中文课 Blog Post #3

A。星期四你回家吗？

B。请你说慢一点！

A。对不起。昨天我买一件丝绸外衣。我太激动了。

B。你穿在那里？

A。下个星期是我的姐姐的婚礼。那个天我穿了。

I'll be talking about the liuqin (柳琴) this time around, which is a tear-shaped lute from China. It was actually invented very recently in the 1950s. It is a smaller version of the pipa and has four strings which give it a similar sound to a mandolin. The player plucks the strings with a piece of spectrum. The liuqin often takes the role as lead instrument in ensembles (it's high-pitched sound easily stands out). It is a popular choice for Chinese folk music and opera. In recent decades, Composer Wang Huiran made significant contributions to its development and and wrote several pieces that feature the liuqin as a solo instrument.

Construction includes a variety of materials including bone, wood, and decorative plastics. Originally, the liuqin was made from willow. Professional-quality instruments are made from sandalwood and rosewood. The frets (the small bars seen beneath the strings) are made out of bamboo to give the strings a great sound and timbre.

Here are more youtube links to professional performances:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2oid-p7ztU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51CWUSAaVy4&feature=related

Sources:

http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/

http://www.museumofworldmusic.com/lqin.html

中文课 Blog Post #2

1。她想买一件中好的旗袍。

2。她见好在一件旗袍。

3。你见了她在一件吗？

4。是。她很漂亮。现在她得买一双鞋。

5。她应该买红一双。

For this post I did some research on the erhu (二胡), which is a two-stringed fiddle and undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely recognized Chinese instruments. It belongs to the "huqin" family, or the bowed string family. It's origins date back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when it was called the "xiqin" that was played by the Xi Mongolian tribe. During the Song dynasty (960-1279), it was introduced to China as the "Ji Qin." Over the coming generations, it underwent a great amount of development as it was played for opera. Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) and Liu Tianhua (1895-1932) made significant contributions to the improvement of the erhu. Tianhua was responsible for it becoming a solo instrument rather than being played mainly as an accompaniment.

The sound body resembles a drum-case that is usually made of ebony, sandalwood, and snake skins. The front opening is usually covered with python skin while the back is left open for the circulation of sound and amplification of string resonance. The strings (which are made of silk or nylon) are most commonly tuned to D and A. The artist changes the pitch by touching the strings at different areas along the long wooden neck. The bow is 76 cm long and is made of reed which is curved during cooking. The bow's strings are arched the same way as the strings of a violin.

Interestingly, it emits a sound similar to a human voice. It can also be made to imitate birds or horses. It can play either sad or happy tunes.

The first of these links is an informational page with yourube videos at the bottom. I've also supplied another video in which an erhu is played in accompaniment with a yangqin.

http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/erhu.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LPIxPA6-O8&feature=related

中文202 Blog #1

A。这条裤子跟那条裤子一样贵。

B。那这一件旗袍的呢？

A。这一件旗袍太大了，可是颜色好。

B。找您五十一块四毛一。谢谢。

A。什么，什么？不过我不买了！

While thinking about what exactly I wanted to write about this semester for these class blogs, a song popped into my head that just so happened to have a Chinese string instrument. I knew it was Chinese in origin but I didn't know it's name or what it really looked like. I started doing some searching around Youtube and found that it was a 扬琴 (yangqin) or a Chinese hammered dulcimer. It is a string instrument with a nearly square soundboard that is played with two bamboo sticks. It first appeared in China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and quickly became one of China's most popular artistic traditions. Some believe that it may have been introduced via the Silk Road or by the sea through the port of Guangzhou, but others think that the instrument was invented by the Chinese without foreign influence.

The yangqin has around 200 strings that are struck using bamboo sticks with rubber around the end. Because of its broad range of sound, it can be played as a solo part or as an accompaniment in an ensemble or with a singer in an opera. I've linked to some performances as well as an article that goes into the more technical aspects of the instruments. No doubt you'll recognize the sound from a movie. :)

Sources:

http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/yangqin/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbgx5MyLhm8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ym-VGsI0Tk&feature=related