Musical Instruments China

Lusheng. Do you know what that is?

I have also seen it spelled lu sheng… does that help?

How about erhu?

Pipa?

Okay, an easier one…zither.

(Zither is the only one I was familiar with.)

Lusheng, erhu, pipa, zither are all musical instruments that mostly were unknown to my western ear (and not even in my English vocabulary!)

Want to travel to China to see some of these instruments?

Let’s go!

Starting with the only one I was a bit familiar with…

the zither.

It is very much like a large autoharp, isn’t it.

Rethinking an earlier statement, I guess drums were the most familiar musical instrument for me…

but some are seen in situations that seemed unusual.

Some drums are very ornate and used in concerts,

Drums also play a major role in festivals.

Aside: Most of these photos were taken in southern China in the province of Guizhou.

Pipa

A pipa is a pear shaped stringed instrument that I learned is a rather popular and common instrument. It is also known as a Chinese lute.

Erhu

(the name I was not familiar with, but I have seen this instrument before in Canada.)

Amazing sounds can be made with only two strings!

Horn family

These trumpets are very familiar to my western eyes and ears

but other wind instruments…not so much so.

(Langde is one of several ethnic minority villages in Guizhou.

I believe the official name is Langde Miao National Village)

Lusheng

I just love this photo…can you not just feel the joy and want to sway with the rhythm?

(Hint: click the photo to enlarge it to get a better “feel” for the music.)

Rather the same technique as a bagpipe player would use, eh.

The lusheng is a reed-pipe instrument made of bamboo.

The Miao (and Dong) ethnic minorities use the lusheng frequently in local festivals.

Children begin to practice at an early age!

I have to put this photo in…

it represents classic Chinese music to my western eye.

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