Friday, 9 January 2009, 21:22
Today, we had our Guzheng lesson in the morning. We had a young female teacher teaching us, and she used to study in Beijing, majoring in Guzheng.
Besides learning some practical skills on playing the Guzheng (we learnt Ke Ren Lai), here are some other interesting facts about this wholly traditional Chinese instrument:
- There are different symbols drawn to represent different techniques of plucking of the strings.
- To obtain the '4' sound (Fa), the '3' string needs to be pressed first before plucking. Similarly, to get '7' (Ti/Xi), the '6' string needs to be pressed before plucking it.
- All 'A'/ '5' strings are in Green
- Sound is produced when vibration is produced from the bridge of the string, to the resonance box (empty hollow space under guzheng). The sound waves amplifies in the resonance box.
- The 'S' shape at the left side of the guzheng gives it different tension to the strings, producing different sounds.
- By pressing on a string before plucking it, the note is sharpened. By releasing a string after it is being plucked, the note is flattened.
- The Guzheng has approximately 2200 years of history, originating from the Qin dynasty.
- Tremelo- technique to produce sustained notes (done at edge)
Some links provided by our teacher for further knowledge on Guzheng:
www.qinzheng.orgwww.huain.com.cnwww.tongdengzhongyao.com.cnwww.pengxiuwen.orgLabels: Iynyi
Music, AWESOME
