Introduction of the Three-stringed Instrument

The introduction of the three-stringed instrument

Three-stringed: also known as the "strings", the traditional Chinese plucked instrument, other ethnic minorities also have a similar three-stringed instrument, the handle is very long, the speaker box square, both sides of the skin, strings, three, the side of the embrace in the arms to play. Below I have collected and organized the knowledge of the three-stringed musical instrument, I hope to help you!

As early as 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang destroyed the six countries to complete the unification of the people were conscripted to the frontier to build the famous Great Wall, in order to transfer the heavy servitude, the people of all nationalities of the northern part of our country, there was a small shaking drum with a handle to be transformed, bolted to the top of the silk strings made of a round, leather surface, Long handle, can be plucked musical instruments, then known as "string rattle". This is the predecessor of the three-stringed instrument, which was first used in the army on the northern frontier. Qing dynasty Mao Qiling "West River words" said: "three strings in the Qin Dynasty, this thirty drums and drums of the system and change the shape of easy to sound, called the drums and drums, the Tang Dynasty, the musicians are more customized, the world thought that the Hu music, is not also".

Tang Cui Lingqin "record of the workshop" appeared in the name of the three strings, but its type system is unknown, the Tang Dynasty, ten parts of the three strings are not in the play. During the Yuan Dynasty, the three-stringed was prevalent in the Central Plains, and was the main accompaniment to the Yuan opera, which was once called the stringed rope. It was the main accompaniment for Yuan operas, and was called the string. Yuan Wang Shifu's lyrics and Qing Shen Yuan's song, "The Strings of the Northern Western Chamber", were accompanied by the three-stringed instrument.

Guangyuan, Sichuan Luojiaqiao Southern Song dynasty tomb unearthed Kabuki stone carvings in the image of playing the three-stringed, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, West Fengcun gold tombs out on the three-stringed figurines of music, Lingyuan, Liaoning Province, Fujiatun Yuan tomb mural images playing the three-stringed, indicating that the three-stringed in the Song and Yuan dynasties had been widely circulated throughout the country.

The three-stringed structure is relatively simple, can be divided into three parts of the zither head, zither pole and zither drum, by the zither head, the string axis, the mouth of the zither, the zither pole, the drum frame, the skin membrane, the zither horse and the composition of the strings. Most of them are in the shape of spade, which is the decorative part of three strings, generally embedded with bone flowers or carved out ornaments, with a string groove in the center, a string hole on the side of the groove, and three string axes placed on both sides of the head. The shaft of the zither is a semi-circular column, the smooth surface of which is the fingerboard of the three strings, with the upper end embedded with a mountain pass, and the lower end squarely inserted into the zither drum. The drum, also known as the drum or drum head, is the three-stringed *** sound box, which is a slightly oval drum frame on both sides covered with python skin into. The horse is placed in the center of the skin. The strings are made of silk or steel wire strings, with the outer, middle and inner strings in order from the treble strings; the outer strings are made of sub-strings, the middle strings are made of second strings, and the inner strings are made of old strings. One end of each string is tied to a diamond-shaped wooden shell underneath the drum, and the other end is wound on each of the three spindles.

I. Nan Yin Sanxian

Many ethnic groups in China use sanxian. The Mongolian sanxian, used for instrumental ensemble and song and dance accompaniment, is identical in form to the Han's big sanxian. In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the large and small sanxian of the Han Chinese also circulate, especially the small sanxian, which is not only used by the South Road Zhuang Opera Band, but also as an accompanying instrument in the Moron singing of Jingxi and Debao. The Yunnan Hani sanxian also has two kinds of big and small, the big one is called "dry horse table", the small one is called "string dry", the structure is similar to the Han sanxian, but the drum is covered with pig's bladder or bamboo shoots shells, the tone is low, the string is made of intestines, and it is plucked with fingers, and it is not only used in solo music but also in instrumental ensembles. It is often used in instrumental ensembles.

There are many varieties of sanxian due to different regions and uses, such as small sanxian, double-sided small sanxian, plate surface small sanxian, large sanxian, short pole large sanxian and electric sanxian, etc.

Nanxian is the most important of the three-stringed musical instruments.

Nanyin Sanxian: abbreviated as Nanxian, is a kind of curved string, popular in southern Fujian and Taiwan around the small Sanxian, due to play folk music Fujian Nanyin and named.

The Nanyin Sanxian is a soprano instrument. Its structure is basically the same as the national universal sanxian, with a total length of 98 centimeters. The head of the piano is simple and ancient, some are flat shovel type, but the corners are more rounded; some carved out the head of the beast. The piano pole with ebony, the piano drum frame plate with Li wood and other hardwood production. *** sounding box appearance is mostly rounded rectangular, there are also made of octagonal, its *** sounding box chamber than the general small three-string for the big. The three strings are silk strings, from low to high, respectively, known as the mother, the center or sub-string. The fixed strings are (a, d1, a1). The articulation is darker and the tone is softer.

South string playing method is similar to the general three-string, but has a unique fingering, name and notation symbols, basically the same as the South Arpeggio. In the folk music of Fujian Nanyin ensemble, often playing the same melody with the South Pa, sometimes the two were octave intervals off each other with good sound effects.

Second, the big three strings small three strings electric three strings

The big three strings: also known as the "drums three strings" or "book strings", the full length of about 115 centimeters or so, in order to accompany the northern rap music and the name of the book of the big drums. It is a medium music instrument, can also be used as a bass instrument, the tone is thick and loud, mostly used in northern rap music such as drums, lyrics, single strings of the accompaniment and opera, Lv opera and other local opera accompaniment, and can be solo or participate in the instrumental ensemble. It is often used as the main string in opera accompaniment.

In recent years, after the reform has been successfully tested for the use of ethnic bands to produce a short pole big three strings. It maintains the characteristics of the big three-string, reduced the size of the fingerboard, short pole, handle near, conducive to play fast playing skills, due to the device can be sliding activities of the mountain mouth, can be arbitrarily transposed, not only suitable for accompaniment, ensemble, and more suitable for solo performance.

The small three-stringed instrument: also known as the "qu string", with a total length of about 90 centimeters, was named after the accompaniment of the Kunqu opera. Because of the southern part of the world, it is also known as the "southern strings" and "southern sanxian". It is a soprano instrument with a bright and clear tone, and is mostly used in the south to accompany rap music such as jingbang, and instrumental ensembles such as Jiangnan silk and bamboo, Shifan gongs and drums, Chaoquan, Nanpipe, and is suitable for accompanying local operas such as the Kunqu opera, Peking Opera, and the Yu opera. The small sanxian used in Guangdong music, Kunqu opera and Suzhou commentary are all different, and they are adapted to their own characteristics.

In the early 80s, the successful development of the commentary accompanied by double-sided small three-string. Drums on both sides of the strings, front and back can be played, one side of the set into a low-tone door for the male accompaniment, the other side of the set high-tone door for the female accompaniment. In Henan opera (Da Ping tune, big string opera and Yu opera) music accompaniment, widely used in a board surface steel string small three-string, pronunciation crisp, rough, with a strong local color, in addition to singing accompaniment, but also in the drama simulation of the wind, the sound of the water and colorful butterflies flying and other special sound effects.

The three-stringed in the folk along with the circulation of music, there has been a very deep foundation of playing skills, but in general, the three-stringed tone sharp bright and prominent, pitch due to the relationship between the rod length and the pinnacle of the relationship is more difficult to grasp, so the small three-stringed is still commonly used in the traditional silk and bamboo music such as Jiangnan Silk Bamboo. However, in modern folk orchestras, the small sanxian is often replaced by the zhongruan, and the large sanxian is only occasionally used as a bass instrument. A large number of folk music, still continue to use the big three-string as the main accompaniment.

Electric sanxian: It was successfully developed in the 1980s. Maintained the national style of the traditional sanxian, in the python skin cavity on the front of the drum, with a layer of rowan water sheet, to place the pickup and make the role of sound wave reflection. The electric sanxian has the advantages of large volume, long aftertone, soft tone and strong expressive power, which can not only play traditional music, but also simulate the sound of pipa and electric guitar and other musical instruments, the slide effect is similar to the Hawaiian electric guitar, and it is very expressive to play lyrical music.