Traditional Chinese Music

The variations of rhythm, beat, tone quality, and embellishments in traditional Chinese music are highly distinctive and unlike their Western counterparts. This is mainly due to the unique sounds and playing styles of traditional Chinese musical instruments. Chinese musical instruments can be divided into four basic categories based on the method by which they are played. The first category includes the bowed-strings, or Hu Qin, which are made of wood with a piece of snakeskin stretched over the sound box. They have two strings, and the bow is permanently caught in between the two strings. The second category includes the plucked-strings, of which there are three types: dulcimers, lutes, and harps. The harp is made of either wood or bamboo with steel strings. In the past, the strings were made of silk. The third category encompasses the woodwind section. There are flutes, pipes, and Chinese trumpets which use double reeds like the oboe but sound like a trumpet. The final category encompasses the percussion section. The main instruments include drums, timpani, gongs, and cymbals. For some songs, bells, xylophones, tuned gongs, and the triangle are used. The percussion section is called the wu-ch'ang, or martial scene, in traditional Chinese opera.