Chinese Traditional Instruments

December 13, 2015

Chinese traditional instruments

Chinese traditional instruments have a long history. In the Qin period, there are a variety of musical instruments. These instruments are mainly used for hunting and dance accompaniment. These ancient musical instruments show the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese.

Chinese musical instruments were traditionally classified into 8 categories known as bayin.[1] The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin. They are classified by materials. This is one of the first musical classifications ever.

There are 4 common instrument types: wind instruments, bowed instruments, plucked instruments, and percussion instruments. wind musical instruments have the flute, Xun, Sheng and so on; bowed instruments include Erhu, jinghu; plucked instrument with harps and lyres; Percussion instruments include drums, bells, Dorian, chime, drums, bells, etc.

Pipa, a traditional plucked string of East Asia, has 2,000 years of history.The first known as the "Pipa" instrument emerged in China during the Qin Dynasty. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 26. In the Tang Dynasty ago, there was also a Chinese pipa lute where all the family plucked string instruments collectively. The Chinese Pipa also spread to East Asia, as the Japanese lute of the present day. North Korea and Vietnam also have a pipa.

The Erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument. It specifically has a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle". It is sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". The Erhu is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. A very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and...