biwa instrument classification

5. [6] Another Han dynasty text, Fengsu Tongyi, also indicates that, at that time, pipa was a recent arrival,[7] although later 3rd-century texts from the Jin dynasty suggest that pipa existed in China as early as the Qin dynasty (221206 BC). 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. The chikuzen biwa is played with the performer in the seiza position (on the knees, legs folded under) on the floor. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The instrument is plucked with a pick made out of animal horn. The pear-shaped biwa lute has enchanted listeners in Japan for centuries. 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). [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). 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. 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. With turned wrist, he gathered the strings to pluck and strum faster. The fingers normally strike the strings of pipa in the opposite direction to the way a guitar is usually played, i.e. It may be played as a solo instrument or as part of the imperial orchestra for use in productions such as daqu (, grand suites), an elaborate music and dance performance. The Edo period proved to be one of the most prolific and artistically creative periods for the biwa in its long history in Japan. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 681. 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. The basic technique is to pluck down and up with the sharp corner. (80 30 3.4 cm), The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, "Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 35, no. In the late 20th century, largely through the efforts of Wu Man (in USA), Min Xiao-Fen (in USA), composer Yang Jing (in Europe) and other performers, Chinese and Western contemporary composers began to create new works for the pipa (both solo and in combination with chamber ensembles and orchestra). This type of instrument was introduced to Korea (the bipa ), to Japan (the biwa ), and to Vietnam (the tyba ). The Met Fifth Avenue 1000 Fifth Avenue 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. The biwa originated in the Middle East and was delivered to Japan via the Silk Road in the 8th century. The texture of biwa singing is often described as "sparse". The body is narrower and smaller than the other types of biwa. The rich legacy of the biwa | The Japan Times 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]. The biwa player with whom we worked, NAKAMURA Kahoru, improvised ten different versions of this rhythm. 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. greatest depth of resonator, multiple (by pressure stopping against fretted fingerboard). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/502655, Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown ; Clara H. Rose (d. 1914), 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. PDF Music - DepEd Tambayan This type of biwa, known as the gaku-biwa, was later used in gagaku ensembles and became the most commonly known type. 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. In the 18th century, samurai in the Satsuma area (southern part of Kyushu island) adopted the blind monks biwa music into their musical practices. 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. The Traditional Music of Japan. A rapid strum is called sao (), and strumming in the reverse direction is called fu (). The Biwa is a four-stringed Japanese lute with a short neck that was commonly used in Japanese court music in the seventh and eighth centuries. [69] The instrument is also played by musician Min Xiaofen in "I See Who You Are", a song from Bjrk's album Volta. Koizumi, Fumio. Chikuzen biwa music is narrative music much beholding to narrative shamisen music. The heike-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and five frets, is used to play The Tale of the Heike. It is an instrument in China, its mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes. This music called heikyoku () was, cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14-15. 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. The gagaku biwa (), a large and heavy biwa with four strings and four frets, is used exclusively for gagaku. This music called heikyoku () was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14-15th centuries. Multiple strings are often played in one pluck like an arpeggio. Hazusu: This is a sequence of two pitches, where the first one is attacked, and leades to a second one which is not attacked. Traditional Musical Instruments of Japan | TOKYO RESTAURANTS GUIDE 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. Exploiting the sound of the open strings increases the overall sounds volume. The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. [20], Garfias, Gradual Modifications of the Gagaku Tradition 16, Garfias, Gradual Modifications of the Gagaku Tradition 18, Ferranti, Relations between Music and Text in "Higo Biwa", The "Nagashi" Pattern as a Text-MusicSystem 150, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biwa&oldid=1097578427, This page was last edited on 11 July 2022, at 14:28. His well-received compositions, such as November Steps, which incorporated biwa heikyoku with Western orchestral performance, revitalized interest in the biwa and sparked a series of collaborative efforts by other musician in genres ranging from J-Pop and enka to shin-hougaku and gendaigaku. 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. In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Its plectrum varies in both size and materials. 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. This minute design detail gives rise to sawari, the distinctive raspy tone of a vibrating string. The nishiki-biwa (), a modern biwa with five strings and five frets, was popularised by the 20th-century biwa player and composer Suit Kinj (, 19111973). 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). Lingering, filling the palace hall, spring snow flew. 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 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 design and construction of the 5-string Chikuzen biwa pictured in gallery #2 is basically the same as for the 4-string model described above except accommodations need to be made to the pegbox (detail #7) and bridge (detail #8) for the additional string. An early depiction of pipa player in a group of musicians. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi () that requires a full-handed grip. 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. Biwa players no longer enjoyed special privileges and were forced to support themselves. The rhythm in biwa performances allows for a broad flexibility of pulse. 36 1/2 7 7/8 5 in. 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, The narrative biwa music adopts a relative tuning; the pitch is decided to match with the players range of voice. [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. The biwa is a plucked lute chordophone of Japan. [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 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). 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 earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" () which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. Generally speaking, biwa have four strings, though modern satsuma- and chikuzen-biwa may have five strings. Another often-used technique is rubbing the long side of the bachi on the strings to get wind-like sounds. This is the original form of biwa that came to Japan in the 8th century. The tuning of the strings changes according to the pieces mode. 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. In the 20th century, two of the most prominent pipa players were Sun Yude (; 19041981) and Li Tingsong (; 19061976). 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. 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. 17 Traditional Japanese Musical Instruments You Should Know Heike Biwa () | Japanese | The Metropolitan Museum of Art 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. Traditional instruments in japanese and chinese music - SlideShare Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. And thanks to the low tension of the strings, it is easy to bend the strings by adding pressure. [22] Some delicately carved pipas with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period, with particularly fine examples preserved in the Shosoin Museum in Japan. As part of, Mamoru Ohashi (Japanese, active Ogasa, Shizouka Prefecture 1953). The ms-biwa (), a biwa with four strings, is used to play Buddhist mantras and songs. The same piece of music can therefore differ significantly when performed by students of different schools, with striking differences in interpretation, phrasing, tempo, dynamics, playing techniques, and ornamentations. Over 100 years after its development, the H-S system is still in use in most museums and in large inventory projects. 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. In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Each group can include either two open strings or one open and one fingered string. 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. ) Pipa is commonly associated with Princess Liu Xijun and Wang Zhaojun of the Han dynasty, although the form of pipa they played in that period is unlikely to be pear-shaped as they are now usually depicted. As the biwa does not play in tempered tuning, pitches are approximated to the nearest note. later versions were played by the blind Japanese lute priests of the Heian period and it was also played as background music for story-telling The instrument itself also varies in size, depending on the player. greatest width of resonator OnMusic Dictionary - Term Its size and construction influences the sound of the instrument as the curved body is often struck percussively with the plectrum during play. The flowers fluttered, and from Heaven the phoenix trilled, They included Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, and Su Shi. These works present a radical departure from the compositional languages usually employed for such an instrument. to divide instruments into eight categories determined by materials. to the present. It is a big percussion instrument of Japanese that plays integral part of many Japanese Matsuri (festival). And thanks to the low tension of the strings, it is easy to bend the strings by adding pressure. 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, Japanese short-necked lute, distinguished by its graceful, pear-shaped body. Heike Biwa (), Medium: Shamisen. This is a type of biwa that wandering blind monks played for religious practice as well as in narrative musical performances during the medieval era, widely seen in the Kyushu area. ________. Most contemporary performers use the five string version. Ye Xuran (), a student of Lin Shicheng and Wei Zhongle, was the Pipa Professor at the first Musical Conservatory of China, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Ms Biwa (), Dimensions: Famous solo pieces now performed include: Most of the above are traditional compositions dating to the Qing dynasty or early 20th century, new pieces however are constantly being composed, and most of them follow a more Western structure. 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. [1] An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. The short neck has four raised frets, each one specifically assigned to one of the left hand fingers. 36 1/2 7 7/8 5 in. . At the beginning of the 13th century, Heike biwa players began telling of tales of the rise and fall of the Taira . During the Qing dynasty, scores for pipa were collected in Thirteen Pieces for Strings. 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 (). The biwa sounds as written, and it is tuned to an A-430Hz. 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. Pipa | musical instrument | Britannica Traditionally, the 2nd pitch either acts as a lower neighboring tone or a descending passing tone. 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. Because of this tradition as a narrative music, the biwa is mostly played solo and is less commonly played with other types of instruments, except in gagaku () or the court orchestra where it is used in its original instrumental role, and in modern instrumental repertoire. Idiophones African Thumb Pianos https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. 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. Sandstone carving, showing the typical way a pipa was held when played with plectrum in the early period. 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. On the plectrum, figure of a golden phoenix with flowers in its beak, It eventually became the favored instrument to accompany narrative singing, especially on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu where it was performed by blind Buddhist priests (ms). The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi (, The basic technique is to pluck down and up with the sharp corner. 1800 Geography: Japan Culture: Japanese Medium: Wood, mother-of-pearl and ivory Dimensions: 35 12 1/8 11 1/2 in. [3] From roughly the Meiji period (18681912) until the Pacific War, the satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa were popular across Japan, and, at the beginning of the Shwa period (19251989), the nishiki-biwa was created and gained popularity. 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 instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin dynasty. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Accession Number: With the abolition of Todo in the Meiji period, biwa players lost their patronage. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: Its tuning is A, c, e, a or A, c-sharp, e, a. Instrument Classification | Mary K. Oyer African Music Archive | Goshen Kakisukashi: This is a three or four-note arpeggio with two strings in unison. By the Kamakura period (11851333), the heike-biwa had emerged as a more popular instrument, a cross between both the gaku-biwa and ms-biwa, retaining the rounded shape of the gaku-biwa and played with a large plectrum like the ms-biwa. 13 in. 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. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: This type of biwa music has been preserved until now in gagaku (), or the court orchestra. 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. There are some types of traditional string instrument. [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. Most ms biwas have tear-shaped bodies, but this rustic fish-shaped example was probably used by a wandering Buddhist monk. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. greatest depth of resonator Kishibe, Shigeo. 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. Hitting the body of the instrument: The plectrum is used to hit the black protective part on the front of the instrument. As a point of clarification, the highest and last pitch of the biwa's arpeggio is considered as its melodic pitch. [3][4][5], The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the Han dynasty around the 2nd century AD. the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. Traditionally they are lashed with heavier rope, though some modern instruments are tightened with large screws. What is known is that three main streams of biwa practice emerged during this time: zato (the lowest level of the state-controlled guild of blind biwa players), shifu (samurai style), and chofu (urban style). From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. Biwa 6. 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. Title: Satsuma Biwa () Date: ca. [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. 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 biwa is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa. Omissions? [8] The varying string thickness creates different timbres when stroked from different directions. 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. [31] The pipa is mentioned frequently in the Tang dynasty poetry, where it is often praised for its expressiveness, refinement and delicacy of tone, with poems dedicated to well-known players describing their performances. As in shamisen music, vocal and instrumental parts are sometimes combined and played at the same time. [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. In gagaku, it is known as the gaku-biwa (). Ueda Junko and Tanaka Yukio, two of Tsuruta's students, continue the tradition of the modern satsuma-biwa. Catalogue of the Crosby Brown . 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.