Seven Castles

Pipa

                                      

June 5, 2008

 

Pipa (sometimes called the Chinese lute) is a plucked Chinese string instrument. It has been played for nearly two thousand years in China, and belongs to the plucked category of instruments. Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from it.

 

The name "pipa" is made up of two Chinese characters, meaning the two most common ways of playing this instrument. "Pi" is to push the fingers of the right hand from right to left, thus more than one finger can be used at a time striking multiple notes, and "pa" is to pull the thumb of the right hand from left to right, in the opposite direction. The strings were originally played using a large plectrum (or faked nail) in the Tang Dynasty, and then gradually replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. Since the revolutions in Chinese instrument making during the 20th century, the softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so plectrum is now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to the fingertips with the player's choice of elastic tape.

 

Pipa was introduced to China from the West, via the ancient Silk Road, and was popular during the Han and Wei dynasties. Later on, musicians from the western regions brought it to the central plains.

 

Pipa prevailed in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Depictions of Tang Dynasty folk music and court music can be seen on the Dunhuang frescoes. Rich in tone or timbre, it can express the mildness of running water and the magnificence of the high mountain during skillful performances. However, it is a difficult instrument to master.

 

The Tang Dynasty was the golden period of pipa, when it was played in court performances and on boats. The legend said that a grand pipa competition was held in Chang'an. People from Dongshi and Xishi put up decorated archways along Tianmen Street. Famous pipa player, Kang Kunlun, known as "the number one court player" appeared on the Dongshi stage. He played a new tune, winning applause from the Dongshi audience. Shortly after his performance a gorgeously dressed lady appeared on the Xishi stage. Carrying the pipa in her arms she declared she was going to play in the same key but with a different melody. Her skilled fingering dazzled the audience and the beautiful music won admiration and applause. Kang was surprised and admired her skills. He ran to the stage and asked the lady to be his teacher. Unexpectedly, the "lady" who appeared after changing her clothes was actually Duan Shanben, a monk performer from the Zhuangyan Temple. Later on Duan accepted Kang as his student.

 

From the Tang and Song dynasties, pipa underwent unceasing development, until it attained the form it has today: half-pear-shaped, with a short, bent neck, and has 30 frets that extend down the neck and onto the soundboard, giving a wide range and a complete chromatic scale with four strings and four- or five-octave intervals. The usual tuning is A-E-D-A. Two major changes that took place in the course of its evolution were the practice of holding the instrument upright instead of horizontally while playing it, and the use of five fingers to pluck the strings, instead of using a plectrum.

 

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, various pipa schools with different styles were flourishing in the South, centered in Wuxi, Suzhou and Shanghai, and the North, centered in Beijing. The development of finger techniques for both hands achieved a high standard by the masters from each school. The present day the techniques are mostly the fusion of those different schools. The playing techniques consists of the right hand fingers plucking the strings and the left hand fingers touch the strings in a varieties of ways to create melodies and ornaments and special effects. The fingers that pluck the strings move outwards, just opposite to guitar techniques. The frets are pretty high, which allows strings to be pushed, twisted, and pressed. There are over 60 different techniques that have been developed through the centuries.

 

In the 20th century, through the unremitting efforts of a large number of performing artists and composers, a plethora of techniques and compositions has emerged, with the result that it is now one of China's most important national instruments for solo, accompaniment and ensemble recital. Many of the compositions that make up the traditional repertoire, handed down from generation to generation through individual artists and scholars, date back hundreds of years, while others are part of a body of compositions that are dynamic and growing. In the recent decades, composers have explored the possibilities for pipa and other Chinese and Western instruments and even with orchestra. Nowadays, there are also celebrated pieces for pipa concerti with orchestras.

 

The diapason is broad, the tone crisp and bright. It not only features in the national pipe and stringed instruments ensemble but is also noted as a major traditional stringed instrument of southern Jiangsu Province. It can be heard in Guangdong music, in the stringed music of Chaozhou and in the Nanyin music of Fujian. It is used as an accompaniment in some local operas of the south and in storytelling and ballad singing in the Suzhou dialect and also in the qingyin music and folk art of Sichuan.

 

Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province is known as the "home of the pipa". In the arm of Tiantai Mountain Range, the place is with plentiful natural beauty, talent and music. For years it has nurtured groups of pipa players and its standard is as high as Shanghai's. People from all parts of the country go there to learn pipa.

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2008年06月5日 星期四 05:04】【注册】【打印】