However, following the collapse of the Ritsury state, biwa hshi employed at the court were faced with the court's reconstruction and sought asylum in Buddhist temples. While blind biwa singers no longer dominate the biwa, many performers continue to use the instrument in traditional and modern ways. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (), the reverse motion is called zhi (). later versions were played by the blind Japanese lute priests of the Heian period and it was also played as background music for story-telling are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. All rights reserved. The biwa is a pear-shaped instrument with four or five strings. The biwa, considered one of Japan's principal traditional instruments, has both influenced and been influenced by other traditional instruments and compositions throughout its long history; as such, a number of different musical styles played with the biwa exist. In performance it was held sideways and played with a plectrum. The sanxian is made in several sizes. The pipa reached a height of popularity during the Tang dynasty, and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. However, false nails made of horn existed as early as the Ming period when finger-picking became the popular technique for playing pipa.[24]. This type of biwa, known as the gaku-biwa, was later used in gagaku ensembles and became the most commonly known type. Sandstone carving, showing the typical way a pipa was held when played with plectrum in the early period. [54][55] (The heptatonic scale was used for a time afterwards in the imperial court due to Sujiva's influence until it was later abandoned). Instruments are classified using 5 different categories depending on the manner in which the instrument creates the sound: Idiophones, Membranophones, Chordophones, Aerophones, & Electrophones. Shakuhachi 2. The narrative biwa music adopts a relative tuning; the pitch is decided to match with the players range of voice. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Shamisen 5. Omissions? In Japan, the biwa is generally played with a bachi instead of the fingers, and is often used to play gagaku. This music was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14th-15th centuries. The four fret type is tuned to E, B, E and A, and the five fret type is tuned to B, e, f and f. The pipa is held in a vertical or near-vertical position during performance, although in the early periods the instrument was held in the horizontal position or near-horizontal with the neck pointing slightly downwards, or upside down. Exploiting the sound of the open strings increases the overall sounds volume. This is the original form of biwa that came to Japan in the 8. century. This biwa often has five strings (although it is essentially a 4-string instrument as the 5th string is a doubled 4th that are always played together) and five or more frets, and the construction of the tuning head and frets vary slightly. Multiple strings are often played in one pluck like an arpeggio. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), sighted musicians created new styles of secular biwa narrative singing inspired by Kyushu ms traditions and introduced them to Tokyo. 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. The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. Telling stories and holding religious practices with biwa accompaniment became a profession for blind monks, and it was these wandering blind monks who carried on the tradition. [31] The pipa is mentioned frequently in the Tang dynasty poetry, where it is often praised for its expressiveness, refinement and delicacy of tone, with poems dedicated to well-known players describing their performances. They included Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, and Su Shi. [27] The traditional 16-fret pipa became less common, although it is still used in some regional styles such as the pipa in the southern genre of nanguan/nanyin. This singing style is complemented by the biwa, which biwa players use to produce short glissandi throughout the performance. They recognized that studies in music theory and music composition in Japan almost entirely consisted in Western theory and instruction. [25] Extra frets were added; the early instrument had 4 frets (, xing) on the neck, but during the early Ming dynasty extra bamboo frets (, pn) were affixed onto the soundboard, increasing the number of frets to around 10 and therefore the range of the instrument. This causes a sustained, buzzing noise called sawari () which adds a unique flavor to the biwa sound. The first and second strings are generally tuned to the same note, with the 4th (or doubled 4th) string is tuned one octave higher. 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 (710794). Each type has different and unique tones, techniques, and musical styles. In the 13th century, the story The Tale of Heike ()was created and told by them. Waribachi: This is a downward sweeping of the four strings, dividing the motion into two groups of two notes. The heike-biwa, smaller than the ms-biwa, was used for similar purposes. 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. An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. Lin Shicheng (; 19222006), born in Shanghai, began learning music under his father and was taught by Shen Haochu (; 18991953), a leading player in the Pudong school style of pipa playing. 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]. During the Song dynasty, many of the literati and poets wrote ci verses, a form of poetry meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments such as pipa. [38] It has however been suggested that the long plectrum depicted in ancient paintings may have been used as a friction stick like a bow. Mural from Kizil, estimated Five Dynasties to Yuan dynasty, 10th to 13th century. https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. With this, the biwa entered a period of popularity, with songs reflecting not just The Tale of the Heike, but also the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, with songs such as Takeo Hirose, Hitachimaru and 203 Hill gaining popularity. [14][15][16], The pear-shaped pipa is likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia, Gandhara, and/or India. Kindai-biwa still retains a significant number of professional and amateur practitioners, but the zato, heike, and moso-biwa styles have all but died out. These players had considerable influence on the development of pipa playing in China. [56], Texts from Tang dynasty mentioned many renowned pipa players such as He Huaizhi (), Lei Haiqing (), Li Guaner (), and Pei Xingnu (). The pipa, pp, or p'i-p'a (Chinese: ) is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi () that requires a full-handed grip. The Biwa is a four-stringed Japanese lute with a short neck that was commonly used in Japanese court music in the seventh and eighth centuries. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. [10][11] This may have given rise to the Qin pipa, an instrument with a straight neck and a round sound box, and evolved into ruan, an instrument named after Ruan Xian, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and known for playing similar instrument. It produces distinctive ichikotsuch () and hyj (). Formation: Japanese. From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. A distinctive sound of pipa is the tremolo produced by the lunzhi () technique which involves all the fingers and thumb of the right hand. As a result, younger musicians turned to other instruments and interest in biwa music decreased. Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted. The stroking motion always starts from the 1st string, sequentially sweeping toward the others until it reaches the arpeggios last string. His well-received compositions, such as November Steps, which incorporated biwa heikyoku with Western orchestral performance, revitalized interest in the biwa and sparked a series of collaborative efforts by other musician in genres ranging from J-Pop and enka to shin-hougaku and gendaigaku. 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). In order to boost the volume of its sound the biwa player rarely attacks a single string, and instead arpeggios 2, 3, or 4 pitches, with one note per string. [3][4][5], The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the Han dynasty around the 2nd century AD. This overlap resulted in a rapid evolution of the biwa and its usage and made it one of the most popular instruments in Japan. As one of the modern types of biwa that flourished in the late 19, centuries, Satsuma-biwa is widely played today in various settings, including popular media. A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. 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). Further, the frets and the nut are wide, which provides a surface, not a point, for a string to touch. [29], There are many references to pipa in Tang literary works, for example, in A Music Conservatory Miscellany Duan Anjie related many anecdotes associated with pipa. [14], Biwa usage in Japan has declined greatly since the Heian period. Techniques that produce vibrato, portamento, glissando, pizzicato, harmonics or artificial harmonics found in violin or guitar are also found in pipa. The heike-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and five frets, is used to play The Tale of the Heike. Thick strings clatter like splattering rain, In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. 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. [19], Other musicians, such as Yamashika Yoshiyuki, considered by most ethnomusicologists to be the last of the biwa hshi, preserved scores of songs that were almost lost forever. 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. The instrument itself resembles gaku-biwa but is slightly smaller, and is held horizontally. Players hold the instrument vertically. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. With turned wrist, he gathered the strings to pluck and strum faster. Wu Man is probably the best known pipa player internationally, received the first-ever master's degree in pipa and won China's first National Academic Competition for Chinese Instruments. As part of, Mamoru Ohashi (Japanese, active Ogasa, Shizouka Prefecture 1953). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The traditional Satsuma-biwa has 4 strings and 4 frets (Sei-ha and Kinshin-ryu schools), and newer styles have 5 strings and 5 frets (Nishiki and Tsuruta-ryu schools). The higo-biwa is closely related to the heike-biwa and, similarly, relies on an oral narrative tradition focusing on wars and legends. An apsara (feitian) playing pipa, using fingers with the pipa held in near upright position. 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. L 31 1/2 W. 11 13/16 D. 1 5/16 in. It helps illustrate the neglible amount of resonance the biwa produces, because already after 1 second most of its sound energy is below the threshold of hearing. The scores were written in tablature form with no information on tuning given, there are therefore uncertainties in the reconstruction of the music as well as deciphering other symbols in the score. Wei Zhongle (; 19031997) played many instruments, including the guqin. Through the next several centuries, players of both traditions intersected frequently and developed new music styles and new instruments. used only as a drone, and usually tuned to the same note as the third string, making the second the lowest. In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. The biwa is a stringed instrument used in Japan as a sort of story telling method. These monophonic do not follow a set harmony. 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. By the late 1940s, the biwa, a thoroughly Japanese tradition, was nearly completely abandoned for Western instruments; however, thanks to collaborative efforts by Japanese musicians, interest in the biwa is being revived. This music called heikyoku () was, cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14-15. There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the ms-biwa. The short neck of the Tang pipa also became more elongated. Kishibe, Shigeo. Songs are not always metered, although more modern collaborations are metered. Performers on the instrument frequently pluck two notes simultaneously, producing a variety of intervals, especially when the singer is silent. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Idiophones African Thumb Pianos [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. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" () which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. It was in the late 20th century that this instrument started to be re-discovered and re-evaluated in various musical settings, such as soundtrack for movies and ensemble and orchestra music, culminating in Toru Takemitsus signature piece November Steps, which premiered in New York City in 1967. Biwa playing has a long history on Kyushu, and for centuries the art was practiced within the institution of ms, blind Buddhist priests who performed sacred and secular texts for agrarian and other rituals. In previous centuries, the predominant biwa musicians would have been blind monks (, biwa hshi), who used the biwa as musical accompaniment when reading scriptural texts. The biwa arrived in Japan in the 7th century, having evolved from the Chinese bent-neck pipa (; quxiang pipa),[1] while the pipa itself was derived from similar instruments in West Asia. The instrument is also held vertically while playing. [2][29] Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example Ma Zhiyuan's play Autumn in the Palace of Han (), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun),[30][29] as well as in music pieces such as Zhaojun's Lament (, also the title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa. greatest depth of resonator, multiple (by pressure stopping against fretted fingerboard). There are some confusions and disagreements about the origin of pipa. Traditionally, the duration of each pitch subdivides the measure into two equal durations. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title:
The surface of the frets is constantly shaved down by the strings, and one of the most important points in the maintenance of the biwa is to keep the surfaces as flat as possible to get goodsawari. 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). [19] Pipa acquired a number of Chinese symbolisms during the Han dynasty - the instrument length of three feet five inches represents the three realms (heaven, earth, and man) and the five elements, while the four strings represent the four seasons.[7]. General tones and pitches can fluctuate up or down entire steps or microtones. 1. In this case, the left hand fourth finger taps the string so that the un-attacked pitch or pitches can be somewhat heard. 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. 77-103. 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. greatest depth of resonator Novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as Jin Ping Mei showed pipa performance to be a normal aspect of life in these periods at home (where the characters in the novels may be proficient in the instrument) as well as outside on the street or in pleasure houses.[24]. It is made out of wood, with a teardrop-shaped body and a long neck with four or five high frets, and is stringed with four or five silk strings that are plucked by a big pick called bachi. often-used technique is rubbing the long side of the bachi on the strings to get wind-like sounds. There are three small soundholes on the soundboard: two visible ones (hangetsu) partially covered with moon-shaped caps made of ivory and a hidden one (ingetsu) beneath the string holder. Hornbostel-Sach Classification of instruments is a means of sorting out instruments according to how it produces sound. The archlute ( Spanish: archilad, Italian: arciliuto, German: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the The frets of the satsuma-biwa are raised 4 centimetres (1.6in) from the neck allowing notes to be bent several steps higher, each one producing the instrument's characteristic sawari, or buzzing drone. Painted panel of the sarcophagus of Y Hung, depicts one of the Persian or Sogdian figures playing pipa. Further important collections were published in the 20th century. Sort by. This next instrument seems to have some spiritual meaning behind it. The left hand techniques are important for the expressiveness of pipa music. The chikuzen-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and four frets or five strings and five frets, was popularised in the Meiji period by Tachibana Satosada. Generally speaking, biwa have four strings, though modern satsuma- and chikuzen-biwa may have five strings. Instead, biwa singers tend to sing with a flexible pitch without distinguishing soprano, alto, tenor, or bass roles. [17] Even higo-biwa players, who were quite popular in the early 20th century, may no longer have a direct means of studying oral composition, as the bearers of the tradition have either died or are no longer able to play. This seeming shortcoming is compensated for by the frets height and the low tension of the strings.
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