The origin and performance art of bamboo flute instruments?

Bamboo flute Bamboo flute is one of the oldest musical instruments in China. It was called Shu in ancient times. Flute is one of the most distinctive playing instruments in China. In May, 1986 and 16 vertical bone flutes (made of bird limb bones) were excavated at the early Neolithic site in Jia Hu Village, Wuyang County, Henan Province, with a history of more than 8,000 years. For vertical blowing, the sound holes range from five to eight, and most of them are seven-tone flutes, which have roughly the same scale as the China tradition we are familiar with now. Bone flute is engraved with an equal sign next to the sound hole, and some sound holes are punched, which is completely in line with today's China tune and can still be used to play the current folk music "Chinese Cabbage". During the period of the Yellow Emperor, that is, about 4000 years ago, a large number of bamboos grew in the Yellow River basin, and bamboo was chosen as the material for making flutes. According to historical records, "The Yellow Emperor asked Ling Lun to chop bamboo in Kunming, cut it down to make a flute and blow it to Feng Ming". Taking bamboo as village material is a great progress in flute making. Bamboo vibrates better than bones, and its pronunciation is crisp. Both kinds of bamboo are easy to process. There were seven kinds of flutes in Qin and Han Dynasties, and two kinds of flutes were invented. Cai Yong, Xunxu and Liang Wudi all made twelve flutes, that is to say, one flute is unified. The flute was called "Qi" in ancient times. Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in Han Dynasty recorded: "flute, seven holes, bamboo flute". 1978 Two bamboo flutes were unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Sui County, Hubei Province, and two bamboo flutes were unearthed from the tomb of Han Dynasty at Mawangdui No.3 in Changsha, Hunan Province. The unearthed gnats and the Chinese gnats recorded in ancient books are identical in shape except for a slight difference in length. The unearthed flute is the same as the record, and the word "pool" is written on the bamboo tube in the tomb. It's an ancient bamboo flute. Qi in ancient times was very similar to a flute. It is always said that Qi and flute are the same musical instrument, but there are differences. From the unearthed flutes and flutes, it can be seen that the flute, with 6 holes and closed mouth, can play five tones plus one tone sandhi and is covered all over; Flute, 7 holes, opening, can play seven notes plus two variations, without drawing. During the Warring States period, Qi was one of the main musical instruments for sacrificial ceremonies or banquets, and the flute was also very popular. Qu Yuan's student Song Yu also talked about the southern flute at that time, which is very similar to today's flute. How to play the flute? It's simple. As long as you can play the simple gadget of "pencil case", you have enough talent to learn flute! Now, please believe in yourself first and then cooperate with the following instructions and methods. Playing a flute is the sound of blowing into the flute hole with your mouth. The main point of playing it: 1, the lips are naturally closed, hold both ends of the flute with both hands, hold the flute head with the left hand and hold the flute tail with the right hand. Place the blowing hole on the lower edge of the lip and blow air at the blowing hole. 2. When the breath rushes out, only a small gap is allowed for the breath to pass through, and an air column is made to blow obliquely below the blowing hole. Its principle is like blowing a pen cover. 3, in order to make the breath rush out of the lips, and the breath is scattered, the muscles of the cheek must try to keep the breath outlet small. 4. The blown sound should be pure and avoid air. 5, practice in front of the mirror, how to aim at the pores between classes, so that the pronunciation position is correct and impartial, so that all the breath becomes a flute. Explanation of some special terms: 1. What is a "damper"? The damper refers to the small hole between the upper and lower lips. When playing bass, the throttle should be large, and when playing treble, the throttle should be small. When the sound is strong, the throttle should be bigger, and when the sound is weak, the throttle should be smaller. 2. What is "mouth power"? Mouth strength is the muscle stretching force that controls the tightness of lips. Control the volume, timbre and pitch by relaxing or tightening the mouth strength. At the beginning of learning, with general oral strength, with the progress of practice, gradually improve the ability to control. 3. What is "tune"? Mouth breeze refers to the strength of blowing and the flow of gas. 4. What is "drumming"? Drumming means telling you that the finger holes of the flute should now all be pressed to 1 or 2 or other "fingering" tips. 5. What are Gonggong Tune, Gong Zheng Tune, Hippo Chef Tune and Ziyi Tune? "Minor scale key" refers to all five fingering methods; Gong Zheng Tone refers to the fingering of "2"; "Ruler Tone" is a fingering method, all of which are 6; "B key" refers to the fingering of 1 On the posture in flute playing. O Pay attention to the posture when playing the flute, which is not only a matter of playing the image, but more importantly, in order to adapt to the physiological characteristics of the player, give full play to the skills and better express the music content. Mr. Zhao Songting, a master of bamboo flute in the South School, once put forward the motto about posture essentials in his book "The Spring and Autumn of Flute Art": the valve should be straight, the flute body should be flat, the head should be straight, and the chest should be straight. Thumb and little finger support each other, don't let the flute sway gold. There is room for eggs between the tiger's jaws, comfortable joints and dexterous hands. Six fingers should be pressed tightly and the fingers should be relaxed into an arc. There are specifications for high and low landings, and redundant actions are thrown away. Jinsong followed me closely, and his tone was determined by his heart. Forty-five with open arms, dragon, tiger and white tiger will do. Avoid posturing and melodramatic, and look at the truth seriously. (Among them, Qinglong and Baihu refer to those who hold flute in their left hand as Zuo Qinglong, and those who hold flute in their right hand as Right Baihu. In addition, it should be noted that "the little finger is gently attached to the flute body" is the need to hold the flute and to increase the sound hole in the future. Beginners must position their fingers. "Finger relaxation" is also the key point, and the fingers holding the flute are the most taboo, stiff and inelastic. About sitting or standing posture, it is generally required that the body is slightly to the right, facing straight ahead, the eyes are looking straight ahead, the jaw is slightly raised, the chest stands naturally, the abdomen is relaxed, and the feet are naturally separated into small figures. In fact, holding the flute to the left is the same as holding it to the right, but because the Bohm flute is widely used in the world, the musical instrument structure is always to the right. Therefore, it is advisable for beginners to hold the flute in their right hand, but it is no harm for those who are used to holding the flute in their left hand. In addition, Mr. Zhao also has a knack for breathing, which has something to do with posture: don't move your shoulders up and down, and expand your chest and abdomen at the same time. Slowly blow flat to relax the whole body, so that the abdominal muscles don't have to be busy. Sudden blows are stronger than blows, and Tian Dan's drums are stronger. Use your nose and mouth as needed, and don't breathe loudly. Don't inhale until there is no air, there must always be an air reservoir. Strong but not noisy, even the exhalation is very long. Finally, remind yourself to form a good habit of playing the flute with others, and never play the flute with others. There are many kinds and brands of flute membranes. Some people use bamboo membrane (poor quality, lack of toughness and elasticity, and easy to be blown out), and some people use sheep intestine membrane (poor vibration, hard or stuffy tone and unique flavor) when playing frontier folk music, but most people use reed membrane (also called pipe membrane) on the inner wall of reed pipes. Because of its delicate texture, good toughness, good elasticity and good taste, the common flute brands in the market generally include tube film, Jiayin brand flute film, Dunhuang flute film, Baihua brand flute film and Anhui longtan lake flute film ... No matter which brand of flute film, it is exquisite white and translucent, and does not contain impurities or fibers and films. As far as the quality of reed films is concerned, the reed films of Wuhe, Xiaoxi and Huainan in Anhui Province are the best. Due to the local soil relationship, the quality of "Ming Gui Dizi Pian" introduced by teacher Xun Fa recently is quite good. ) the first thing to use the flute membrane is to choose glue. At present, there are Ejiao, donkey skin cream, yellow croaker gum, resin, bletilla striata and so on. And bletilla striata are most commonly used, and can be purchased in general Chinese medicine shops and pharmacies. Because the flute membrane itself has certain flexibility and water absorption, the pasted flute membrane will automatically recover to a certain extent, so it can be slightly tight when pasted. After automatic recovery, the flute membrane is moderately elastic and can make a pleasant sound, but if it is to be used with paste, the flute membrane must be relaxed before it can be pasted. When pasting the film, first cut a square flute film so that the fiber of the flute film overlaps with the fiber of the flute in parallel, then dip Ejiao in water and apply it around the hole of the film, pinch the two sides of the flute film with the thumb and forefinger of both hands, pull out wrinkles perpendicular to the fiber line of the flute film, then slowly press it downward to paste it, and then hold it for a while after adjustment. The collection of flute films should pay attention to moisture and sun protection, and it should be replaced if it becomes yellow, aging and loses elasticity. If fresh flute membranes need to be preserved for a long time, they can be wrapped in plastic bags and put into the freezer. Talking about the skills of flute playing. Due to the relationship between skills and regions, flute playing has simply formed two schools, one is the southern school; First, the northern school, skills: Nanqu hand shaking, folding, vibrating, playing; Beiqu is good at spitting, sliding, splitting and flowering. So distinguish between different styles of play. Here are some common flute skills: trill (tr): For example, the trill of 6 is equivalent to playing 67676767. Virtual vibrato: a kind of vibrato in which the finger does not completely cover the sound hole when shaking (pressing half hole). Boeing (W): A short trill, also called ripple, which means that the finger jumps quickly above the main note. Overlap (again): For example, the overlap of 6 is equivalent to 7 17 6. 6 is the tonic, and 7 17 is equivalent to polyphony, which is a decorative sound, also called summoning sound. Gift sound: the decorative sound appearing at the end of the sound will indicate the pitch of "gift", also called gift-giving sound. Typing (D): Quickly "tap" the next hole of the tonic with your finger. Also known as leading sound. Vomiting (TK): The technique of gently spitting with the tip of spit, including single spitting (T), Shuang Tu (TK) and triple spitting (TKT or TTK), is a staccato technique. Slip: the process of moving between notes is "slip", including sliding up, sliding down and re-sliding. With the help of finger movement, the sound hole is slowly opened or closed, resulting in a singing-like effect (referred to as sliding sound), or with the help of breath control, a soft effect (air sliding sound) is produced. Cracking sound: similar to the bird's call, each finger rises and falls rapidly at the same time, and with the sudden sound (heavy spitting sound), it creates a special sound effect. Flower tongue (*): a technique that uses the natural and continuous vibration of the tongue to create the density and graininess of notes. Calendar sound: rapid scale progress similar to piano arpeggio. When it's fast, it can imitate bird calls. There is a diachronic sound. Strong sound (>): similar to heavy vomiting, it mainly uses the breath of "shout" to spit out the sound, which has the function of emphasizing the sound. Pause: obvious staccato, repeated pronunciation with the tongue. Tongue sound onset: Generally speaking, when playing the first range of Legato or notes without Legato, the pronunciation of the tip of the tongue is moderate (slightly lighter than light spitting), similar to the action when making "Ti" sounds, and these sounds are blown out very clearly and definitely. Laryngeal sound: similar to the acoustic effect of the flower tongue, but different from the flower tongue is that the drooping uvula vibrates in the throat. The pronunciation is coarse. Overtones (. ): the sound blown by the same fingering is different from the octave relationship, and the strength is between two octaves, which is an over-blowing. Flying: A playing method in which one or several fingers (at most three fingers) of a hand quickly wipe left and right on one or several sound holes driven by arm force. Can produce a strong sound breaking effect. Calendar sound: a sound that rises or falls rapidly step by step from low to high (upper calendar sound) or from high to low (lower calendar sound), which is called "calendar sound". It is required that the fluctuation of fingers should be clear and decisive when playing, so that every sound you experience is very clear and smooth, and it looks like going up and down the stairs quickly step by step. Abdominal trill (-): Use the strength of the abdomen to control the breath to fluctuate like waves, fast or slow, big or small, so as to express emotional excitement. Generally speaking, the playing skills of the flute can be summarized into four basic skills: qi, finger, tongue and lip. Qi kung fu is the most difficult to master, and finger kung fu requires cleanliness, average speed and flexibility. Tongue kung fu requires average strength, average granularity, average rhythm and average durability; Lip kung fu must pay attention to the proper performance of big and small throttle and mouth strength. No matter what skill, as long as you practice it often, you will definitely make perfect. But the most important thing is that flute players must be responsible for the music when using various skills, otherwise it will be superfluous and destroy the original aesthetic feeling of music. This is the proper understanding. Talking about the relationship between tune, damper, mouth strength and tongue position in flute playing, you may find some phenomena, such as: when playing high notes, your lips are closed, when playing low notes, you need to waste more gas, and when exhaling, the higher the tone, the harder it is to vomit. The following are only analyzed in tables: flute type, range and tune, and damper.