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One of the most ancient Chinese traditional music instruments
The
Chinese character for "zheng"( Zheng (Guzheng) is build with a special wooden sound body with strings arched across movable bridges along the length of the instrument for the purpose of tuning. In the early times the zheng had 5 string (quite probably with bamboo sound body); later on developed into 12 to 13 strings in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907AD) and 16 strings in the Song and Ming dynasty (from the 10th to 15th century). The present day zheng usually has 21-25 strings. Note that guzheng should not be confused with guqin, 7-stringed zither without bridges.
Techniques: Guzheng player attaches a little plectrum on each finger using a special tape. For traditional repertoires, the instrumentalist mostly uses three fingers of the right hand for plucking whereas the left hand pressing the string from the other side of the bridge to create special tonalities and ornaments. For some contemporary repertoires, both hands are needed to produce complicated harmonies using four fingers of each, which means that even the fingers of the left hand need to ware plectrums. In some cases, one can use cello bow to play on the Guzheng to produce sustained sounds and special effects. One can also use sticks to hit on the strings in the way like a percussion instrument. Modern guzheng playing: For traditional Chinese music, the left hand techniques are very essential to guzheng playing, as is well-expressed by the great musicologist, Prof. Dr. Tran Van Khe: "the right hand produce the sound, and the left hand give the soul to the music" ( See the article "An introduction to traditional and classical music from China" for details). The modern guzheng playing has been very much influenced by western music; It is now common among the younger generation for the fingers of both hands to wear small plectrums to pluck the strings in order to play harmonies and accompaniments (one hand plays the melody, and the other accompanies like a base). As a matter of fact, to be able to play with a supper speed and precision has become the necessary condition to win a competition nowadays. As a result of this new development, the guzheng playing appears (and sounds) like playing harp or piano. Therefore, the guzheng is sometimes also referred to as "Chinese harp" or "Chinese piano". Notes:
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Liu
Fang concert live @ RTBF La Première (national radio)
Liu
Fang concert live in St. Petersburg & the reportage from Russian TV
Guzheng solo pieces performed by Liu Fang
Guzheng music video demo
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1. Traditional Chinese music |
(Free MP3 music samples online)
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[More samples for audio(MP3) and video(WMV)]
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