Classification of Chinese Folk Musical Instruments

Chinese folk musical instruments are mainly divided into four categories, namely:

1, wind instruments

Wind instruments can be divided into three categories according to the different methods of vibration:

The first category, blowing into the mouthpiece by the airflow to stimulate the vibration of the tube column, xiao, flute (flute and bang flute), mouthpiece flute and so on.

The second category, the airflow through the reed blown into the column vibration of the suona, sea flute, pipe, double pipe and throat pipe.

The third category, the airflow through the reed to cause the column vibration of the sheng, hold the sheng, row sheng, bawu and so on.

2, plucked instruments

Chinese plucked instruments are divided into two categories: horizontal and vertical.

First, horizontal. Such as: zheng (guzheng and tuned zheng), guqin, yangqin and dulcimer.

The second, vertical style. Such as: pipa, ruan, yueqin, sanxian, liuqin, dongbura and zamuni.

3, percussion instruments

Based on their pronunciation can be divided into:

First, ringing brass. Such as: large gongs, small gongs, cloud gongs, large and small cymbals, clanging bells and so on.

Second, loud wood. Such as: boards, clappers, wooden fish, and so on.

Third, leather. Such as: large and small drums, plate drums, row drums, elephant foot drums, etc..

4, stringed instruments

Stringed instruments mainly refers to the huqin class of instruments. Typical instruments are Erhu, Banhu, Gehu, Matouqin, Aijiek, Jinghu, Zhonghu, Gaohu.

Expanded:

Chinese folk musical instruments have a long history and a long lineage. Only from the unearthed artifacts can be confirmed: as far as the pre-Qin period, there are a variety of musical instruments. Such as the Neolithic cultural site of Zhejiang Hemudu unearthed bone whistle, Hubei Suixian Zeng Houyi Tomb (buried in 433 BC) unearthed bells, chimes, hanging drums, drums, Quercus, xiaojiao, sheng, 碾, serpentine, etc. These ancient musical instruments show people that the Chinese people have a long history. These ancient musical instruments show people the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese nation.

From the Zhou Dynasty onwards, China had a method of categorizing musical instruments according to the different materials used to make them, dividing them into eight categories of gold, stone, silk, bamboo, lagenaria, earth, leather, and wood, which were called the "eight tones". In the three thousand years from the weekend to the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, China has been using the "eight notes" classification method.

1, gold: mainly bells, bells prevailed in the Bronze Age. In ancient times, the bell was not only a musical instrument, but also a ceremonial instrument symbolizing status and power. The princes and nobles in the imperial recruitment, sacrifices and other ceremonies, banquets and daily Yan music, widely used in the bell music. The bell's front and side drums produce two frequency tones, which are generally in major and minor third intervals. There are also chimes, prochs, and hooks, all of which are basically variations of the bell.

2, stone: a variety of chimes, the main material is limestone, followed by lapis lazuli and jade. All of them are arrogant, and the lower part is slightly curved. Size thickness varies. The chime frame is made of copper, single-sided and double-layered structure, and the beam is round and tubular. The column and base are in the shape of monsters, with dragon head, crane neck, bird body and turtle feet. The shape is peculiar, beautifully and firmly made. Chime hanging in two layers, each layer is divided into two groups, a group of six pieces, arranged in four, five degrees of relationship; a group of ten pieces, two adjacent chime for two, three, four degrees of relationship. They are combined according to different rhythms (keys).

3, silk: a variety of stringed instruments, because in ancient times the strings were made of silk. There are qin, serpent, zhu, pipa, huqin, konghou and so on.

4, bamboo: bamboo wind instruments, flute, xiao, 箎, xiao, pipe and so on.

5, Lagenaria: Lagenaria when the gourd plant fruit, with Lagenaria for musical instruments is mainly sheng.

6, earth class: is the pottery musical instruments, ocarina, pottery flute, pottery drums and so on.

7, leather: mainly a variety of drums, to hanging drums and build drums.

8, wood: there are a variety of wooden drums, drumstick, percussion. Kei is an ancient percussion instrument, shaped like a tiger, tiger back with a jagged thin board, with one end split into several stems of the bamboo tube, against the scraping of its jagged pronunciation, for the end of the music. Used in the court of all generations of elegant music. Tap is an ancient percussion instrument, shaped like a square wooden box, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with the vertebrae (wooden stick) hit the inner wall of the sound, indicating that the music is about to start.

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