China's oldest musical instruments

China's oldest musical instruments are: ocarina, pipa, erhu, chime, xiao.

1, ocarina

Ocarina is a closed-mouth wind instrument unique to the Han Chinese people, the tone of the sound of a simple and awkward hold Su alone for the music of the earth is the closest musical instrument to the Taoist music of the sky. It is the closest musical instrument to the Taoist music. It occupies an important position in the history of primitive art in the world.

The origin of the ocarina is related to the labor and production activities of the Han ancestors, and it may have been made by the ancestors to imitate the cries of birds and beasts to trap prey. Later with the social progress and evolved into a simple musical instrument, and gradually increase the sound hole, developed into a melodic instrument can play tunes.

2, pipa

Pipa, the first seat of the plucked instrument, plucked-stringed stringed instruments. Made of wood or bamboo, the speaker is half pear-shaped, on the four strings, the original is made of silk, now more steel wire, steel rope, nylon. The neck and panel are equipped with "phase" and "product" to determine the pitch. It is an important national musical instrument that can be played solo, accompanied by accompaniment, repertoire and ensemble, with the left hand pressing the strings and the five fingers of the right hand playing.

3, Erhu

Erhu began in the Tang Dynasty, called "Xiqin", has a history of more than a thousand years. It is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. The erhu, or two-stringed huqin, also known as the "South Hu", "buzzing", erhu is the Chinese family of musical instruments in the main bowed stringed instruments (stringed instruments) one. The sound of the erhu is almost the same as that of the human voice, with a sense of singing and telling.

4, chimes

Chimes are an important ancient percussion instrument of the Han Chinese people, a kind of bell. Chimes emerged in the Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States until the Qin and Han. Chimes are made up of a number of bells of different sizes hanging sequentially on a wooden frame in a group or several groups, with each bell struck at a different pitch. Because of the different ages, the shape of the bells is not the same, but the bells are painted with exquisite patterns.

5, xiao

Xiao, divided into cave xiao and qin xiao, are single-barreled, vertical blowing, is a very ancient Han Chinese wind instrument. The long history of the xiao, sound mellow and soft, quiet and elegant, suitable for solo and repertoire.

It is generally made of bamboo, and the blowhole is at the upper end. According to the number of holes, it is divided into six holes and eight holes. The six-hole blowjob has five holes in the front and one in the back, while the eight-hole blowjob has seven holes in the front and one in the back. The eight-hole xiao is a product of modern improvement.