biwa instrument classification

Reflecting its history as an instrument for samurai, its music is often described as dynamic and heroic. All rights reserved. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), Classification: [16], While many styles of biwa flourished in the early 1900s (such as kindai-biwa between 1900 and the 1930s), the cycle of tutelage was broken yet again by the war. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/502655, Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown ; Clara H. Rose (d. 1914), The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. The body is often made of stretched snakeskin, and come in varying sizes. In gagaku, it is known as the gaku-biwa (). Its tuning is A, E, A, B, for traditional biwa, G, G, c, g, or G, G, d, g for contemporary compositions, among other tunings, but these are only examples as the instrument is tuned to match the key of the player's voice. Modern biwa used for contemporary compositions often have five or more frets, and some have a doubled fourth string. Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. [10] An instrument called xiantao (), made by stretching strings over a small drum with handle, was said to have been played by labourers who constructed the Great Wall of China during the late Qin dynasty. Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. This may be due to the fact that the word pipa was used in ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones of the period from the Qin to the Tang dynasty, including the long-necked spiked lute and the short-necked lute, as well as the differing accounts given in these ancient texts. 'five-stringed biwa'), a Tang variant of biwa, can be seen in paintings of court orchestras and was used in the context of gagaku; however, it was removed with the reforms and standardization made to the court orchestra during the late 10th century. Its plectrum is the same as that used for the satsuma-biwa. OnMusic Dictionary - Term The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. The heike-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and five frets, is used to play The Tale of the Heike. A string instrument which is made of Paulownia wood that is used in an ensemble in gagaku or a solo instrument. Seeing its relative convenience and portability, the monks combined these features with their large and heavy gaku-biwa to create the heike-biwa, which, as indicated by its namesake, was used primarily for recitations of The Tale of the Heike. Biwa music is based on a pentatonic scale (sometimes referred to as a five-tone or five-note scale), meaning that each octave contains five notes. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" () which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. 5. The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. On the plectrum, figure of a golden phoenix with flowers in its beak, Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese n t b in Southeast Asia. Omissions? The biwa ( Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. What is the hornbostelsachs classification of biwa instrument - 9005546 This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The exception for these methods is for when hazusu or tataku are performed on the 4th string. With the abolition of Todo in the Meiji period, biwa players lost their patronage. It is a lute with a round, hollow soundboard, a short fretted neck, and usually four strings. Wood, leather, Dimensions: This is a system used to classify all musical instruments.This system was created by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs.The Hornbostel-Sachs system is based on how an instrument vibrates to produce sound. Traditionally they are lashed with heavier rope, though some modern instruments are tightened with large screws. Description. Guilds supporting biwa players, particularly the biwa hshi, helped proliferate biwa musical development for hundreds of years. The instrument itself resembles gaku-biwa but is slightly smaller, and is held horizontally. Jiaju Shen from The Either also plays an Electric 5 String Pipa/Guitar hybrid that has the Hardware from an Electric Guitar combined with the Pipa, built by an instrument maker named Tim Sway called "Electric Pipa 2.0". From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. , one can make two or three notes for each fret and also in-between notes. often-used technique is rubbing the long side of the bachi on the strings to get wind-like sounds. When two strings are plucked at the same time with the index finger and thumb (i.e. length The fourth and fifth strings, if 5-stringed, are tuned to the same note. Life in post-war Japan was difficult, and many musicians abandoned their music in favor of more sustainable livelihoods. The left hand techniques are important for the expressiveness of pipa music. (80 30 3.4 cm), Classification: Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. Instrument Information Origins. There are seven main types of Biwa, each distinguished by the number of strings, sound produced, and use. Other noted players of the early 20th century include Liu Tianhua, a student of Shen Zhaozhou of the Chongming school and who increased the number of frets on the pipa and changed to an equal-tempered tuning, and the blind player Abing from Wuxi. 1969. The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. [citation needed]. The open strings are shown in the first measures, and the pitches assigned the left-hand fingered notes in the following four measures. This is a type of biwa that wandering blind monks played for religious practice as well as in narrative musical performances during the medieval era, widely seen in the Kyushu area. Noted contemporary pipa players who work internationally include Min Xiao-Fen, Yang Jin(), Zhou Yi, Qiu Xia He, Liu Fang, Cheng Yu, Jie Ma, Yang Jing(, Yang Wei (),[64] Guan Yadong (), Jiang Ting (), Tang Liangxing (),[65] and Lui Pui-Yuen (, brother of Lui Tsun-Yuen). Because of this bending technique oshikan (. Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection - Chikuzen Biwa. In the narrative traditions where the pipa is used as an accompaniment to narrative singing, there are the Suzhou tanci (), Sichuan qingyin (), and Northern quyi () genres. Hornbostel-Sachs Instrument Classification System.pdf Tokyo:Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. The sound can be totally different depending on where the instrument is hit, how the plectrum is held, and which part of the plectrum hits the surface. Four or five frets are attached to the body, and it is played with a large wooden plectrum (bachi). The 5-string specimen is larger (the vibrating length of its strings is 30.3 inches) and heavier than the 4-string specimen and also has some delicate decorative detail added that is carved out of mother-of-pearl (detail #8 and #9). [36][37] The Ming collection of supernatural tales Fengshen Yanyi tells the story of Pipa Jing, a pipa spirit, but ghost stories involving pipa existed as early as the Jin dynasty, for example in the 4th century collection of tales Soushen Ji. [21] During this time, Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). to the present. The biwa sounds as written, and it is tuned to an A-430Hz. This type of biwa is used for court music called gagaku (), which has been protected by the government until today. The biwa may be used to accompany various types of narrative, as part of a gagaku (court music) ensemble, or as a solo instrument. PDF A Comparison of String Instruments Based on Wood Properties Because of this bending technique oshikan (), one can make two or three notes for each fret and also in-between notes. 5-string: biwa (gallery #2): Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Influenced by the recitations of blind priests, the music of the heike biwa reflects the mood of the text. These styles emphasized biwa-uta () vocalisation with biwa accompaniment and formed the foundation for edo-uta () styles of playing, such as shinnai and kota.[2]. The most basic technique, tantiao (), involves just the index finger and thumb (tan is striking with the index finger, tiao with the thumb). The wu style was associated more with the Northern school while the wen style was more the Southern school. Type. Two basic types of wood are used to make stringed musical instruments: woods for soundboards (top plates) and those for frame boards (back and side plates). The phrase structure is of four measures of four beats, and each section is composed of two phrases. The four-string specimen is tuned to a shamisen tuning called honchshi (interval structure, from the lowest string upwards, of P4 - P5, with the top two strings tuned in unison): approximately B2 E3 B3 B3; a typical tuning for the 5-string instrument has the intervallic sequence of P4 (down) P4 (up) M2 (up) P4 (up), approximately E3 B2 E3 F-sharp3 B3. Due to the slow growth of the Japanese mulberry, the wood must be taken from a tree at least 120 years old and dried for 10 years before construction can begin. Each group can include either two open strings or one open and one fingered string. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: ________. [40] Through time, the neck was raised and by the Qing dynasty the instrument was mostly played upright. Taiko Related Articles on Traditional Japanese Instruments 1. With the end of the wars, unsurprisingly, the biwa music became less popular, and the number of biwa musicians dropped significantly. The biwa has a shallow, rounded back and silk strings (usually four or five) attached to slender lateral pegs. During the 1950s, the use of metal strings in place of the traditional silk ones also resulted in a change in the sound of the pipa which became brighter and stronger. Other early known players of pipa include General Xie Shang from the Jin dynasty who was described to have performed it with his leg raised. All rights reserved. This singing style is complemented by the biwa, which biwa players use to produce short glissandi throughout the performance. 2.2 in. L 31 1/2 W. 11 13/16 D. 1 5/16 in. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710-794). The Traditional Music of Japan. https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. Biwa 6. Region: East Asia. These players had considerable influence on the development of pipa playing in China. For a long time, the biwa tradition was carried on by wandering blind monks who used the instrument to tell stories such as the Tale of Heike (). Its plectrum is much smaller than that of the satsuma-biwa, usually about 13cm (5.1in) in width, although its size, shape, and weight depends on the sex of the player. The plectrum is usually made from rosewood with boxwood or ivory tips for plucking the strings. The strings on a biwa range in thickness, with the first string being thickest and the fourth string being thinnest; on chikuzen-biwa, the second string is the thickest, with the fourth and fifth strings being the same thickness on chikuzen- and satsuma-biwa. New York, 1903, vol. The Birbyne and Biwa | The Other Instrument - Pennsylvania State University Liu also studied with other musicians and has developed a style that combines elements from several different schools. length Performers on the instrument frequently pluck two notes simultaneously, producing a variety of intervals, especially when the singer is silent. The da and xiao categories refer to the size of the piece xiao pieces are small pieces normally containing only one section, while da pieces are large and usually contain multiple sections. However, false nails made of horn existed as early as the Ming period when finger-picking became the popular technique for playing pipa.[24]. Non-traditional themes may be used in these new compositions and some may reflect the political landscape and demands at the time of composition, for example "Dance of the Yi People" which is based on traditional melodies of the Yi people, may be seen as part of the drive for national unity, while "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" extols the virtue of those who served as model of exemplary behaviour in the People's commune.[48]. Like pearls, big and small, falling on a platter of jade. The short neck of the Tang pipa also became more elongated. Since the revolutions in Chinese instrument-making during the 20thcentury, the softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so false nails are now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to the fingertips with the player's choice of elastic tape. Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production. Even though the system has been criticized and revised over the years, it is the most widely accepted system of musical instrument classification used by organologists and . Blind priests would play them in order to tell stories and tales of ancient war. Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection . II, p. 30. A Sound Classification Musical instruments can be classified by the Western orchestral system into brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds; but the S-H system allows non-western instruments to be classified as well. Ms Biwa () | Japanese | The Metropolitan Museum of Art Thought to be of Persian origin, the biwa was brought to Japan in the 8th century via Central Asia, China and the Korean Peninsula. 3 (Winter, 19771978). After having arrived in Japan via the Silk Road for purely instrumental music, the biwa evolved over time into a narrative musical instrument. The fish is an auspicious symbol of Buddhism signifying wakeful attention since most fish lack eyelids and remain alert. Pieces in the Wu style are generally more rhythmic and faster, and often depict scenes of battles and are played in a vigorous fashion employing a variety of techniques and sound effects. This seeming shortcoming is compensated for by the frets height and the low tension of the strings. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi (, The basic technique is to pluck down and up with the sharp corner. So the previously mentioned tuning can be tuned down to B, F, B, c, d. Asahikai and Tachibanakai are the two major schools of chikuzen-biwa. NAKAMURA Kahoru, the biwa player with whom we worked, mentioned that for a concert including pieces in two different modes, she tunes two biwas before the concert. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Beginning in the late 1960s to the late 1980s, composers and historians from all over the world visited Yamashika and recorded many of his songs; before this time, the biwa hshi tradition had been a completely oral tradition. The encounter also inspired a poem by Yuan Zhen, Song of Pipa (). In the early 20th century, twenty-five pieces were found amongst 10th-century manuscripts in the Mogao caves near Dunhuang, most of these pieces however may have originated from the Tang dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, apart from those of the various schools previously mentioned, there was Chen Zijing (), a student of Ju Shilin and known as a noted player during the late Qing dynasty. Archlute - Wikipedia Most ms biwas have tear-shaped bodies, but this rustic fish-shaped example was probably used by a wandering Buddhist monk. About Biwa - Japanese Traditional Music Ueda Junko and Tanaka Yukio, two of Tsuruta's students, continue the tradition of the modern satsuma-biwa. Typically, the lowest notes of the arpeggios are open strings, while the highest ones can either be fingered pitches or an open string. In Satsuma-biwa classical pieces, the thickest string (the first) is in principle. General tones and pitches can fluctuate up or down entire steps or microtones. Most prominent among these are Minoru Miki, Thring Brm, YANG Jing, Terry Riley, Donald Reid Womack, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Bun-Ching Lam, and Carl Stone. Musical Instruments of East Asia Flashcards | Quizlet Northern Wei dynasty (386534 AD). During the Yuan dynasty, the playwright Gao Ming wrote a play for nanxi opera called Pipa ji (, or "Story of the Pipa"), a tale about an abandoned wife who set out to find her husband, surviving by playing the pipa. He premiered the oldest Dunhuang Pipa Manuscript (the first interpretation made by Ye Dong) in Shanghai in the early 1980s. [12] The plectrum is also critical to creating the sawari sound, which is particularly utilized with satsuma-biwa. It is however possible to produce the tremolo with just one or more fingers. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Shakuhachi 2. 2008. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments. For the left hand, as mentioned above under the Construction section, bending of the strings (oshikan ) and delicate control of it to create a vibrato effect (yuri ) are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The Museum's collection of musical instruments includes approximately 5,000 examples from six continents and the Pacific Islands, dating from about 300 B.C. The stroking motion always starts from the 1st string, sequentially sweeping toward the others until it reaches the arpeggios last string. The pipa, pp, or p'i-p'a ( Chinese: ) is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Heike-biwa is an accompaniment instrument specifically used to chant the Tale of Heike stories () in the traditional way dating from the medieval era. sanxian, (Chinese: "three strings") Wade Giles romanization san-hsien also called xianzi, any of a group of long-necked, fretless Chinese lutes. [66] Some other notable pipa players in China include Yu Jia (), Wu Yu Xia (), Fang Jinlong () and Zhao Cong (). It is similar in shape to the chikuzen-biwa, but with a much more narrow body. The instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin dynasty. The Met Fifth Avenue 1000 Fifth Avenue shamisen Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection Grinnell Pipa is commonly associated with Princess Liu Xijun and Wang Zhaojun of the Han dynasty, although the form of pipa they played in that period is unlikely to be pear-shaped as they are now usually depicted. At the beginning of the 13th century, Heike biwa players began telling of tales of the rise and fall of the Taira . During the 1910s a five-string model was developed that, since the 1920s, has been the most common form of the instrument (gallery #2). Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. Since the biwas pegs do not move smoothly, tuning the instrument to a different mode requires time. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Pipa has been played solo, or as part of a large ensemble or small group since the early times. The fourth/fifth string G is an octave higher than the second string G. Again, note this is relative tuning; it could be AEAE, GDGD, etc, depending on the players range of voice. In addition, there are a number of techniques that produce sound effects rather than musical notes, for example, striking the board of the pipa for a percussive sound, or strings-twisting while playing that produces a cymbal-like effect. Biwa Description The biwa is a four stringed lute and it is approximately 106 cm long (42 inches). 1984. [32][33][34] A famous poem by Bai Juyi, "Pipa xing" (), contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River:[35]. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. As a result, younger musicians turned to other instruments and interest in biwa music decreased. The biwa originated in the Middle East and was delivered to Japan via the Silk Road in the 8th century. https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. This instrument also disappeared in the Chinese court orchestras. In both cases, the sound of the non-struck pitches is not hearable when performed with the orchestra, but the gesture itself might help the biwa player keep time. February 20, 2008. [42] During the Qing dynasty there originally two major schools of pipathe Northern and Southern schools, and music scores for these two traditions were collected and published in the first mass-produced edition of solo pieces for pipa, now commonly known as the Hua Collection (). Sheng. Taiko Center Online Shop - String Instruments - Tagged "Biwa" Yamashika, born in the late Meiji period, continued the biwa hshi tradition until his death in 1996. This causes a sustained, buzzing noise called, which adds a unique flavor to the biwa sound. The biwa player with whom we worked, NAKAMURA Kahoru, improvised ten different versions of this rhythm. The number of frets is considerably fewer than other fretted instruments. Sanshin 4. While blind biwa singers no longer dominate the biwa, many performers continue to use the instrument in traditional and modern ways. The chikuzen-biwa was used by Buddhist monks visiting private residences to perform memorial services, not only for Buddhist rites, but also to accompany the telling of stories and news. Sanxian ("Three strings") or Xianzi (Spike lute) - University of Edinburgh Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. [21] For example, masses of pipa-playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. Example 4 also shows the biwa's standard one-measure motive. Each school is associated with one or more collections of pipa music and named after its place of origin: These schools of the solo tradition emerged by students learning playing the pipa from a master, and each school has its own style, performance aesthetics, notation system, and may differ in their playing techniques. [62] From the Ming dynasty, famous pipa players include Zhong Xiuzhi (), Zhang Xiong (, known for his playing of "Eagle Seizing Swan"), the blind Li Jinlou (), and Tang Yingzeng () who was known to have played a piece that may be an early version of "Ambushed from Ten Sides".[63]. Influenced by the shamisen, its music is rather soft, attracting more female players. Popular Japanese three-stringed lute. [41] Three Ming dynasty pieces were discovered in the High River Flows East (, Gaohe Jiangdong) collection dating from 1528 which are very similar to those performed today, such as "The Moon on High" (, Yue-er Gao). It was those blind monks who fell outside of governmental protection who, during the 17. century, creatively modified the biwa to introduce a shamisen flavor, such as making frets higher to play in-between notes. The traditional pieces however often have a standard metrical length of 68 measures or beat,[46] and these may be joined together to form the larger pieces dagu.[47]. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. She lives in San Diego, California and works extensively with Chinese, cross-cultural, new music, and jazz groups. He also qualified as a doctor of Chinese medicine. Generally speaking, biwa have four strings, though modern satsuma- and chikuzen-biwa may have five strings. One of these, the new chikuzen biwa tradition, became popular amongst many thousands of amateurs between c.1900 and 1920. [71][self-published source] In 2014, French zhongruan player and composer Djang San, created his own electric pipa and recorded an experimental album that puts the electric pipa at the center of music. Satsuma Biwa () | Japanese | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (88.9 30.8 29.2 cm) Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1968 Accession Number: 68.62.1 Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings Therefore the sound of the biwa is very strong at the attack but it has almost no resonance, and in that sense, its contribution to the overall sound of the orchestra is more rhythmic than harmonic. 77-103. Traditional Chinese narrative prefers the story of the Han Chinese Princess Liu Xijun sent to marry a barbarian Wusun king during the Han dynasty, with the pipa being invented so she could play music on horseback to soothe her longings. The electric pipa was first developed in the late 20th century by adding electric guitarstyle magnetic pickups to a regular acoustic pipa, allowing the instrument to be amplified through an instrument amplifier or PA system. As well as being one of the leading pipa players of his generation, Li held many academic positions and also carried out research on pipa scales and temperament.

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