What is the difference between Korean zither and guzheng?

The guzheng, also known as hanzheng, qinzheng, yaozheng, luanzheng, is a zheng musical instrument among the traditional instruments of the Han ethnic group, which belongs to plucked instruments. It is one of the unique and important national musical instruments in China. It has a beautiful tone, wide range, rich playing skills, and quite strong expressive power, so it is loved by the general public. Nowadays, there are also small guzhengs, portable guzhengs, mini guzhengs, half guzhengs, new guzhengs, and twelve equal-tempered guzhengs. The guzheng is an ancient national musical instrument that accompanies China's long history of culture and was born and raised on the fertile yellow land. It is a plucked musical instrument, and its structure consists of a panel, a goose post (also called a zheng code in some places), strings, a front yakuzan, string pegs, a tuning box, a foot, a back yakuzan, a side plate, a sound outlet, a bottom plate, and a string piercing hole.

The zheng's shape is a rectangular wooden box, the string holder "zheng column" (i.e., goose column) can be moved freely, one string, one tone, arranged according to the pentatonic scale, the earliest 25-stringed zheng is the most (divided into the zheng for the Thur), the Tang and Song dynasties have thirteen strings, and then increased to sixteen, eighteen strings, twenty-one strings, and so on, and the most commonly used specification at present is the 21-stringed; usually the model of the guzheng is the front string, the back string, the back string, the back string, and the bottom board, and the hole of string. strings; usually before the model of guzheng with S163-21, S represents the S-shaped yuezan, is Wang Xunzhi and Miao Jinlin *** with the invention, 163 represents the length of the guzheng is 163 centimeters or so, 21 represents the number of strings of the guzheng 21.

Korean zither: Gayageum, a Korean plucked instrument, has a history of more than 1,500 years since it was handed down from the Silla era. It is said to have been made by the king of Gaya, Jasi, after the Chinese Han zither, which is similar in shape to the zither and has one string and one column. The Gayageum has twenty-one strings and two types of scales, seven and five, and the technique of playing the right hand and pressing the left hand is basically the same as that of the zither, which has a unique artistic style and colorful playing techniques. It can be played solo, repertoire, ensemble, and can also be played and sung.

According to the Records of the History of the Three Kingdoms, "King Jasi of Gaya made the twelve-stringed zither to resemble the rhythm of the twelfth month. He ordered Yu Le to make his music." "The Gayageum was also modeled after the Chinese musical zither. ...... Gayageum, although the system is slightly different from the zheng, but roughly similar."

Yule, a musician from Gaya, took his disciple Nivin with his zither to Silla, where he was welcomed and honored by King Zhenxing. King Zhenxing installed Yu Le in Guohara, and he sent Dana Ma Notechi, Jiegu, and Dashe Wande to be trained under Yu Le to pass on his trade.

The Gayageum was developed in Silla and became the great music of Silla, and it consolidated the position of the court music in the future. Around the eighth century (or earlier), the Gayageum was transferred from Silla to Japan, and there are still three Gayageums (or Silla Gums) in the collection of the Shokurain Temple in Nara, Japan. Because the Gayageum was introduced to Japan from Silla and at the same time was used in Silla music, the Gayageum is called Silla Gum in Japan.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, there was a peak in Gayageum music, which was a turning point in the art of Gayageum. The music gradually changed from slow court music to light and lively loose tunes, and the original Gayageum that had been handed down to the present day was converted into a loose-tuned Gayageum because it was unsuitable for playing the fast notes of the loose tunes.

Since the 1950s, the Gayageum music in Yanbian region has been developed from folk music to professional music.

The ancient Gayageum, the body is routed into a groove with a single wood, the end of the instrument is horn-shaped, without a base plate, so the volume is small and lack of expressive power; Gayageum, now used by the Korean people, is improved and absorbed the advantages of other ethnic musical instruments after a number of centuries of circulation and made. Because there is a base plate and the formation of *** sound box, significantly increased the volume and rich sound color.

The Gayageum consists of a frame, a top, a bottom, a post and strings. The length of the body is about 152 centimeters and the width is 17 to 21 centimeters.

The frame is a rectangular frame, the right is the head of the piano, the left is the end of the piano, on the Simon to the arch of the thin water surface plate, using the Changbaishan Mountain growth of fine grain quality pine, easy to vibrate the fish scale pine or paulownia wood production, the bottom of the piano has a base plate and the foot of the piano, the base plate with chestnut wood, the piano frame and the piano column using mahogany or rosewood and other hard wood production of the head of the piano end of the Yakuzan support strings raised, Zhang has 13 strings. The pillars are placed in the middle of the panel and are arranged in the rows of geese. One post per sheet can be moved to adjust the height of the strings.

After the founding of New China, the Gayageum has been reformed continuously, and it has been made into the 18-stringed Gayageum with a five-tone scale and the 21-stringed Gayageum with a seven-tone scale. The latter has enlarged the *** sound box, adopting nylon strings and nylon steel wire strings, with bright sound and beautiful tone.

The types of Gayageum can be divided into "Jungak Gayageum" (ancient Gayageum), "Scattered Gayageum", and "21-string Gayageum" for modern use.

1. Ancient Gayageum: The groove of the gayageum is made of a single log of routered wood without a base plate, and there is a goat's ear at the end of the instrument with twelve strings (silk strings of varying thickness) and twelve strings (zigzag-shaped goose pillars). This type of Gayageum was rare at the beginning of the twentieth century.

2. Scattered-tone Gayageum: It is a modern Gayageum, which has been greatly improved in form, such as the removal of the end of the goat's horn wood and the addition of a chestnut-water backboard to the body of the instrument with a tinted tail and thirteen strings (silk strings). It is mainly used for loose-tuned music.

3. 21-stringed Gayageum: The 21-stringed Gayageum is an improved Gayageum for modern use. The dyed end of the tail is removed from the shape. There are 21 strings. There are two kinds of strings: nylon strings and metal wire-wrapped nylon strings, and there are two kinds of tuning methods: seven-tone scale tuning and five-tone scale tuning.

Playing the Gayageum, the right hand is used for playing except for the little finger, and the techniques include playing, plucking, rolling, and arpeggiating, etc. The overtones are especially clear and beautiful. The left hand techniques include pressing, trembling, pushing and kneading, which are important means to express the unique style of Gayageum. The Gayageum can also play diatonic and chordal music as well as simple polyphonic music, which is usually played without transposition. Gayageum has rich expressive power, and through the skillful technique of the player, it can express different emotions such as toughness, softness, joy, anger, sadness, and happiness, or play grand scenes of majesty and excitement, and it is especially suitable for playing the light and lively folk music works.

Modern Gayageum music has inherited the style of the traditional folk songs and has developed into instrumental music based on folk songs, instrumental music based on the themes of modern life, and concerto music with the orchestra. Examples of these pieces include: "Dawlaji" (Ballad of the Kustoma), "Spring at the Outpost", and "Shim Ching-ju" (Specialized for Shim Ching).

Gayageum singing is a traditional form of Korean singing, rich in national characteristics, and is a combination of instrumental and vocal art. When playing on the stage, ten or so Korean women in national costume put the end of the piano on the ground, the first end on the right knee, the left hand presses the strings, and the right hand takes the sound. The performers play and sing, singing and the sound of the qin, sometimes accompanied by a long drum, especially friendly and touching.

The Gayageum's Scattered Tones and Genres:

Sattered Tones: This is a form of instrumental solo music as well as the name of a piece of music. It is based on rap tunes, accompanied only by long drums, and is played for 25-3O minutes. The development of the music of "Gayageum Sangsong" strictly follows the law of gradual tension and culmination in the final song, and is characterized by the principle of slow and gradual acceleration of the speed of development. The composition of Gayageum Sangsong is as follows:

Jinyangsong 18/8 slow

Middle Mori 12/8 medium speed

Middle Mori 12/8 medium speed a little bit faster

Zhajung Mori 12/8 a little bit faster

Swinging Mori 2/4 fast

The Sangsong is a multi-part suite that starts from a slow tempo to a fast tempo but the modern musicians like to play it in a selected movement. performers prefer to play in selected chapters, creating a style.

Gayageum genres are often categorized by regions and the different styles of famous artists, and the music is mainly categorized by Sangyo music.

The "Gayageum Sangsong" was created in the southern part of Korea and later spread to the northern part of Korea and Yanbian area of China. The music has different local characteristics due to the difference in the language of each place.

The Gayageum Sangsong is a highly skillful instrumental solo piece with improvisation, therefore, different styles and characteristics are created in the expression of feelings, the use and performance of techniques, especially in the density, speed, and strength of the left hand strings, thus creating different schools of music.

There are many genres of Gayageum Sansong, but the main genres are Kim Chang-jo's and Shim Sang-geun's. The disciples of Kim Chang-jo are also known as Gayageum Sansong. Kim Chang-jo's disciples are divided into Kim Juk-po school, Ahn Ki-ok school, Choi Yoo-sam school and so on, and Yanbian Gayageum mainly inherits Ahn Ki-ok school, Choi Yoo-sam school and so on.