Chinese folk music

Dear Students,

I’m off on another amazing adventure. This country is a lot like Japan, there are so many people everywhere. The city has amazing side street stalls. You canbuy all different kinds of weird food and the smells are amazing.

The country I’m in is covered in rice fields and has a great wall of stone that runsthrough the entire country like a winding snake. It is so beautiful.

There is also lots of music here. Like Japan, the country’s music is based on thePentatonic scale. Today we are going to explore a few of the traditional musical instruments found here.I sent Miss Fuggle another power point to show you all the wonderful instruments I’ve heard.

Can you guess which country I am in?

• A giant wall runs through this country and you can see it from space• People eat lots of rice here• The Buddhist religion is the highest practiced religion here.

From, Mr Maraca.

Chinese Traditional Folk Music

Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums.

Like Japan, China uses the pentatonic scale

Instruments

Instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: animal skins, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone.

• Suona -- A high-pitched reed instrument• Pipa -- A four-string lute• Erhu -- A two-stringed fiddle • Banhu -- A happy and clarion instrument • Sheng -- A popular Chinese zither with movable

bridges and 16 - 25 strings • Guqin – Is more than 3000 years old. Its name

literally means ancient, ancient musical instrument. It is a seven stringed zither without bridges.

• Xun -- A kind of ocarina with similar timbre to human voice

Suona

Suona, a very expressive reed instrument with a metal bell. It is very popular in China's countryside in funeral, wedding, and other celebrative occasions.

PipaThe Pipa is a four-stringed pair-shaped lute. It has two very distinctive sounds, Wen Qu (civil and mild tone) or Wu Qu (martial and fierce tone).

Erhu

The Erhu is a two-stringed fiddle. It is one of the best-known traditional Chinese musicinstruments. Its music is very expressive and touching, especially when you feel sad.

BanhuBanhu is a lot like the Erhu but uses a thick wooden board to cover the soundbox instead of snakeskin. It is mainly an accompanying instrument used in operas in North China

Guqin

Is more than 3000 years old. Its name literally means ancient, ancient musical instrument. It is a seven stringed zither without bridges.

Xun

This instrument is 7000 years old. It is a very old earthen instrument and when played, sounds a lot like a deep human voice. It is played when someone dies because it emits a very distant and primitive feeling.

DiziThe dizi is a major Chinese musical instrument, and is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, Chinese opera, and the modern Chinese orchestra. Traditionally, the dizi has also been popular among the common people, because it is simple to make and easy to carry. It is made out of lightweight, light coloured bamboo and had a soft quiet tone.

The End