| Chinese Music Instruments | |
Music is one of the four arts in ancient China. The history
of Chinese music can be dated back to about 7,000 years ago.
Chinese music instruments
may be classified into the following three categories, string, wind,
and percussion instruments. String instruments may be further divided
into the two sub categories, bowed string instruments and plucked
string instruments. They were also traditionally classified by the material
of which they were made.
Samples of traditional Chinese music are plenty on the Net. Here are
a few samples of the bowed
string instruments. The samples are very short, but you can get
some ideas about those instruments. An erhu
is one of the bowed string instruments and here is a sample
of it by Lei
Qiang. If you know Chinese, check out this Web
site devoted to the erhu. A pipa
belongs to the category of the plucked string instruments.
Here are some pipa solo pieces
performed by Liu Fang in mp3 format.
A guqin is another important plucked string instrument, which is similar to a seven-stringed
zither.
The wind instruments are very popular in China. A dizi, the simplest
wind instrument, is particularly popular since it is a low cost instrument
and relatively easy to learn. The dizi
is traditionally made of bamboo. Here are a few samples
of the wind instruments by Lam
Si-Kwan. Also check out a few samples by
David Chu.
If you are looking for the masterpieces of Chinese traditional music,
here are a few links for you. Audio files are usually quite big, so be
patient with those files. Cyberexpress has a collection of Classic
Favorites by Chinese music instruments in Chinese.
To find more information about Chinese music, please go to the Chinese
music links on this site. Chinese music is a part of this wonderful
world and hope you enjoy it.