The Chinese Guzheng

The Chinese Guzheng

      The Chinese Guzheng is a Traditional Zither Style of instrument that has been played for thousands of years and has a long history as an instrument of enlightenment in Chinese culture. This particular zither has a large wooden resonating chamber with 16 or more silk strings that are strung across numerous moveable bridges.  In traditional Chinese culture, this instrument was played mostly by elite male citizens in the a solo fashion as a form of higher learning.  In many cases, the performer would simply practice and play the instrument alone for their own benefit and was rarely played in what western culture would label as a performance setting.  The instrument is played by plucking the string on the playing side and bending on the other side of the bridge to create pitch ornamentation.  The instrument is primarily played in an explorative style featuring peaceful, calming melodies that are meant to balance out the energies of the player.

     This First video is an extremely great representation of how the Guzheng is traditionally played and features a lot of pitch bending in the left hand and finger rolls on the right hand.

      The Next Example is how this instrument has even moved into extremely modern style of western music and features the Guzheng as the soloist overtop a backing track.  It definitely adds an interesting take on the pop song.

   

 the following video is of a Group called the Harmony Guzheng ensemble and features mostly the Guzheng and includes a couple of percussionists as well.  This ensemble does a great job of adding layers to the traditional style of music.

      This next performance is a duet between the Guzheng and the Pipa and does a great job of showing off the melodic capabilities of the instruments.  All in all, it is an incredibly beautiful piece performed by two fantastic players.

     This last video is just a nice solo done by a Gushing player and just bring this list full circle taking the instrument back to its roots.

references:

http://www.chinesezither.net/guzheng.html

http://www.philmultic.com/guzheng/

The North Indian Tabla

The tabla is an Indian percussion instrument consisting of a small high pitched drum called the tabla, and a larger lower pitched drum called the bayan. In North Indian classical music, the tabla is used to control the Tala, or rhythmic cycle of the performance. The tabla is played by striking the head of the drum with the fingers, and using the meat of the palm to slide against the head and change the pitch of the drum once stuck. Each drum features a starch-based circle of “Tuning Paste” that is used to bring out the fundamental frequency of the drums and give them there unique piecing timbre. The tala is a cycle of rhythms that is underlying in all North Indian traditional music, and the tabla is the instrument that most clearly outlines this cycle. Before being able to play the tabla drums, students must learn syllables from their guru that correspond to different strokes that can be preformed on the drums.

This video is a beginning lesson in the tabla playing techniques. It also goes over the basics of the common tala “Tintal”. 

We can clearly see, at around the 2:16 mark of this video, the importance that the sylables play in the tabla tradition. The performer can express his ideas not only by playing the drums, but also by reciting the syllables while he is playing. 

One of my favorite examples of the tabla, this is Talavya, a tabla ensemble, playing one of their compositions and giving a short lesson on the tabla. 

This video shows the tabla in a more real-world application. 

And, just for fun, one of the many tabla pop covers that can be found on the internet. 

Instruments of the Javanese Gamelan

Gamelan music in Java is characterized by it resonant sound and unique texture. The Gamelan will generally consist of an assortment of gongs of different shapes and sizes. These are the Gong Ageng, the Gong Kenong, and the Gong Kempyang. These gongs and others are joined by many different types of Metallophones and drums to form a Gamelan ensemble.

The Gong Ageng is the largest of the bronze gongs that make up the gamelan. These gongs, along with the other gongs in the Javanese and Balinese traditions, are quite unlike gongs as we know in western music. While gongs and tam-tams of China and Japan (The gongs most comonly used in modern western percussion), the gongs of the Javanese and Balinese traditions are tuned to a specific fixed pitch. 

The gong ageng is specifically used to control the length of rhythmic cycles, as it is always played on the final beat of the rhythmic cycle. 

Here we can see the Kenong. Unlike the ageng, which is played from a hanging vertical position, the kenong are played lying on their side. A full sized gamelan would have enough kenong to be played in either slendero or pelog.

The Gender barung is one of many keyed metallophones that make up a gamelan. The barung is a middle sized gender, and is played with one mallet in each hand, with the fingers muting bars.

The drummers of the gamelan traditions play three drums, with the Kendhang gendihing being the largest. The player uses these drums to control tempo, and to notify players of a change in meter or tempo.   

One of the “Extra” instruments of the gamelan, the Siter is a simple plucked zither that is used to help bring out the shimmering texture of the gamelan. 

The Irish Bodhran

     The Irish Bodhran is a frame drum that was essentially thought to be a cheap version of the tambourine.  This simple drum was primarily used festival and ceremonies before its revival in the 50's and 60's.  The most important of these festival was St. Stephens day where the player or Wren boys would play the Bodhran and penny whistle for the dance and entertainment and then go wren hunting in the hopes that there would be a good harvest the following year.  The drum itself is a simple one with only one head and up to two crossbars on the back for support. Traditionally the right hand plays the drum with an implement called a tipper while the last hand controls pitch and dampens the head for timbre control.


     The first example is a few pieces that exemplify the Bodhran and tin whistles role in playing traditional Irish jigs and reels.  Both instruments take a very minimalistic approach in order to accompany the dancers.




     This next player is a soloist who plays the drum on the opposite side of the spectrum from the last.  This video highlights a lot of the new age techniques that Bodhran players are utilizing and does a great job of showing off the role of the left hand.




     This next performer also plays a fairly modern solo but in a much more traditional style. The important thing to note is the differences in playing technique from the last soloist.




     This video does a great job of showing off the Bodhran in its current position in Irish Popular music.  This group takes a much more modernized approach to the traditional Irish folk tunes Using many "non-traditional" instruments in a traditional music style.  These usually include the piano, fiddle,  guitar, pipes and whistles.




This last video is mostly for comic relief.  These player put on a great performance and do a great job of utilizing the various styles and ranges of the instrument.  One performer even goes as far as playing a recognizable tune on his drum.

Sarod

            

            The sarod is a melodic instrument from the northern Indian music tradition. It is a fretless, steel stringed lute that has skin covered (traditionally goat-skin) resonating chamber. Sarods vary in length, size, and number of strings dependent upon if the musicians ascribe to the playing style of Ghulam Ali Khan or Allauddin Khan. The sarod has five to seven strings on the front and nine to eleven strings on the back. The front strings are melody and drone strings that are plucked with a plectrum made of polished coconut shell. The strings are pressed with the fingernail to aid in the metallic timbre of the instrument. The strings on the back are sympathetic strings that sound when different overtones sound. These strings are rarely plucked themselves. Sarod players constantly glide their fingernails across strings bending pitches.

            The sarod descends from the rebab, a fretted, stringed instrument, when Pashtun invaders came to India in the 18^th century. India is known to invent instruments and sursringar was a fretless version of the rebab that added a metal fingerboard which eventually morphed into the modern day sarod. Ghulam Ali Khan and Allauddin Khan are inventors that are credited with the modern day sarod, both claiming to be the true inventor.

This is the sursringar, the predecessor to the sarod. It is fretless and has a metal finger board like the sarod but is much larger and has no sympathetic.

Video of a Divya Music school academy Guru giving a lesson over skype. Using play and repeat as well as solfege to instruct student.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is a sarod master and founder of the Ali Akbar College of Music.

Sarod master Amjad Ali Khan.

Performance of Amaan & Ayaan Ali Khan (sons of Amjad Ali Khan) and classical violinist Elmira Darvarova play as part of a collaborative project of western and Indian music.

"Sarod." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Kippen, James. “Yearbook for Traditional Music.” Yearbook for Traditional Music, vol. 38, 2006, pp. 133–135. www.jstor.org/stable/20464976.

Mexican Corrido

Mexican Corrido derives from the Spanish word correr which means to run. It is known for being a popular song genre during the late 1800's to now. These songs are primarily found along the Texas and Mexican border. This is due to the constant battle between Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans on who deserves the rightful ownership of the land. In the late 1800's many Mexicans started singing and creating corridos in order to spread the word of the economic hardships. Mexican corridos are very similar to the Spanish romance songs. The Spanish romance songs are known for the fact that the words of each of the stanzas of four eight-syllable lines characteristic of this genre are sung. On the other hand Mexican corridos the fact that the words of each of the stanzas of four eight-syllable lines characteristic of this genre are sung through without any interruption. Mexican corridos are also known to be called Mexican ballads. There are many different instruments that are common to Mexican music. The Vihuela is a small 5 stringed guitar, and it provides rhythm for the song. The Guitarrón is a large, six stringed acoustic bass, and it also  provides rhythm for the song. Bajo sexton, also known as the “sixth bass”, is an acoustic guitar that has 6 sets of 2 strings; adding up to a total of 12 strings.

 This is an example of the vihuela. Notice the small size of the guitar and how it resembles our acoustic guitar.

I love the bassy sound to the guitaron. You can't really see the size of the body but it is quite large.

This is an example of the Bajo sexton. It has 12 strings that are very similar to our 12 stringed guitar.

This is a very popular song that is a very basic corrido. It follows the structure of the 8 syllables per line except for the first stanza.

Lasty, this is an example of a hero corrido. A hero corrido is a type of the corrido that involves giving praise to larger than life Mexian figures. In this song it is giving praise to Gregorio Cortez and how he shot a Texas sheriff.

 Coates, K. (2016). Corridos. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from 

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/corridos/ 

DeenaR. (n.d.). Musicology Final: Corridos. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from 

https://quizlet.com/22675096/musicology-final-corridos-flash-cards/ 

Pedrick, D. H. (1998). The Mexican Corrido. Retrieved December 3, 2016, from 

http://carriagehousebandb.ca/corido.html#N_3_ 

Shelemay, K. K. (2015). Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World (3rd ed.). New 

York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. 

Tijana Ilich Latin Music Expert. (2014). Corrido - History of Mexican Life in Song. Retrieved 

December 03, 2016, from http://latinmusic.about.com/od/genres/p/PROCORRIDO.htm 

The didgeridoo

The Didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia and is still in widespread use today both in Australia and around the world.  Traditionally didgeridoos were made from eucalyptus tree trunks and limbs hollowed out, while still living, by termites,or from bamboo in the far north of Australia.  Today didgeridoos are made from a large variety of materials such as glass, leather, hemp, ceramic, plastic, solid timbers carved out, logs drilled out, dried/hollowed cactus stems, aluminum and other metals. The average length of a didgeridoo is  of 130 to 160 cm and is hollowed out with a stick or sapling.  The technique on  how to play the didgeridoo is unique among wood instruments. You blow down the tube with loose lips creating a vibration that echoes down the tube coming out amplified as a drone. Similar to a tuba but even looser and more relaxed. As you blow the air through the instrument it is important to stay relax so your lips can buzz  while gently pushing air down the tube. Something that is not a requirement to be able to play but most players uses it is Circular Breathing. Circular breathing is a technique used by players to produce a continuous tone without interruption. This is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks. The didgeridoo was traditionally used as an accompaniment along with chants, singers, and dancers, often in ceremonies of the Indigenous Australians.  Today the didgeridoo is heard in almost every style of music, rock, pop,hip-hop , electronic, techno, funk, punk, rap. There are truly no limits to the use of this awesome instrument.

The first video is on how to make a didgeridoo out of wood.

Next is a video of a glass didgeridoo.

This is how to play the didgeridoo.

Next video is how to circular breathe.

The last video is 10 hours of non-stop relaxing didgeridoo music. Enjoy!!!!!

Sources:

"Didgeridoo Basics." Aboriginal Instruments. Spirit Gallery, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016. <https://www.spiritgallery.com.au/didgeridoo-basics>.

Gamelan

Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up of percussive instruments. The gamelan groups have a ton of different instrument and here are just a few of them. From largest to smallest you have vertically suspended gongs called Kempul. Next has horizontally suspended gongs which include the Kempyang and Kethuck. There are also key metallophones called Slenthem that you play with one mallet and use the other hand to mute the bar after it is hit. Another metallophone instrument is called a Saron. It is played with two mallets and has three sizes for pitch range. Next are the drums and they are called Kendhong, the biggest, Ciblon, the medium size drum, and Ketipung, the smallest drum. The drummer playing the set of Kendhong starts stops and gives tempo for the whole gamelan. Each instrument in the gamelan is tuned for that group of instruments. There is no standardized between groups. A gamelan can be thought as one instrument being played by several people. Gamelan often accompanies dance, Wayang puppet performances, or rituals and ceremonies. A Wayang is a theatrical performance of old indian proverbs . The performance is done by the Dalang using shadow puppet.  The Dalang must have a thorough knowledge of gamelan, as he gives the cues for the music. Gamelan can be performed by itself in klenengan style, or for radio broadcasts, but concerts in the Western style are not traditional. The main function of this music is to accompany a ceremony or the theatrical performance involving dance or puppetry. Gamelan is still alive and thriving today in Indonesia and outside of Indonesia. With the groups such as American gamelan in the United States and Malay Gamelan in Malaysia.  

This first video shows all the instruments of the Javanese gamelan instruments.

This is video is of a Javanese Gamelan Ensemble playing Singa Nebah (The Pouncing Lion)

This is a video talking about wayang performance.

Here is a video of Javanese gamelan music and dance performance.

My last video is called  Suite For Violin And American Gamelan by Lou Harrison called Air.

Becker, Judith. "Indonesian Gamelan Main Page." Indonesian Gamelan Main Page. NIU

Southeast Asia, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. <http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/budaya_bangsa/Gamelan/Main_Page/main_page.htm>.

Steel Drums

Steel drums were invented on the island of Trinidad around the time of W.W.II.  One can trace the roots of these instruments back to the African slaves who were placed on the island by Spanish and French plantation owners as early as the 16th century. The elite classes were notorious for setting specific rules including hours for African drumming. They were fearful the drums would incite the slaves to rebellion. Some of the elite believed that hidden messages were being sent through the African drumming.  Over the years the upper classes would ban the lower classes' instruments, the lower classes would simply invent a new performance instrument called the tamboo bamboo. These instruments were constructed by cutting varying lengths of bamboo sticks, stomping the larger sticks on the ground, and striking the smaller ones together. The next important step in the evolution of the steel drum was metal beating bands of the early 1930's as a gradual replacement for the banned tamboo bamboo.  These bands consisted of players using all metallic instruments and were sometimes referred to as "iron bands" or "pan bands".  It was soon discovered that these non-pitched metal instruments changed pitch after they had been beaten for a while.The very first pitched steel drums were made from smaller metal containers and were convex in shape.  The performer would carry the smaller metal drum with one hand and beat the metal with the other.  These instruments were crude; they were still in their experimental stages and had no intentional pitches.  In the 1940's and 1950's pan innovators experimented with the stylings or note patterns, and improved upon the tuning.  Today the drum is constructed from the bottom of a 55-gallon barrel, sunk down in a concave fashion, and tuned with precision.

This is a video on how to make steel drums.

Here is a demonstration on how to play the steel drum.

This is a video of Harry Belafonte Jump in the Line calypso on steel drums. 

This is a video of steel pan competition.

Just for fun, this is a video of my high school playing steel drums.

Bibliography

• ´https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelpan
• ´https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMigXnXMhQ4
• ´https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWUtZz5_nsc
• ´http://blaineharrington.photoshelter.com/image/I00006lekM71aBSA
• ´https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago.svg
• ´https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ola3A8kEpNM
• ´https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrY-qhP0Oo
• ´https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0RtQRnZwSw
• ´https://steeldrumsunlimited.com/´

The Sarangi

The sarangi is an Indian instrument. It is a fretless bowed fiddle with four main strings and sympathetic strings. The main strings include the drone string, main, secondary, and tertiary playing strings. The main, secondary, and tertiary strings are tuned to Sa, lower Pa, and the low Sa. The tuning of the drone can be to either Sa, Ma, or Pa. The sympathetic strings, on the other hand, do not have one set way of tuning. However, the most common way is either chromatically or to the rag. [The rag is the modal system of India that represents the seasons time of day, etc.]  One bank of the side sympathetic strings is tuned chromatically and the other bank is tuned according to the rag. The rag is also used to help tune the upper sympathetic strings. [It also has three octaves.]  

A musician will play the sarangi with their fingernail to give pitch, but a bow is used to play. A musician's desire to play the sarangi has decreased due to its difficulty. However, the people who play the instrument will either play the dance style kathak or a variety of vocal music.

In the following video, the man demonstrates how to tune the sarangi. He uses a cylindrical-shaped metal tube to twist the tuning pegs. Also, he explains what pitches the strings are tuned to.

 

 

The video is not in English, but you can hear the different techniques a player can use while playing the sarangi. There is also singing. 

 

 

In this video, a man will show how to make a sarangi. It is very interesting to watch how quickly he does it. 

 

This is the second part to the previous video. He will show what you do after you have cut the shape out of the wood.

 

 

This is a video of the first sarangi ensemble in India. It shows the instrument being played Also, it shows how much the other players rely on the direction of the leader  

http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sarangi.html
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sarangi/sarangi_parts.html
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sarangi/sarangi_tuning.html
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sarangi/sarangi_fingering.html

Gamelan Gongs

The gongs of the gamelan are very distinctive. They are usually made from bronze though iron is not uncommon. The gongs of a gamelan tend to fall into two categories: vertically suspended gongs and those that are supported horizontally on a rack or a cushion. The vertically suspended gongs are the largest in the gamelan. They are used to begin, end and punctuate different parts of the metric cycle. 

The bass voice gongs in Java consist of two types. The Gong Ageng is the largest and deepest of the gongs. The other bass voice gong is the Gong Suwouk. This is smaller than the Ageng and there are usually two per scale. 

This is a super short video but this is the gong aneng. You can hear how low its pitch is and how long it resonates.

The middle voice gong is the Kempul. It has a bell-like sound.

The treble voice gong is the Kemong, which is high in pitch. This gong is played with a padded mallet or occasionally as with the bass gongs, with the fleshy part of the fist.

The horizontal gongs are played either in racks, on a box resonator, or in the lap. The Javanese version is the Bonang. It is a double horizontal row of 10 to 14 gongs with round gongs.

This video is super interesting; the gong player begins by playing simple patterns and familiarizing the audience with the pitches, and then goes on to play more complicated patterns and things that would probably occur in a performance,

 Here is another video of the vertical gongs,

Modern experiences with gongs usually happen in locations trying to promote peace and harmony, like salons. This is because gongs have become known for sound healing. "Sound healing is the practice of ‘re-tuning’ the body parts back to their optimum vibration frequency. The gong is particularly good at this, especially the large gongs known as tam-tams. They produce a wide range of frequencies, tones and harmonies and the body is very good at selecting the frequencies it requires to heal itself using a process known as entrainment. Essentially the body 're-tunes' itself using these vibrations rather like a piano tuner retuning a grand piano" (pmgongs.com). 

Here is a video of a gong bath. Sheila Whittaker hosts workshops for these baths and I just found it super interesting that one culture uses it for entertainment and others use it for medicine.

Sources:

http://www.pmgongs.com/gamelan-gongs

YouTube

The Sheng

I decided to do this blog post on the Chinese Sheng because Jeremiah's post got me interested. The sheng is a mouth organ made of metal, wood or a gourd with a blowpipe and at least 17 bamboo or metal pipes extending from the top of the bowl. The elegant symmetrical arrangement of the pipes represents the folded wings of the mythical phoenix. Inside the bowl, each pipe has a hole covered by a metal tongue that interrupts the air current to produce a strikingly clear, metallic sound. Western harmonicas, reed organs and concertinas use the same basic acoustical principles. Mouth organs similar to the sheng are first mentioned in Chinese texts dating from the 14th to 12th centuries B.C.E. Today, the sheng is used primarily to play Chinese classical music with other traditional Chinese instruments, such as the pipa and erhu. 

Here is a video of a Hu Tianguan playing Dance of Lusheng.

There are four main ranges of keyed sheng, soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Each sounds as you would imagine, with the soprano being highest and the bass being lowest.

Here is a demonstration of the soprano sheng,

The alto. As you can see, this type is far less portable and has to stay stationary to play.

This video of the tenor sheng is interesting because there are two very different models. One is more stationary like the alto, and the other is basically a larger version of the soprano.

Here is the last size-the bass sheng. As you can see, it's massive. I just think it's incredible.

YOU GUYS THIS GIRL IS PLAYING THE SUPER MARIO BROS THEME SONG ON THE SHENG.

Moral of the story, I have found my new favorite instrument and I have extreme respect for people who can play it.

Sources:
http://www.silkroadproject.org/ensemble/instruments/sheng
YouTube

Hungarian Duda

Hungarian Bagpipe Playlist

The Hungarian bagpipe tradition dates back to the 9^th century. Settlers of the area were fleeing Islamic invaders and were likely from Spain. There are numerous bagpiping traditions in the region but what sets Hungarian bagpipes, known as dudas,  apart is the double-bored chantor pipe. This chantor pipe consists of a melody pipe and a contra pipe with the contra both having open tone holes to change pitch. The contra pipe, which truly distinguishes Hungarian pipes from all others, is a drone and has one tone hole. The drone sounds the tonic when open and the dominant when covered. The contra is used to provide rhythmic qualities as well as being able to emphasize notes. The melody pipe spans an octave. An important feature of the melody pipe is the flea hole that when uncovered raises the pitch a semitone. The flea hole allows for chromatic playing.

Bagpiping has its roots in rural communities until its revival in the 1960s. Bagpiping is an important cultural aspect that is further punctuated by folklore and proverbs. Most of what we know of the tradition was gathered by Bartok in his studies of Hungarian folk music. Unfortunately, bagpiping was on a decline during the time of his studies so there is very little information on the subject. Traditional Hungarian Bagpiping can now be studied at the Hungarian School of Folk Music.

Traditional Hungarian bagpipe song. Traditional songs were more diatonic in nature with many pipers permanently stopping the flea hole with wax to make playing easier.

This video clearly shows the performer using the contra pipe as an accenting tool. Is you watch the pinky of the bottom hand that is what controls the contra pipe.

This is a good example of bagpipe music after the revival as it is more chromatic in nature.

After the revival in the 1960s, bagpipe tuning was standardized making ensemble playing possible. Also features the Hurdy Gurdy, another traditional Hungarian folk instrument, traditional singing and percussion.

Just wanted to clear things up that upon further review the bagpipe played in this video is NOT a Hungarian duda. It does not have a double bored chantor, meaning it lacks a contra pipe, or a flea hole. Also the pipes do not have resonators which is typical of a duda. The bagpipe shown is a Gaida which is from the Balkens.

Chinese Orchestra

            The Chinese Orchestra began in the 1930’s. Most scholars agree that the ensemble grew out of the Jiangnan Sizhu tradition based upon instrumentation and music repertoire of the early ensembles. The basic concept of the ensemble is the western Symphony set-up, ie having a conductor, the use of notation during performance, and the half circle seating, but using traditional Chinese instruments. The first ensemble of its kind was formed in Nanking and broadcasted over the radio. Its creation was meant to spark nationalism and was used for a wide range of entertainment and government purposes.

The orchestra has gone through many changes in instrumentation while originally mixing western and Chinese instruments. Originally the ensemble used cellos and double basses to fill out the low range and oboes for higher range as well as horns and trombones to fill out a low wind sound. As the Chinese instruments have been improved, western instruments gradually dropped from the orchestra. The dahu and dihu were made to replace the low strings while the sheng was improved with more pipes to fill the role of the brass. Other major improvements across the board were equal-temperament tuning, accurate intonation, and range.

Over-all I find this to be a really cool mix of traditional and western values of music.

This is the dahu that eventually replaced the cello. This is a demonstration of the instrument performed at a competition hosted by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra.

This is a tutorial of the Bass Sheng played by a musician from the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. This instrument was created to extend the range of the Chinese Orchestra as range was a major concern throughout the development of the orchestra. It shows playing technique, range, and harmonic capabilities as well as solo repertoire demonstration.

This video shows two professional musicians from the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. This shows the advancements made in standardized tuning and value of intonation with eachother.

Performance of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

Expressive playing is important to Chinese and the Yueqin soloist is so much fun to watch.

Resources:

"Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra | HKCO." Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra | HKCO. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.

Kuo-Huang, Han, and Judith Gray. “The Modern Chinese Orchestra.” Asian Music, vol. 11, no. 1, 1979, pp. 1–43. www.jstor.org/stable/833965.