In gagaku, it is known as the gaku-biwa (). These works present a radical departure from the compositional languages usually employed for such an instrument. This type of biwa music has been preserved until now in gagaku (), or the court orchestra. When Yamashika died in 1996, the era of the biwa hshi tutelage died with him, but the music and genius of that era continues thanks to his recordings. Because of its traditional association with silk strings, the pipa is classified as a silk instrument in the Chinese bayin (eight-tone) classification system, a system devised by scholars of the Zhou court (1046-256 B.C.) This seeming shortcoming is compensated for by the frets height and the low tension of the strings. Chikuzen was an historic northern province on Kyushu, the southern-most main island of Japan. Rubbing the strings: The plectrum is used to rub an open string. [citation needed]. The pipa is held in a vertical or near-vertical position during performance, although in the early periods the instrument was held in the horizontal position or near-horizontal with the neck pointing slightly downwards, or upside down. This may be due to the fact that the word pipa was used in ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones of the period from the Qin to the Tang dynasty, including the long-necked spiked lute and the short-necked lute, as well as the differing accounts given in these ancient texts. The strings on a biwa range in thickness, with the first string being thickest and the fourth string being thinnest; on chikuzen-biwa, the second string is the thickest, with the fourth and fifth strings being the same thickness on chikuzen- and satsuma-biwa. Its pick or bachi () is the largest among all types of biwa it sometimes used to strike the hard soundboard sharply to create percussive effects, adding a more dynamic flavor to the music. Players hold the instrument vertically. Instrument Classification | Mary K. Oyer African Music Archive | Goshen Influenced by the shamisen, its music is rather soft, attracting more female players. It was those blind monks who fell outside of governmental protection who, during the 17. century, creatively modified the biwa to introduce a shamisen flavor, such as making frets higher to play in-between notes. Waribachi: This is a downward sweeping of the four strings, dividing the motion into two groups of two notes. Most prominent among these are Minoru Miki, Thring Brm, YANG Jing, Terry Riley, Donald Reid Womack, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Bun-Ching Lam, and Carl Stone. Continent: Asia. The fourth and fifth strings, if 5-stringed, are tuned to the same note. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. 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. This next instrument seems to have some spiritual meaning behind it. The traditional pieces however often have a standard metrical length of 68 measures or beat,[46] and these may be joined together to form the larger pieces dagu.[47]. Cheng Yu researched the old Tang dynasty five-stringed pipa in the early 2000s and developed a modern version of it for contemporary use. Of particular fame were the family of pipa players founded by Cao Poluomen () and who were active for many generations from the Northern Wei to Tang dynasty. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The biwa, originally an instrument of high society, gradually spread among wandering blind monks who used this instrument to tell stories. In addition, there are a number of techniques that produce sound effects rather than musical notes, for example, striking the board of the pipa for a percussive sound, or strings-twisting while playing that produces a cymbal-like effect. The strings are depressed not directly against the frets, but between them, and by controlling the amount of applied pressure the performer can achieve a range of pitches and pitch inflections. Interest in the biwa was revived during the Edo period (16001868), when Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan and established the Tokugawa shogunate. In both cases, the sound of the non-struck pitches is not hearable when performed with the orchestra, but the gesture itself might help the biwa player keep time. Chikuzen Biwa. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. Samurai ethics and battles were selected as the main themes for this style, called Satsuma-biwa (), and more dynamic techniques were developed. This biwa often has five strings (although it is essentially a 4-string instrument as the 5th string is a doubled 4th that are always played together) and five or more frets, and the construction of the tuning head and frets vary slightly. Seeing its relative convenience and portability, the monks combined these features with their large and heavy gaku-biwa to create the heike-biwa, which, as indicated by its namesake, was used primarily for recitations of The Tale of the Heike. In Japan, the biwa is generally played with a bachi instead of the fingers, and is often used to play gagaku. However, another variant of the biwa known as the ms-biwa or the kjin-biwa also found its way to Japan, first appearing in the Kyushu region. 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. Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. 1984. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Over 100 years after its development, the H-S system is still in use in most museums and in large inventory projects. This minute design detail gives rise to sawari, the distinctive raspy tone of a vibrating string. . The surface of the frets is constantly shaved down by the strings, and one of the most important points in the maintenance of the biwa is to keep the surfaces as flat as possible to get goodsawari. Depictions of the pear-shaped pipas appeared in abundance from the Southern and Northern dynasties onwards, and pipas from this time to the Tang dynasty were given various names, such as Hu pipa (), bent-neck pipa (, quxiang pipa), some of these terms however may refer to the same pipa. [22] Some delicately carved pipas with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period, with particularly fine examples preserved in the Shosoin Museum in Japan. [41] Three Ming dynasty pieces were discovered in the High River Flows East (, Gaohe Jiangdong) collection dating from 1528 which are very similar to those performed today, such as "The Moon on High" (, Yue-er Gao). As one of the modern types of biwa that flourished in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, Satsuma-biwa is widely played today in various settings, including popular media. 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. What is the hornbostelsachs classification of biwa instrument - 9005546 It has not caught on in China but in Korea (where she also did some of her research) the bipa was revived since then and the current versions are based on Chinese pipa, including one with five-strings. The biwa is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa. The Traditional Music of Japan. During the Qing dynasty, apart from those of the various schools previously mentioned, there was Chen Zijing (), a student of Ju Shilin and known as a noted player during the late Qing dynasty. Multiple strings are often played in one pluck like an arpeggio. 5, period of the Northern Wei (384-441 A.D.), A Song dynasty fresco depicts a female pipa player among a group of musicians, Group of female musician from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960 AD), A mural from a Yuan dynasty tomb found in Hengshan County, Shaanxi, showing a man playing the pipa, A group of Qing dynasty musicians from Fuzhou. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Traditional Chinese narrative prefers the story of the Han Chinese Princess Liu Xijun sent to marry a barbarian Wusun king during the Han dynasty, with the pipa being invented so she could play music on horseback to soothe her longings. In the early 20th century, twenty-five pieces were found amongst 10th-century manuscripts in the Mogao caves near Dunhuang, most of these pieces however may have originated from the Tang dynasty. Like pearls, big and small, falling on a platter of jade. Classification (Sachs-Von Hornbostel revised by MIMO) 321.312 chordophone--spike box lute or spike guitar: the resonator is built up from wood, the body of the instrument is in the form of a box through which the handle/neck passes 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. This causes a sustained, buzzing noise called sawari () which adds a unique flavor to the biwa sound. This music called heikyoku () was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14-15th centuries. Painted panel of the sarcophagus of Y Hung, depicts one of the Persian or Sogdian figures playing pipa. [24], In the subsequent periods, the number of frets gradually increased,[26] from around 10 to 14 or 16 during the Qing dynasty, then to 19, 24, 29, and 30 in the 20th century. Pipa is also an important component of regional chamber ensemble traditions such as Jiangnan sizhu, Teochew string music and Nanguan ensemble. to the present. [citation needed]. 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]. There are seven main types of Biwa, each distinguished by the number of strings, sound produced, and use. Biwa 6. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. In the 13th century, the story The Tale of Heike ()was created and told by them. Because of this bending technique oshikan (), one can make two or three notes for each fret and also in-between notes. The wen style is more lyrical and slower in tempo, with softer dynamic and subtler colour, and such pieces typically describe love, sorrow, and scenes of nature. It is an instrument in Japan, that is a two-stringed fiddle (violin). This singing style is complemented by the biwa, which biwa players use to produce short glissandi throughout the performance. 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. Finally, measure 5 shows a rare instance where a melodic tone (F# in this case) is doubled on the second beat of the biwa's pattern. Kishibe, Shigeo. Modern biwa music is based on that medieval narrative biwa music. [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). Archlute - Wikipedia In the present day, there are no direct means of studying the biwa in many biwa traditions. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Although shaped like a Western lute, the Biwa's back is flat and it has a shallower body. There is little space between the strings on the first three frets, causing obstruction when attacking an upper string whose immediate lower string is fingered in one of the first three frets. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. 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. There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the ms-biwa. [9] When singing in a chorus, biwa singers often stagger their entry and often sing through non-synchronized, heterophony accompaniment. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. The strings are numbered from the lowest (first string) to the highest (fourth string). [6] The strings were played using a large plectrum in the Tang dynasty, a technique still used now for the Japanese biwa. The archlute ( Spanish: archilad, Italian: arciliuto, German: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (), the reverse motion is called zhi (). By the Ming dynasty, fingers replaced plectrum as the popular technique for playing pipa, although finger-playing techniques existed as early as Tang. [19], Other musicians, such as Yamashika Yoshiyuki, considered by most ethnomusicologists to be the last of the biwa hshi, preserved scores of songs that were almost lost forever. Liu also studied with other musicians and has developed a style that combines elements from several different schools. Traditionally, the duration of each pitch subdivides the measure into two equal durations. By the middle of the Meiji period, improvements had been made to the instruments and easily understandable songs were composed in quantity. biwa, Japanese short-necked lute, distinguished by its graceful, pear-shaped body. Heike Biwa (), Medium: https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. Examples of popular modern works composed after the 1950s are "Dance of the Yi People" and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (). The first and second strings are generally tuned to the same note, with the 4th (or doubled 4th) string is tuned one octave higher. Players from the Wang and Pudong schools were the most active in performance and recording during the 20th century, less active was the Pinghu school whose players include Fan Boyan (). [18], As biwa music declined in post-Pacific War Japan, many Japanese composers and musicians found ways to revitalize interest in it. [36][37] The Ming collection of supernatural tales Fengshen Yanyi tells the story of Pipa Jing, a pipa spirit, but ghost stories involving pipa existed as early as the Jin dynasty, for example in the 4th century collection of tales Soushen Ji. [1] An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. [39] The plectrum has now been largely replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. 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). Each type has different and unique tones, techniques, and musical styles. The piece is in Hy-j mode (E Dorian) and the basic melody is centered on the pitches: E, B, and A, three of the four fundamental pitches of the Japanese modes. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. [21] The pipa underwent a number of changes over the centuries. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: The biwa sounds as written, and it is tuned to an A-430Hz. [10][11] This may have given rise to the Qin pipa, an instrument with a straight neck and a round sound box, and evolved into ruan, an instrument named after Ruan Xian, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and known for playing similar instrument. These cookies do not store any personal information. Biwa traditions began with blind priests who traveled from village to village singing sutras. (80 30 3.4 cm), Classification: As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Nation: Japan. These styles emphasized biwa-uta () vocalisation with biwa accompaniment and formed the foundation for edo-uta () styles of playing, such as shinnai and kota.[2]. The biwa became known as an instrument commonly played at the Japanese Imperial court, where biwa players, known as biwa hshi, found employment and patronage. The biwas shallow body is a bouncing board that sharply projects its sound forward. The Edo period proved to be one of the most prolific and artistically creative periods for the biwa in its long history in Japan. 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. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: While the modern satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa both originated from the ms-biwa, the satsuma-biwa was used for moral and mental training by samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Warring States period, and later for general performances. It is an arpeggio that is always starting from the first string (the lowest) and swepping upwards to either the second, third or fourth string. A Sound Classification Musical instruments can be classified by the Western orchestral system into brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds; but the S-H system allows non-western instruments to be classified as well. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute ", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), Classification: [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. Koto 3. [61][33], During the Song dynasty, players mentioned in literary texts include Du Bin (). In spite of its popularity, the nin War and subsequent Warring States Period disrupted biwa teaching and decreased the number of proficient users. The traditional Satsuma-biwa has 4 strings and 4 frets (Sei-ha and Kinshin-ryu schools), and newer styles have 5 strings and 5 frets (Nishiki and Tsuruta-ryu schools). It always starts from the 4th string and stops on either the 3rd, 2nd, or 1st string depending if the arpeggio contains 2, 3, or 4 pitches, respectively. It is one of the more popular Chinese folk music, often paired with singing. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. The chikuzen biwa is played with the performer in the seiza position (on the knees, legs folded under) on the floor. Kakisukashi: This is a three or four-note arpeggio with two strings in unison. We speculate that being half-way in the section, the purpose of this clash may be to avoid a too strong feeling of cadence on the 'tonic E,' since there is one more phrase to come before completing this section. (88.9 30.8 29.2 cm) Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1968 Accession Number: 68.62.1 Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings The biwa, originally an instrument of high society, gradually spread among wandering blind monks who used this instrument to tell stories. It has the largest body and relatively short neck among biwas. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/500681, Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown ; James L. Amerman, The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. Players hold the instrument vertically. The tuning of the strings changes according to the pieces mode. The gogen-biwa (, lit. February 20, 2008. [21] During this time, Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). 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 plectrum also contributes to the texture of biwa music. Chikuzen was an historic northern province on Kyushu, the southern-most main island of Japan. [21] For example, masses of pipa-playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang.
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