One of these, the new chikuzen biwa tradition, became popular amongst many thousands of amateurs between c.1900 and 1920. Biwa 6. [12][13] Yet another term used in ancient text was Qinhanzi (), perhaps similar to Qin pipa with a straight neck and a round body, but modern opinions differ on its precise form. greatest depth of resonator, multiple (by pressure stopping against fretted fingerboard). [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. In the 13th century, the story The Tale of Heike ()was created and told by them. Options are limited when considering that a fingered string between two open strings must be fingered on the 4th fret to avoid damping. Yoko Hiraoka, a Lecture/Recital of Japanese Biwa Music 2008. The peg box is angled about 90 degrees from the neck, and the back of the body is flat, unlike the western lute. Japanese and foreign musicians alike have begun embracing traditional Japanese instruments, particularly the biwa, in their compositions. We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. Further, the frets and the nut are wide, which provides a surface, not a point, for a string to touch. Another often-used technique is rubbing the long side of the bachi on the strings to get wind-like sounds. Though formerly popular, little was written about the performance and practice of the biwa from roughly the 16th century to the mid-19th century. Typically, the duration of each group subdivides the measure into two equal durations. The pipa, pp, or p'i-p'a (Chinese: ) is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Tataku: This is similar to hazusu, except that this time, two non-struck pitches follow the struck one. Biwa - Stanford University Traditional instruments in japanese and chinese music - SlideShare Australian dark rock band The Eternal use the pipa in their song "Blood" as played by singer/guitarist Mark Kelson on their album Kartika. Although this instrument is quite large and a very substantial plectrum is used to excite its strings, its sound is surprisingly soft and meant more for intimate settings rather than concert halls. This type of biwa is used for court music called gagaku (), which has been protected by the government until today. The 4 wedge-shaped frets on the neck became 6 during the 20th century. Exploiting the sound of the open strings increases the overall sounds volume. After almost dying out post-World War II, the tradition was revived in part due to interest shown in the instrument by the internationally known contemporary composer Tru Takemitsu, who wrote instrumental compositions for the instrument. Instrument Classification | Mary K. Oyer African Music Archive | Goshen [1][2] Modern researchers such as Laurence Picken, Shigeo Kishibe, and John Myers suggested a non-Chinese origin. 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). In Satsuma-biwa classical pieces, the thickest string (the first) is in principle used only as a drone, and usually tuned to the same note as the third string, making the second the lowest. These tunings are relative, the actual pitches a given biwa is tuned to being determined by the vocal range of the singer/player. New York, 1903, vol. The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. Ieyasu favored biwa music and became a major patron, helping to strengthen biwa guilds (called Todo) by financing them and allowing them special privileges. 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 (). Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. 17 Traditional Japanese Musical Instruments You Should Know 89.4.2088. Typically, the lowest notes of the arpeggios are open strings, while the highest ones can either be fingered pitches or an open string. It had close association with Buddhism and often appeared in mural and sculptural representations of musicians in Buddhist contexts. There were originally two major schools of pipa during the Qing dynastythe Northern (Zhili, ) and Southern (Zhejiang, ) schoolsand from these emerged the five main schools associated with the solo tradition. Biwa Four frets Figure 1 NAKAMURA Kahoru Biwa's back is flat Biwa's plectrum Figure 2 Although shaped like a Western lute, the Biwa 's back is flat and it has a shallower body. The Edo period proved to be one of the most prolific and artistically creative periods for the biwa in its long history in Japan. The da and xiao categories refer to the size of the piece xiao pieces are small pieces normally containing only one section, while da pieces are large and usually contain multiple sections. The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. [45] Other collections from the Qing dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan () and Ju Shilin (), each representing different schools, and many of the pieces currently popular were described in these Qing collections. This 5-stringed lute with a powerful. For the left hand, as mentioned above under the Construction section, bending of the strings (oshikan, ) and delicate control of it to create a vibrato effect (yuri. ) The biwa is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa. Different sized plectrums produced different textures; for example, the plectrum used on a ms-biwa was much larger than that used on a gaku-biwa, producing a harsher, more vigorous sound. 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. The first and second strings are generally tuned to the same note, with the 4th (or doubled 4th) string is tuned one octave higher. 2. The strings are tuned in fourths, and the melody is played almost exclusively on the highest pitched string. Liu also studied with other musicians and has developed a style that combines elements from several different schools. The flowers fluttered, and from Heaven the phoenix trilled, Since the biwas pegs do not move smoothly, tuning the instrument to a different mode requires time. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. [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). 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. The sound can be totally different depending on where the instrument is hit, how the plectrum is held, and which part of the plectrum hits the surface. Biwa music is based on a pentatonic scale (sometimes referred to as a five-tone or five-note scale), meaning that each octave contains five notes. Male players typically play biwa that are slightly wider and/or longer than those used by women or children. As part of, Mamoru Ohashi (Japanese, active Ogasa, Shizouka Prefecture 1953). He also qualified as a doctor of Chinese medicine. This seeming shortcoming is compensated for by the frets height and the low tension of the strings. Its classification is a type of a Chordophone. For a long time, the biwa tradition was carried on by wandering blind monks who used the instrument to tell stories such as the Tale of Heike (). The short neck has four raised frets, each one specifically assigned to one of the left hand fingers. NAKAMURA Kahoru, the biwa player with whom we worked, mentioned that for a concert including pieces in two different modes, she tunes two biwas before the concert. The instrument is played with a large wedge-shaped plectrum called a bachi. The number of frets is considerably fewer than other fretted instruments. Hazusu: This is a sequence of two pitches, where the first one is attacked, and leades to a second one which is not attacked. used to strike the hard soundboard sharply to create percussive effects, adding a more dynamic flavor to the music. Updates? Examples of popular modern works composed after the 1950s are "Dance of the Yi People" and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (). The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the Han dynasty, and although historically the term pipa was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones, its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument. A player holds it horizontally, and mostly plays rhythmic arpeggios in orchestra or ensemble. 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). In gagaku, it is known as the gaku-biwa (). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. During the 1950s, the use of metal strings in place of the traditional silk ones also resulted in a change in the sound of the pipa which became brighter and stronger. As a point of clarification, the highest and last pitch of the biwa's arpeggio is considered as its melodic pitch. 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. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments. In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate collapsed, giving way to the Meiji period and the Meiji Restoration, during which the samurai class was abolished, and the Todo lost their patronage. Pipa has been played solo, or as part of a large ensemble or small group since the early times. Resonator design, chordophone: bowl with wood soundboard, Vibrational length: tension bridge to ridge-nut, Pitches per string course: multiple (by pressure stopping against fretted fingerboard), 4-string biwa (gallery #1): These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Formation: Japanese. There are a number of different traditions with different styles of playing pipa in various regions of China, some of which then developed into schools. 1800 Geography: Japan Culture: Japanese Medium: Wood, mother-of-pearl and ivory Dimensions: 35 12 1/8 11 1/2 in. The biwa has a shallow, rounded back and silk strings (usually four or five) attached to slender lateral pegs. The biwa ( Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. About: Biwa [49] In Nanguan music, the pipa is still held in the near-horizontal position or guitar-fashion in the ancient manner instead of the vertical position normally used for solo playing in the present day. 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. Like with the shamisen, a distinctive raspy tone quality called sawari is associated with the chikuzen biwa. This causes a sustained, buzzing noise called sawari () which adds a unique flavor to the biwa sound. It had a pear-shaped wooden body with two crescent-shaped sound holes, a curved neck, four strings, and four frets. 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. The pipa has also been used in rock music; the California-based band Incubus featured one, borrowed from guitarist Steve Vai, in their 2001 song "Aqueous Transmission," as played by the group's guitarist, Mike Einziger. Hitting the body of the instrument: The plectrum is used to hit the black protective part on the front of the instrument. The fourth/fifth string G is an octave higher than the second string G. Again, note this is relative tuning; it could be AEAE, GDGD, etc, depending on the players range of voice. Classification of Musical Instruments: Sachs-Hornbostel - LiveAbout chikuzen biwa Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection The biwa (Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. 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. Reflecting its history as an instrument for samurai, its music is often described as dynamic and heroic. Though its origins are unclear, this thinner variant of the biwa was used in ceremonies and religious rites. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Figure 5 shows examples of harmonic structures of, 2, 3, and 4 pitches in Ichikotsu-ch. The pipa pieces in the common repertoire can be categorized as wen (, civil) or wu (, martial), and da (, large or suite) or xiao (, small). [11] The style of singing accompanying biwa tends to be nasal, particularly when singing vowels, the consonant , and syllables beginning with "g", such as ga () and gi (). As a result, younger musicians turned to other instruments and interest in biwa music decreased. The four-string specimen is tuned to a shamisen tuning called honchshi (interval structure, from the lowest string upwards, of P4 - P5, with the top two strings tuned in unison): approximately B2 E3 B3 B3; a typical tuning for the 5-string instrument has the intervallic sequence of P4 (down) P4 (up) M2 (up) P4 (up), approximately E3 B2 E3 F-sharp3 B3. Written by Nobuko Fukatsu The biwa developed into five different types in its long history: Gaku, Heike, Ms, Satsuma, and Chikuzen. Biwa. NGDMI v.1: 234-237. The body is often made of stretched snakeskin, and come in varying sizes. With the rounded edge of the resonator resting in the players lap and the peg box end of the instrument tilted to the left at about a 45-degree angle from vertical, the biwas soundboard faces forward. The ms-biwa (), a biwa with four strings, is used to play Buddhist mantras and songs. Hornbostel-Sachs - Wikipedia By the middle of the Meiji period, improvements had been made to the instruments and easily understandable songs were composed in quantity. [39] The plectrum has now been largely replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. The strings are usually tuned to A2 D3 E3 A3 , although there are various other ways of tuning. [8][9] Liu Xi also stated that the instrument called pipa, though written differently (; pp or ; pb) in the earliest texts, originated from amongst the Hu people (a general term for non-Han people living to the north and west of ancient China). [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. All rights reserved. 1969. Players hold the instrument vertically. The plectrum is usually made from rosewood with boxwood or ivory tips for plucking the strings. This singing style is complemented by the biwa, which biwa players use to produce short glissandi throughout the performance. In Satsuma-biwa classical pieces, the thickest string (the first) is in principle. Popular Japanese three-stringed lute. Liu Dehai (19372020), also born in Shanghai, was a student of Lin Shicheng and in 1961 graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. L 31 1/2 W. 11 13/16 D. 1 5/16 in. Taiko Related Articles on Traditional Japanese Instruments 1. The tuning of the strings changes according to the pieces mode. In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. Over the centuries, several types of biwa were created, each having a certain size plectrum, a specialized purpose, a unique performance technique, and varying numbers of strings and frets. 5. About Biwa - Japanese Traditional Music Recently, this instrument, much like the konghou harp, has been revived for historically informed performances and historical reconstructions. Typically, the lower strings of the arpeggio are open, as indicated with the '0' in Example 4, while the last string hit may either be open or fingered (numbers 1 to 4 refers to the left hand's fingers from the index to the 4th finger, respectively). 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. The pipa reached a height of popularity during the Tang dynasty, and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. The 14- or 16-fret pipa had frets arranged in approximately equivalent to the western tone and semitone, starting at the nut, the intervals were T-S-S-S-T-S-S-S-T-T-3/4-3/4-T-T-3/4-3/4, (some frets produced a 3/4 tone or "neutral tone"). Due to the slow growth of the Japanese mulberry, the wood must be taken from a tree at least 120 years old and dried for 10 years before construction can begin. The fish is an auspicious symbol of Buddhism signifying wakeful attention since most fish lack eyelids and remain alert. In the 13th century, the story "The Tale of Heike" ()was created and told by them. 1984. The instrument's rounded rectangular resonator has a snakeskin front and back, and the curved-back pegbox at the end of the neck has lateral, or side, tuning pegs that adjust three silk or nylon strings. Chikuzen was an historic northern province on Kyushu, the southern-most main island of Japan. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: Sanshin 4. As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production. Biwa hshi performances overlapped with performances by other biwa players many years before heikyoku (, The Tale of the Heike),[further explanation needed] and continues to this day. During the war time in early 20th century, biwa music was easily adapted to the nationalism of Imperial Japan, and many songs that emphasized the virtue of loyalty and sacrifice for the country were created and widely played. Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted. Loquat - Wikipedia Shanghai-born Liu Guilian graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and became the director of the Shanghai Pipa Society, and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and Chinese National Orchestral Society, before immigrating to Canada. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" () which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. Shakuhachi 2. Several schools of biwa playing evolved from the ms tradition, one of which, founded in the 1890s by Tachibana Chij and others and called the Asahi-kai, was based on the style of the Chikuzen region of Kyushu. During the 1910s a five-string model was developed that, since the 1920s, has been the most common form of the instrument (gallery #2). In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. 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. , one can make two or three notes for each fret and also in-between notes. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 681. Shamisen. OnMusic Dictionary - Term Detail #2 shows the backside of the instrument; detail #3 is a side view revealing both the shallowness of the bowl-shaped resonator and the height of the frets that are glued onto the neck. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. 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. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. [24] However, it continued to be played as a folk instrument that also gained the interest of the literati. It is an important instrument in the Peking opera orchestra, often taking the role of main melodic instrument in lieu of the bowed string section. In the 1920s and 1930s, the number of frets was increased to 24, based on the 12 tone equal temperament scale, with all the intervals being semitones. Kakubachi: This is the performance of arpeggio with a downward motion of the plectrum, and it is always loud. Continent: Asia. Nation: Japan. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi (, The basic technique is to pluck down and up with the sharp corner. The biwa originated in the Middle East and was delivered to Japan via the Silk Road in the 8th century. 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. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. Gao Hong graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and was the first to do a joint tour with Lin Shicheng in North America. For the left hand, as mentioned above under the Construction section, bending of the strings (oshikan ) and delicate control of it to create a vibrato effect (yuri ) are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments. A rapid strum is called sao (), and strumming in the reverse direction is called fu (). These parts can be seen in detail #1: peg box (hanju) with lobster tail-shaped finial (kairbi) [upper left]; four laterally mounted friction tuning pegs (tenju) [lower left]; neck (shikakubi) [right] with a tenon cut at each end (one fitting into a mortise cut into the peg box, the other into a mortise in the narrow end of the resonator) and five high frets (j); and a resonator made of a shallow, teardrop-shaped hollowed out wood shell (k) covered with a flat, thinly-shaven wood soundboard (fukuban) to which is glued a string holder tension bridge (fukuju) just above its rounded end [center]. She lives in San Diego, California and works extensively with Chinese, cross-cultural, new music, and jazz groups. 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. Traditionally, the 2nd pitch either acts as a lower neighboring tone or a descending passing tone. Yo-sen has 2 tones regarded as auxiliary tones. By the Song dynasty, the word pipa was used to refer exclusively to the four-stringed pear-shaped instrument. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (), the reverse motion is called zhi (). Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. [53] The introduction of pipa from Central Asia also brought with it virtuoso performers from that region, for example Sujiva (, Sujipo) from the Kingdom of Kucha during the Northern Zhou dynasty, Kang Kunlun () from Kangju, and Pei Luoer () from Shule. With the end of the wars, unsurprisingly, the biwa music became less popular, and the number of biwa musicians dropped significantly. Musical Instruments of East Asia Flashcards | Quizlet [1] Its boxwood plectrum is much wider than others, often reaching widths of 25cm (9.8in) or more. Harmonics: The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonics of each open string can be performed by attacking the string with either the plectrum or the finger, and in both cases, the overall sonority is quite soft. For example, a piece like "The Warlord Takes off His Armour" is made up of many sections, some of them metered and some with free meter, and greater freedom in interpretation is possible in the free meter sections. The nut is a rounded edge at the 90-degree bend where the neck meets the peg box, and the broad flat surface just below the bend has a very shallow trough carved into it perpendicular to the course of the strings (see detail #5). It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists . The pear-shaped biwa lute has enchanted listeners in Japan for centuries. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese n t b in Southeast Asia. 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]. Several types of biwa, each with its own social setting and repertoire, have evolved in Japan over the past 1300 years, the specimens pictured here being called most accurately the chikuzen biwa. In the early 1950s, he founded the traditional instruments department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The performer sings while playing the biwa, and the instrumental part is modular in structure in that there are dozens of named or numbered phrases that the player must internalize and that are used as the building blocks of the instrument part that supports the vocal part. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. [14][15][16], The pear-shaped pipa is likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia, Gandhara, and/or India. There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the ms-biwa. The instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin dynasty. It is an instrument in Japan, that is a two-stringed fiddle (violin). Chikuzen-biwa is another major type of biwa that is widely played today. [51] The music collections from the 19th century also used the gongche notation which provides only a skeletal melody and approximate rhythms sometimes with the occasional playing instructions given (such as tremolo or string-bending), and how this basic framework can become fully fleshed out during a performance may only be learnt by the students from the master.