Chinese interpretation of the western flute.
The second example is a newer version of a Chinese orchestra. It has a westernized cello, but it was also accompanied by a yangqin (hammer dulcimer), pipa (pear-shaped lute), and yuenqin (moon-shaped lute).
This is another modern interpretation of a Chinese orchestra that combines the idea of western and Chinese instruments together to form one orchestra. This is the song called "Placid lake, Autumn Moon" and is performed by the Singapore Chinese Youth Group Orchestra.
This is an adorable orchestra. This is the Jianguo Primary school. Therefore, they do sound like an elementary school music group.
Last, but not least, is the Chinese National Orchestra performing Katy Perry's Roar in the style of traditional Chinese orchestra arrangment.
The Sitar is an Indian String instrument. This plucked string instrument is used most commonly in Indian classical music and hindustani music. The sitar is a fretted string instrument, with a gourd shaped resonating chamber, and anywhere from 18-21 strings, while usually on 6 strings are played the other strings are used for sympathetic vibration. The playing strings are tuned to the Indian scale, while the resonating strings on the back can be tuned to the specific notes used in the raga being performed. The sitar is played from the sitting position. While sitting on the ground the player will balance the sitar on his left knee and right foot, this allows the player to support this instrument without his hands. The curved frets allow for controlled bending of pitch to produce microtones within the raga being played. The Sitar became popular in the western music in the late 60's and 70's when used in songs recorded by the Beatles, The doors, and the Rolling Stones.
This video shows the sitar in its most traditional use. It is alongside the tabla (hand drums to the left of the screen) and the flute on the right.
This video shows the basic tuning of a sitar, and explains the relationship of the Indian solfege based scale to the western scale.
Here we see Ravi Shankar giving a lesson to George Harrison. You can see George playing the sitar and Ravi Shankar speaking the syllables of the notes he his playing, this is an important process of learning any Indian instrument. Little did the world know the lessons between Shankar and Harrison would put the sitar and indian music on the map.
This video shows the amazing detail and craftsmanship that goes into making a Sitar.
This video is a great example of how much Ravi Shankar impacted western popular music. This Song features his two daughters, Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones. Anoushka is playing the sitar and being accompanied by a tabla player as well as Norah singing.
Indian music is one of the most complex types of music. In Theory there can be over 70,000 raga but in reality there are 500. A raga uses a series of five to nine musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a raga. The instruments that come from this part of the world have a unique sound unlike any other. The droning sound Instruments are called tanpura, harmonium, and shrutibox. Their part in the playing of a rag is to drone the fundamental note of the rag. The percussion instrument in North Indian music is called the tabla. It is a two part drum high and low and the player is a master of rhythm cycles if they play this instrument because the tabla set the rhythm for the the metered part of a rag. The instruments that explores the Raga and makes melodies are sarang, sarad, ruda vina, and sitar. This Instruments are responsible for taking the listener a musician through the Raga. This is not a fast process in the courts you would do this all day every day and still don't be done. You can look at as you never full understand the raga you just became one with it. That is why you play raga to become one with it.
This is a video of a tanpura droning a D.
This is tabla lesson for beginners. It walks you through how to play the tabla.
The Chinese version of a fiddle is called the erhu, and it only consists of two strings. The instrument family it belongs to is called the "huqin" family and dates back to the Tang Dynasty. The hexagonal shape of the body is made of wood and snakeskin. The wood can be either ebony or sandalwood. The neck is also made out of wood and is 81 cm long. The tuning is to the pitches D and A. Unlike the lute, the erhu does not have frets to be played upon. Also, unlike a violin, the erhu does not have a touching board. The silk or nylon strings, however, are still played with a bow. The bow is made out of reed and horse hair. The player will hold the erhu in their left hand and bow with their right hand. (This is also common in violinists.) The erhu is positioned vertically on the performer's lap. The strings are played vertically with the left hand, and the bow plays horizontally for the sound to be made. The sound is very unique and resembles the voice of a human. It can also imitate certain animal sounds.
This is a video of an Erhu Concerto. It is called "Butterfly Lovers". It begins with the instruments building a triad, and then a woman plays a type of flute.
I chose this video because the woman expresses her opinions on the erhu. She also explains the instrument's purpose and the reasons it can be played. It is very interesting to watch, and you can tell she loves playing this instrument.
This erhu piece has and plays a higher pitched sound longer than the previous videos. It is still extremely gorgeous and will relax you if you listen to it long enough.
The sound of the erhu in this video is more rich than the previous. The music is very gentle and delicate.
The man in this video explains the fingering and the erhu itself. He goes into details about the different parts of the erhu and plays a little.
The Tabla is
the percussion instrument of choice in the North Indian music tradition since
the mid-18th century. Legend says that the Tabla was invented when
an angry drummer cut a Pakhawaj, a single barrel drum, in half during a
drumming competition. Whether or not the legend is true, Amir Khusru has received
credit for inventing the Tabla after seeking a more melodic percussion
instrument to accompany other musicians. The Tabla is a set of two drums, the
Bayan and the Dahina. Both drums are tuned, utilizing tuning blocks, and have a
double layer of goat-skin that serves as the drum heads. A black paste, Shyahi,
is spread on the center of the heads allowing for the unique sounds of the
Tabla. The Bayan is the larger drum of the set played with the left hand.
Traditionally, it is made of clay but is now made of metal. The Dahina is the
smaller drum made of wood and played with the right hand. The Dahina is tuned
to the tonic of the music it is accompanying.
The Tabla
is played using one’s finger tips and palms. I think the most fascinating part
of the Tabla is utilizing a rhythmic solfege system. In the North Indian music
tradition, Tabla players are expected to be masters of solfege before they begin
playing the Tabla. Serious Tabla players have traditionally undergone a rite of
passage known as Chilla. Traditionally lasting 40 days, a student vows to play
as long as he is awake, taking short breaks only to eat, sleep, and use the
restroom and spends their time in an isolated room designed for a person to
lose track of time. Needless to say, Tabla playing is a very serious tradition
and it’s musicians are highly respected around the world.
This video shows students learning the rhythmic solfege
system.
Great video that shows how to tune a Tabla using the tuning
blocks with the added benefit of learning how a tuner works.
Renown Indian musician Ravi Shankar explains Tabla. Video
shows application of rhythm solfege and explains some of the playing practices
of fixed and improvised compositions.
Master table player Ustad Hussain plays a solo performance. This
is a good example of an Indian performance having blended Western and traditional
practices. Hussain utilizes the Tintal rhythmic cycle. Other instruments shown
are he Tonpura, the tall string instrument providing a drone effect, and the
Sarangi, the bowed melodic instrument.
Video is a performance of the Rag Mishra Pilu in Carnegie
Hall. Performers include renown musicians Ravi Shankar and Ustad Hussain.
Works Cited
Church, Michael. The Other Classical Musics: Fifteen
Great Traditions. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2015. Print
Phinney, Eric. "WORLD MUSIC." World Music.
Bloomingdale School of Music, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
The Erhu is one of China's most important instruments. It has a history of over 4000 years. It is commonly referred to as the "Chinese Violin". While it is a stringed instrument, it and the western violin differ in many ways. It is not rested on the players' shoulders like a violin, but is played vertically, resting on the players' lap. There is no fingerboard; the musician's fingers must control the strings by only pressing on them. The bow is fixed between the two strings of the Erhu, and the hair of the bow must be pushed forwards or backwards to catch a string and make a sound. The Erhu has a wooden drum that sits in the musicians lap when played. This drum acts as a natural amplifier. Different positions and degrees of pressure on the strings drastically change the pitch, making intonation a major challenge for this instrument.
Here is a video with simple explanations of the Erhu.
Many people recognize the Erhu as being a "sad sounding" instrument, and while this can certainly be accurate in some cases...
...there is definitely more to this instrument than just the typical "whining" sound. The following video is a very famous Erhu solo song called "Horse Racing". It is based off of a Mongolian folk song, and has become one of the most famous pieces of the Erhu. The first video is a tutorial of how to play this certain song. The instructor, Nicole Li, wanted to make the video in celebration of the Chinese New Year for the year of the Horse. She plays at different tempos, and at the end she plays at the speed at which it would normally be preformed.
The next video is of the same song, but the Erhu player (Zhu Changyao) is playing with an ensemble. There are several Pipas, Guzhengs, and other Erhus as well. I just really love how expressive the Erhu players are with their bodies when they are playing. You can tell they're enjoying themselves and really trying to convey a message with their audience.
My last video is something I just stumbled upon but I'm so glad I did So in my search for Erhu music I found the song "Oogway Ascends" coming up quite a lot, and I decided to listen to it after it popping up about 5 times. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out what it was, but it's a song from Kung Fu Panda. (!!!) I might be the only person in this class (school, county, state..) who cares about Kung Fu Panda (because it just brings back memories with my family), but I got really excited and I think it's super cool that I know what instrument is playing and how it's done and everything. It's apparently a pretty common piece to just play by yourself or in an orchestra with an Erhu, so here's a video of that. (The girl in the red dress on the left has the Erhu)
While the steel drum is often associated with
the Caribbean islands and piña coladas, it is an instrument native to
Trinidad. The roots of this instrument
can be found with African American slaves. Many of them had been separated from
their culture and their only remaining link was music. Slave owners placed rules and regulations on
African drumming from fear of the slaves
communicating secret messages and forming a rebellion. This fear drove the slave owners to place a ban on drumming. To work around this ban, slaves replaced their
drums with tuned bamboo sticks called Tamboo Bamboo. These instruments also became banned due to
fights that emerged between rival gangs. Street bands
transitioned to consist of tin pans, biscuit drums, dustbins and other steel items. When Carnival was forbidden during World War
II, the earliest development of the steel instrument was expanded. Around 1950 the small pans were replaced with
55-gallon oil drums that were discarded by oil refineries. From this, the first steel drum with twelve
notes of the chromatic scale was developed.
The concave shaped allowed for more notes. Ellie Mannette is known as
the father of the modern steel drum as he wrapped rubber around the pan sticks
to mellow the sound. This instrument
requires a talented musical ear. The
steel drum is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.
Here is a picture of Ellie Mannette tuning a steel drum.
This clip demonstrates the construction of a steel
drum.Lots of welding involved! Grids
are involved to ensure that the pitches are specific.Up to fifty hours are dedicated to hammering specific
pitches into the drum!
Kurry gives us a basic steel drum lesson.He emphasizes the importance of sensitivity to
an instrument.
Here is an example of two “pannists” playing together.Note the player in the back demonstrating the
technique of playing two drums at once and how each note must be played with a
specific hand.
These 2015 steel pan champions clearly demonstrate the
physical dedication to performance.All of the players physically engage with the rhythm.
