The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. The biwa is a four stringed lute and it is approximately 106 cm long (42 inches). The first and second strings are generally tuned to the same note, with the 4th (or doubled 4th) string is tuned one octave higher. The texture of biwa singing is often described as "sparse". The transmission parameter (product of propagation speed and Q value of the longitudinal wave along the wood grain . [67] It is very much the same as the modern pipa in construction save for being a bit wider to allow for the extra string and the reintroduction of the soundholes at the front. 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. Kaeshibachi: The performance of arpeggio with an up-ward motion of the plectrum, and it is always soft. Although no longer as popular as it once was, several chikuzen biwa schools have survived to the present day in Japan and to a lesser extent in Japanese communities abroad (such as in Hawaii). The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. 77-103. greatest width of resonator The name "pipa" is made up of two Chinese syllables, "p" () and "p" (). This music was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14th-15th centuries. Example 4 shows that the biwa's melodic pitch doubles the basic melodic tone on the downbeat of almost every measure, except in measure 4 where the melodic tone 'E' is supported with a 'D' in the biwa's part. It is possible to include a fingered pitch among the lower grace-notes but that pitch should preferably be chosen among those playable on the 4th fret. Pipa is also an important component of regional chamber ensemble traditions such as Jiangnan sizhu, Teochew string music and Nanguan ensemble. Two basic types of wood are used to make stringed musical instruments: woods for soundboards (top plates) and those for frame boards (back and side plates). are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. These works present a radical departure from the compositional languages usually employed for such an instrument. There is also evidence that other biwa instruments came from the Indian lute tradition. The short neck of the Tang pipa also became more elongated. Each type has different and unique tones, techniques, and musical styles. Idiophones African Thumb Pianos The instrument has seen a great decline . . [38] It has however been suggested that the long plectrum depicted in ancient paintings may have been used as a friction stick like a bow. In all biwa styles, except for Gaku-biwa (: please refer to the section Types of Biwa), fingers are positioned between the frets, not on the frets. Its plectrum is slightly larger than that of the gagaku-biwa, but the instrument itself is much smaller, comparable to a chikuzen-biwa in size. https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. Although shaped like a Western lute, the Biwa's back is flat and it has a shallower body. Therefore the sound of the biwa is very strong at the attack but it has almost no resonance, and in that sense, its contribution to the overall sound of the orchestra is more rhythmic than harmonic. Outside influence, internal pressures, and socio-political turmoil redefined biwa patronage and the image of the biwa; for example, the nin War of the Muromachi period (13381573) and the subsequent Warring States period (15th17th centuries) disrupted the cycle of tutelage for heikyoku[citation needed][a] performers. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute ", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi () that requires a full-handed grip. This scale sometimes includes supplementary notes, but the core remains pentatonic. [2][29] Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example Ma Zhiyuan's play Autumn in the Palace of Han (), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun),[30][29] as well as in music pieces such as Zhaojun's Lament (, also the title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa. 20002023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The number of frets is considerably fewer than other fretted instruments. Of the remaining post-war biwa traditions, only higo-biwa remains a style almost solely performed by blind persons. The biwa is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa. In biwa, tuning is not fixed. 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. Cheng Yu researched the old Tang dynasty five-stringed pipa in the early 2000s and developed a modern version of it for contemporary use. [72] He was also the first musician to add a strap to the instrument, as he did for the zhongruan, allowing him to play the pipa and the zhongruan like a guitar. There are 4-string and 5-string biwas, both with 5 frets, and the soundboard is made from soft paulownia wood. Each group can include either two open strings or one open and one fingered string. 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. Figure 6 shows a spectral analysis of the arpeggio read at the attack and one second later. [56], Texts from Tang dynasty mentioned many renowned pipa players such as He Huaizhi (), Lei Haiqing (), Li Guaner (), and Pei Xingnu (). He also qualified as a doctor of Chinese medicine. Biwa playing has a long history on Kyushu, and for centuries the art was practiced within the institution of ms, blind Buddhist priests who performed sacred and secular texts for agrarian and other rituals. Heike-biwa is an accompaniment instrument specifically used to chant the Tale of Heike stories () in the traditional way dating from the medieval era. Not to be confused with the five-stringed variants of modern biwa, such as chikuzen-biwa. As part of, Metalwork by Goto Teijo, 9th generation Goto master, Japan (16031673). A new way to classify the acoustical properties of woods and clearly separate these two groups is proposed in this paper. Tokyo:Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. This music was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14th-15th centuries. 'five-stringed biwa'), a Tang variant of biwa, can be seen in paintings of court orchestras and was used in the context of gagaku; however, it was removed with the reforms and standardization made to the court orchestra during the late 10th century. Considering that the metronome marking of this music rarely exceeds the quarter-note at 54, and that the biwa plays mostly on the 1st beat of each measure, it is the authors impression that hazusu and/or tataku may help the biwa player keep time by providing material/action that cuts the duration of a measure in two, even if it cannot be heard. (80 30 3.4 cm), Classification: It is an instrument in Japan, that is a two-stringed fiddle (violin). The narrative biwa music adopts a relative tuning; the pitch is decided to match with the players range of voice. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical . Another. So the previously mentioned tuning can be tuned down to B, F, B, c, d. Asahikai and Tachibanakai are the two major schools of chikuzen-biwa. Mural from Kizil, estimated Five Dynasties to Yuan dynasty, 10th to 13th century. Tataku: This is similar to hazusu, except that this time, two non-struck pitches follow the struck one. Examples of popular modern works composed after the 1950s are "Dance of the Yi People" and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (). In the 18th century, samurai in the Satsuma area (southern part of Kyushu island) adopted the blind monks biwa music into their musical practices. [17][18] The pear-shaped pipa may have been introduced during the Han dynasty and was referred to as Han pipa. After having arrived in Japan via the Silk Road for purely instrumental music, the biwa evolved over time into a narrative musical instrument. [62] From the Ming dynasty, famous pipa players include Zhong Xiuzhi (), Zhang Xiong (, known for his playing of "Eagle Seizing Swan"), the blind Li Jinlou (), and Tang Yingzeng () who was known to have played a piece that may be an early version of "Ambushed from Ten Sides".[63]. The sole stroke motion used in this example is kakubachi, but it also includes examples of hazusu and tataku. Its plectrum is small and thin, often rounded, and made from a hard material such as boxwood or ivory. New York, 1903, vol. biwa, Japanese short-necked lute, distinguished by its graceful, pear-shaped body. This type of biwa, known as the gaku-biwa, was later used in gagaku ensembles and became the most commonly known type. The four and five-stringed pipas were especially popular during the Tang dynasty, and these instruments were introduced into Japan during the Tang dynasty as well as into other regions such as Korea and Vietnam. In all biwa styles, except for Gaku-biwa (, please refer to the section Types of Biwa), fingers are positioned between the frets, not on the frets. Biwa. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. [17] Even higo-biwa players, who were quite popular in the early 20th century, may no longer have a direct means of studying oral composition, as the bearers of the tradition have either died or are no longer able to play. 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. In more recent times, many pipa players, especially the younger ones, no longer identify themselves with any specific school. Players hold the instrument vertically. Like pearls, big and small, falling on a platter of jade. 36 in. Table of Contents 1. [1][2] Modern researchers such as Laurence Picken, Shigeo Kishibe, and John Myers suggested a non-Chinese origin. The biwa has a shallow, rounded back and silk strings (usually four or five) attached to slender lateral pegs. [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. Tachibana sought to create a new narrative style that would appeal to a contemporary urban audience (de Ferranti p. 120) and that would be performed by sighted musicians. Instead, biwa singers tend to sing with a flexible pitch without distinguishing soprano, alto, tenor, or bass roles. [14][15][16], The pear-shaped pipa is likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia, Gandhara, and/or India. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: Typically 60 centimetres (24in) to 106 centimetres (42in) in length, the instrument is constructed of a water drop-shaped body with a short neck, typically with four (though sometimes five) strings. Popularly used by female biwa players such as Uehara Mari. 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. Though its origins are unclear, this thinner variant of the biwa was used in ceremonies and religious rites. During the Song dynasty, many of the literati and poets wrote ci verses, a form of poetry meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments such as pipa. There are more than seven types of biwa, characterised by number of strings, sounds it could produce, the type of plectrum, and their use. The instrument itself resembles gaku-biwa but is slightly smaller, and is held horizontally. [44] The first volume contains 13 pieces from the Northern school, the second and third volumes contain 54 pieces from the Southern school. The origin of the Japanese biwa as a generic type of instrument dates back to around the year 700 CE when the pipa was first introduced to Japan from China as part of ensembles gifted to the Japanese Emperor. [29], There are many references to pipa in Tang literary works, for example, in A Music Conservatory Miscellany Duan Anjie related many anecdotes associated with pipa. [32][33][34] A famous poem by Bai Juyi, "Pipa xing" (), contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River:[35]. [citation needed]. Yo-sen has 2 tones regarded as auxiliary tones. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. Jiaju Shen from The Either also plays an Electric 5 String Pipa/Guitar hybrid that has the Hardware from an Electric Guitar combined with the Pipa, built by an instrument maker named Tim Sway called "Electric Pipa 2.0". They recorded the critically acclaimed CD "Eagle Seizing Swan" together. II, p. 30. Biwa Description The biwa is a four stringed lute and it is approximately 106 cm long (42 inches). [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. This type of biwa music has been preserved until now in gagaku (), or the court orchestra. 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. [8] The varying string thickness creates different timbres when stroked from different directions. In the early 1950s, he founded the traditional instruments department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The full vibrating lengths of the strings, the distance between their bend over the nut and the knots that secure their lower ends to the string holder, are all 27.7 inches. Novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as Jin Ping Mei showed pipa performance to be a normal aspect of life in these periods at home (where the characters in the novels may be proficient in the instrument) as well as outside on the street or in pleasure houses.[24]. [1] Most ms biwas have tear-shaped bodies, but this rustic fish-shaped example was probably used by a wandering Buddhist monk. Each school is associated with one or more collections of pipa music and named after its place of origin: These schools of the solo tradition emerged by students learning playing the pipa from a master, and each school has its own style, performance aesthetics, notation system, and may differ in their playing techniques. Traditionally, the duration of each pitch subdivides the measure into two equal durations. There are seven main types of Biwa, each distinguished by the number of strings, sound produced, and use. Telling stories and holding religious practices with biwa accompaniment became a profession for blind monks, and it was these wandering blind monks who carried on the tradition. As in shamisen music, vocal and instrumental parts are sometimes combined and played at the same time. Wood, leather, Dimensions: greatest depth of resonator [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. Ueda Junko and Tanaka Yukio, two of Tsuruta's students, continue the tradition of the modern satsuma-biwa. The biwa, originally an instrument of high society, gradually spread among wandering blind monks who used this instrument to tell stories. Sanshin 4. This causes a sustained, buzzing noise called, which adds a unique flavor to the biwa sound. Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. The instrument is played with a large wedge-shaped plectrum called a bachi. Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection . The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Accession Number: length Further, the frets and the nut are wide, which provides a surface, not a point, for a string to touch. sanxian, (Chinese: "three strings") Wade Giles romanization san-hsien also called xianzi, any of a group of long-necked, fretless Chinese lutes. Life in post-war Japan was difficult, and many musicians abandoned their music in favor of more sustainable livelihoods. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. 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). If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. In 2015, pipa player Jiaju Shen () released a mini album composed and produced by Li Zong (),[73] with E-pa music that has a strong Chinese flavor within a modern Western pop music mould. 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. . They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. These two modern styles came to Tokyo with the local reformists who led the Meiji Restoration, and became the center of the contemporary music scene in the late 19th to early 20th century. Traditionally they are lashed with heavier rope, though some modern instruments are tightened with large screws. 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 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 (). Among the major variants are the gakubiwa (used in court music), the msbiwa (used by Buddhist monks for the chanting of sutras), the heikebiwa (used to chant stories from the Heike monogatori), the chikuzenbiwa (used for an amalgam of narrative types), and the satsumabiwa (used for samurai narratives). Its tuning is A, c, e, a or A, c-sharp, e, a. The instrument initially used for this practice was the four-stringed chikuzen biwa (gallery #1), which was produced and sold cheaply--a fact attested to by the numbers of such instruments taken overseas by working-class emigrants. (de Ferranti, p. 122) [The instrument pictured in gallery #1 is very likely one of those many biwas taken overseas--it was purchased in a Honolulu shop specializing in Japanese antiques many of which were brought to Hawaii by Japanese immigrants in the early 20th century.] 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. In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. 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. Shamisen players and other musicians found it financially beneficial to switch to the biwa, bringing new styles of biwa music with them. Other noted players of the early 20th century include Liu Tianhua, a student of Shen Zhaozhou of the Chongming school and who increased the number of frets on the pipa and changed to an equal-tempered tuning, and the blind player Abing from Wuxi. The musical narrative of The Tale of Heike, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music, edited by Alison McQueen Tokita and David W. Hughes. Hornbostel-Sach Classification of instruments is a means of sorting out instruments according to how it produces sound. [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).
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