World Music: China

Chinese music dates back thousands of years to the dawn of Chinese civilisation. Traditional music is either played solo, or in small ensembles.

Most Chinese music is based on the pentatonic scale, but the heptatonic scale is also used. According to this article at chinatour360.com,

'Melody and tone color are important expressive features, and great emphasis is given to the proper articulation and inflection of each musical tone.'

More than 3000 years ago there were already 70 types of musical instrument. For Royals and aristocrats, music was a way to distinguish themselves from common people. However music wasn't restricted to these social circles, and lively, easy to play wind and reed instruments became popular with the lower classes.

The Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) was a great and prosperous time for Chinese music, with many emperors being musicians and composers themselves. Exposure to other cultures resulted in many instruments being introduced to China, where they were modified and classified as traditional Chinese instruments.

Characteristic Instruments of Chinese music

Chinese instruments are commonly grouped together according to the material from which they are made. These categories are:

• Animal skins 
• Gourd (the hard, hollowed skin of the fruit)
• Bamboo 
• Wood 
• Silk 
• Earth/Clay 
• Metal 
• Stone

Some popular examples:

The Yangquin is a Chinese dulcimer, originating from the middle east. It is played by striking steel and copper-wound steel strings with chopstick-sized bamboo mallets. Earlier Yangquin's had their strings made from bronze, and earlier still, silk strings.

(played solo, audio only)

The Guzheng is a type of plucked zither. The right portion can be plucked, while the left side can be used to create subtle tones and ornaments. Players of the Guzheng often have four plectra attached to the fingers of the right hand, for plucking.

(played solo)

The Erhu, sometimes known in the west as the "Chinese Fiddle", is a two-stringed bowed instrument, and one of the most popular Chinese instruments. The instrument is held vertically, the with sound box rested on the left thigh. The bow is placed between the two strings, with both sides of the bow hair used to produce sound. The strings of the erhu can also be plucked.

(accompanied)

The Xun is an egg shaped instrument made or ceramic or clay. It is one of the oldest Chinese instruments, at approximately 8000 years old. It is similar to an ocarina, but has no mouthpiece. It is played like a flute, with air blown across the top hole, with the lower holes on the front and back being manipulated with the fingers.

(played solo)

The Dizi is a Chinese flute. It is transverse, meaning it it held horizontally, and played like the western concert flute. They are most often made of bamboo, but can be found made of other materials. As well as the blow hole and finger holes, it also has a hole called a "mo kong" it is covered with a very thin piece of reed called "dimo". This gives the instrument a special timbre with added harmonics.

(accompanied)

The Pipa is a pear-shaped, four-stringed instrument, similar to a lute. It is played by plucking the strings with the right hand, with the left hand producing important expressive effects, such as vibrato, glissando, and artificial harmonics, all of which are typical of western instruments such as violin and guitar. Other sound effects are often produced on the Pipa, for example by striking the board, or twisting the strings.

(played solo)

Some Well-Known Chinese Composers

Tan Dun - Best known as composer of the scores for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Hero.

Bright Sheng - This composer's works have been performed and recorded by some of the worlds greatest orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and China National Symphony, and performers including Yo-Yo Ma.

Zhou Long - A Pulitzer-prize-winning composer, hailed for merging Chinese folk themes and timbres with Western concepts.
                 
Qigang Chen - A naturalised French citizen, Chen studied with Olivier Messiaen for four years in the 80's. He was music director at the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Music Representative Of The Style

High Mountains, Flowing Water - A traditional and ancient piece for solo Guzheng. This piece was slow, and very melodic. The string-bends and glissando's sounded very characteristic of a Westerner's perception of Chinese music.

Tea Harvest - Another traditional piece, very lively, with the main melody being produced by the Erhu. This song sounded very "folky", not unlike a traditional Irish piece! The Erhu was accompanied by a multitude of different string, percussion and wind instruments.

Which Elements Would Influence A Contemporary Composer?

My perceptions of the above two pieces of music are that traditional Chinese music can be very varied, but also has some common themes. The music seems very ornamental, with the instruments being used in many ways to produce a multitude of different sounds. It also sounds very pastoral, with instruments that appear to mimic bird-call, water, and other such sounds of nature.

Many of these features would be of great interest to a contemporary composer. All of the contemporary composers I have mentioned above have fused these Chinese elements with the Western approach to produce some very interesting results. Nowadays ancient Chinese instruments are often played alongside much newer instruments; an example would be the erhu accompanied by piano.

Much Chinese music uses a pentatonic scale. This is something a modern composer could utilize, outside of the usual major/minor tonality.

The little traditional Chinese music that I've heard whilst conducting my research seemed to have less form than Western classical music composed during the common practice period. This is a concept that is already quite typical of contemporary classical music, so other traditional musical features and concepts in my opinion could quite easily transfer to music composed today.

Research Sources: Click here for text file

Musicians image by Leonard G. (From en wiki) [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons