Chinese Traditional Musical Instruments

1. Erhu - Bowed String Instrument

The Erhu has a small body and a long neck. There are two strings, with the bow inserted
between them. With a range of about three octaves, it's sound is rather like a violin, but
with a thinner tone due to the smaller resonating chamber. In the 2nd orchestra they are
usually divided into 1st and 2nd parts. The Erhu first appears about 1104 AD during the
Song Dynasty. We bought ours in Zhengzhou in 1999. It hangs on the wall in our Great
Room. You often see blind men playing this instrument in some of the big cities. I always
enjoyed listening and gave them money for their efforts. Er is two in Chinese.
The Chinese 2-stringed, vertical fiddle has a history of more than 500 years. It started to
be popular in Southern China during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD), which gave it another name "Nan-hu" (the
word "south" pronounced in Chinese as "Nan"). Erhu is still the most popular bowed instrument in today's
Chinese music. An erhu is quite different from a western fiddle. There is a vertical post with a fingerboard, which
goes through the sides of a resonator at its base. This resonator is covered with a piece of stretched snakeskin
(python), which results in a unique "whining" tone color of the instrument. The bow for the erhu is placed between
its two strings. Traditionally the two strings are made of silk, although metallic strings are used as well. The player
of an erhu usually sits, and the erhu is placed on his left upper thigh in front of his left hip. The instrument is
played by moving the bow horizontally through the two vertical strings. Erhu's range spans about three octaves. It
has some of the qualities of a violin, but having a more nasal tone. Erhu is capable of producing a gentle but firm
tone.

2. Sheng - Wind Instrument

This is one of the oldest varieties of Chinese instruments. It first appears in 551 BC
during the Zhou Dynasty (1111 to 222 BC). It consists of a bundle of between 17 to 36
pipes seated on a small wind chamber. A free brass reed is placed in the root of the
instrument. Coming in soprano, alto, and tenor models, they have a great clarity of
tone, and compensate for the lack of brass in tutti orchestration. Tutti orchestration
means that all instruments are to take part. We bought this instrument in a shop in
Zhengzhou, Henan.
Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments. The instrument existed as far
back as 3,000 years ago. By virtue of its construction, this is the only unique Chinese musical instrument in the
Chinese orchestra capable of playing up to six notes simultaneously. It is therefore commonly called as the
"Chinese mouth organ" by western people. Sheng is also the first musical instrument in the world utilizing a
"coupled acoustical system," between an air column and a free reed. Sheng consists of 13-17 bamboo pipes with
different lengths that are mounted together onto a base. The base is traditionally a gourd-shaped, wooden windchest. Each bamboo pipe has a free reed made of brass. Music is produced by blowing and sucking the air
through a metal tube connected to the base. From the base the air then rushes through the other pipes. A player
determines the notes to play by allowing the air to rush through selected pipes while pressing on selected keys
near the base. By covering two or more holes on various pipes, chords are possible, being a typical technique
used in most regional orchestras of China. The SHENG is used as both a solo and accompaniment instrument.

3.Banhu
This instrument is a variety of the huqin. It is so because it uses a wooden sounding
board in the sound box. Also known as the Bonghu (clapper huqin) because it was heard
in the Bangzi or "clapper operas" of the 17th century. It appears during the Qing Dynasty.
The name Banhu comes from the wooden soundboard covering the half globular
resonating chamber. Of its many other names the most prominent may be Banghu,
referring to its historical use in the northern Bangzi opera in the mid-seventeenth century.
From then on it came to accompany many other regional operas and popular narratives,
spreading over northern China.
The two strings are generally tuned a fifth, or a fourth apart. Strident and bright in tone quality the Banhu is used
as a solo instrument and as a group within the bowed strings in the modern Chinese orchestra.

4.Ruan
is fitted
history.

The Ruan is also known as the moon guitar, and comes in a variety of different sizes and pitches. It
with four strings and frets. Its soundboard is wooden. Its appearance is much later in Chinese

Ruan (moon-shaped short-necked lute) is a Chinese fretted instrument dating back to 140-87
B.C. The name is a shortened form of Ruan Xian, a musician and one of the "seven Sages of
Bamboo Grove" of the 3rd century (the Six Dynasties). Pictorial evidence, excavated from a
tomb of his time in Nanjing, depicting Ruan Xian's performance of this instrument,
confirms that its construction was roughly the same as that of today. Later Ruan was once
termed as qin pipa (dating to the Qin dynasty between 221-207 BC) or yueqin (moon-shaped
short-necked lute). It is a short necked Chinese foiled lute, 4 strings, played by plectrum. It is
used by
orchestras as well as for accompanying operatic performances. The ruan consists of three parts:
resonator, neck and head. On the neck are 24 frets in half steps. Four strings, tuned to fifths (like a mandolin),
provide a wide range of notes. It comes in several sizes according to their different ranges. Neat delicate tone. The
ruan is now constructed as a family of soprano, alto, tenor and bass, a development intended to increases its
range and effectiveness in the modern Chinese orchestra. The alto and the tenor are commonly used. A plectrum
is needed in performance. Mellow in tone quality, it is often seen in ensembles or in accompaniments, and as a
solo instrument in recent years.

5.Pipa
This instrument resembles the Spanish guitar in some ways, with long fingernails being
cultivated to pluck the strings. The Pipa has a history of over 2,000 years spanned from
the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. The most common pipa has a body with a short
neck and a wooden belly. There are 19 to 26 bamboo frets called Xiang on the neck. The
Xiang are either made of wood, jade, or elephant tusks. A pipa traditionally had 4 silk
strings mostly with common tunes of A, D, E, and A. With the pipa held vertically in the
lap, the player plays it using imitation fingers. This allows more freedom for the player to
perform various techniques on the four strings. The range of techniques that can be used
are the widest among all of the Chinese plucked-strings, making it the most expressive
instrument in the plucked-string section. Some of the techniques include: fretted pitchbends, tremolos, various double and triple, and a continuous strumming of the strings
with four fingers. We bought ours in Zhengzhou in 1999. They come in different sizes.
Ours is a smaller one.