Yoko Hiraoka, a Lecture/Recital of Japanese Biwa Music The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. Western performers of pipa include French musician Djang San, who integrated jazz and rock concepts to the instrument such as power chords and walking bass.[70]. The biwa's Chinese predecessor was the pipa (), which arrived in Japan in two forms;[further explanation needed] following its introduction to Japan, varieties of the biwa quadrupled. In biwa, tuning is not fixed. They included Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, and Su Shi. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), Classification: His well-received compositions, such as November Steps, which incorporated biwa heikyoku with Western orchestral performance, revitalized interest in the biwa and sparked a series of collaborative efforts by other musician in genres ranging from J-Pop and enka to shin-hougaku and gendaigaku. The surface of the frets is constantly shaved down by the strings, and one of the most important points in the maintenance of the biwa is to keep the surfaces as flat as possible to get goodsawari. There are more than seven types of biwa, characterised by number of strings, sounds it could produce, the type of plectrum, and their use. The fourth/fifth string G is an octave higher than the second string G. Again, note this is relative tuning; it could be AEAE, GDGD, etc, depending on the players range of voice. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. [1][2] Modern researchers such as Laurence Picken, Shigeo Kishibe, and John Myers suggested a non-Chinese origin. The fourth and fifth strings, if 5-stringed, are tuned to the same note. Musical Instruments of East Asia Flashcards | Quizlet The piece is in Hy-j mode (E Dorian) and the basic melody is centered on the pitches: E, B, and A, three of the four fundamental pitches of the Japanese modes. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: They recognized that studies in music theory and music composition in Japan almost entirely consisted in Western theory and instruction. Players hold the instrument vertically. Kindai-biwa still retains a significant number of professional and amateur practitioners, but the zato, heike, and moso-biwa styles have all but died out. Clattering and murmuring, meshing jumbled sounds, [8][9] Liu Xi also stated that the instrument called pipa, though written differently (; pp or ; pb) in the earliest texts, originated from amongst the Hu people (a general term for non-Han people living to the north and west of ancient China). During the Yuan dynasty, the playwright Gao Ming wrote a play for nanxi opera called Pipa ji (, or "Story of the Pipa"), a tale about an abandoned wife who set out to find her husband, surviving by playing the pipa. (80 30 3.4 cm), The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, "Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 35, no. Dunhuang, Mogao Caves. When two strings are plucked at the same time with the index finger and thumb (i.e. https://japanese-music.com/profile/nobuko-fukatsu/. 89.4.2088. This is due to the fact that the space between the strings on the first three frets is so short that a fingered 1st fret on the 3rd string, for example, would damp the following 4th string, as shown on Figure 7. There are some confusions and disagreements about the origin of pipa. Among ethnomusicologists, it is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments. The gogen-biwa (, lit. Lin Shicheng (; 19222006), born in Shanghai, began learning music under his father and was taught by Shen Haochu (; 18991953), a leading player in the Pudong school style of pipa playing. About Biwa - Japanese Traditional Music Shamisen players and other musicians found it financially beneficial to switch to the biwa, bringing new styles of biwa music with them. [31] Celebrated performers of the Tang dynasty included three generations of the Cao familyCao Bao (), Cao Shancai () and Cao Gang (),[59][60] whose performances were noted in literary works. Notes played on the biwa usually begin slow and thin and progress through gradual accelerations, increasing and decreasing tempo throughout the performance. Biwa. NGDMI v.1: 234-237. One of the biwa's most famous uses is for reciting The Tale of the Heike, a war chronicle from the Kamakura period (11851333). There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the ms-biwa. The six fret type is tuned to B, E, B and b. Although no longer as popular as it once was, several chikuzen biwa schools have survived to the present day in Japan and to a lesser extent in Japanese communities abroad (such as in Hawaii). Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. [6] The strings were played using a large plectrum in the Tang dynasty, a technique still used now for the Japanese biwa. [16], While many styles of biwa flourished in the early 1900s (such as kindai-biwa between 1900 and the 1930s), the cycle of tutelage was broken yet again by the war. Multiple strings are often played in one pluck like an arpeggio. Other early known players of pipa include General Xie Shang from the Jin dynasty who was described to have performed it with his leg raised. It has not caught on in China but in Korea (where she also did some of her research) the bipa was revived since then and the current versions are based on Chinese pipa, including one with five-strings. Generally speaking, biwa have four strings, though modern satsuma- and chikuzen-biwa may have five strings. Reflecting its history as an instrument for samurai, its music is often described as dynamic and heroic. Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. A. Odaiko B. Taiko C. Tsuridaiko D. Tsuzumi 2. 5.5 in. Yoko Hiraoka, a member of the Yamato Komyoji ryu, presents a lecture/recital of Japanese Biwa music. Upon its arrival, the biwa was used in purely instrumental music in the court culture the instrument appears in various works of literature and art in the 10th -12th centuries, depicting nobles enjoying it in rituals as well as in their private lives. The fish is an auspicious symbol of Buddhism signifying wakeful attention since most fish lack eyelids and remain alert. Each type has different and unique tones, techniques, and musical styles. In more recent times, many pipa players, especially the younger ones, no longer identify themselves with any specific school. What is the hornbostelsachs classification of biwa instrument - 9005546 Biwa hshi performances overlapped with performances by other biwa players many years before heikyoku (, The Tale of the Heike),[further explanation needed] and continues to this day. Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item, Title: We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. These tunings are relative, the actual pitches a given biwa is tuned to being determined by the vocal range of the singer/player. As a point of clarification, the highest and last pitch of the biwa's arpeggio is considered as its melodic pitch. Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted. 36 1/2 7 7/8 5 in. Its classification is a type of a Chordophone. It helps illustrate the neglible amount of resonance the biwa produces, because already after 1 second most of its sound energy is below the threshold of hearing. There is little space between the strings on the first three frets, causing obstruction when attacking an upper string whose immediate lower string is fingered in one of the first three frets. [1] Another excerpt of figurative descriptions of a pipa music may be found in a eulogy for a pipa player, Lament for Shancai by Li Shen:[33]. greatest width of resonator Japanese Musical Instruments. A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. [21] During this time, Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). Sheng. Another. Ye Xuran (), a student of Lin Shicheng and Wei Zhongle, was the Pipa Professor at the first Musical Conservatory of China, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Male players typically play biwa that are slightly wider and/or longer than those used by women or children. The biwas shallow body is a bouncing board that sharply projects its sound forward. 1969. length the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. Its tuning is A, c, e, a or A, c-sharp, e, a. Australian dark rock band The Eternal use the pipa in their song "Blood" as played by singer/guitarist Mark Kelson on their album Kartika. 105-126. In the early 1950s, he founded the traditional instruments department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Formation: Japanese. For the left hand, as mentioned above under the Construction section, bending of the strings (oshikan ) and delicate control of it to create a vibrato effect (yuri ) are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. Written by Nobuko Fukatsu The left hand techniques are important for the expressiveness of pipa music. The instrument is also held vertically while playing. This is a type of biwa that wandering blind monks played for religious practice as well as in narrative musical performances during the medieval era, widely seen in the Kyushu area. With the rounded edge of the resonator resting in the players lap and the peg box end of the instrument tilted to the left at about a 45-degree angle from vertical, the biwas soundboard faces forward. [66] Some other notable pipa players in China include Yu Jia (), Wu Yu Xia (), Fang Jinlong () and Zhao Cong (). The instrument has seen a great decline . Further, the frets and the nut are wide, which provides a surface, not a point, for a string to touch. [21] The pipa underwent a number of changes over the centuries. In the 20th century, two of the most prominent pipa players were Sun Yude (; 19041981) and Li Tingsong (; 19061976). Shamisen. It may be played as a solo instrument or as part of the imperial orchestra for use in productions such as daqu (, grand suites), an elaborate music and dance performance. In performance it was held sideways and played with a plectrum. In addition, there are a number of techniques that produce sound effects rather than musical notes, for example, striking the board of the pipa for a percussive sound, or strings-twisting while playing that produces a cymbal-like effect. The strings are struck with a hand-held wooden plectrum. HornbostelSachs 1 Hornbostel - Sachs Hornbostel - Sachs (or Sachs - Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift fr Ethnologie in 1914. There were originally two major schools of pipa during the Qing dynastythe Northern (Zhili, ) and Southern (Zhejiang, ) schoolsand from these emerged the five main schools associated with the solo tradition. With the end of the wars, unsurprisingly, the biwa music became less popular, and the number of biwa musicians dropped significantly. Tataku: This is similar to hazusu, except that this time, two non-struck pitches follow the struck one. The instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin dynasty. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: Even the biwa hshi transitioned to other instruments such as the shamisen (a three-stringed lute).[15]. Mural from Kizil, estimated Five Dynasties to Yuan dynasty, 10th to 13th century. The biwa (Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. She now performs with Red Chamber and the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble. The satsuma-biwa is traditionally made from Japanese mulberry, although other hard woods such as Japanese zelkova are sometimes used in its construction. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Accession Number: Exploiting the sound of the open strings increases the overall sounds volume. Modern biwa music is based on that medieval narrative biwa music. Heike Biwa () | Japanese | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (80 30 3.4 cm), Classification: Options are limited when considering that a fingered string between two open strings must be fingered on the 4th fret to avoid damping. Biwa playing has a long history on Kyushu, and for centuries the art was practiced within the institution of ms, blind Buddhist priests who performed sacred and secular texts for agrarian and other rituals. During the war time in early 20th century, biwa music was easily adapted to the nationalism of Imperial Japan, and many songs that emphasized the virtue of loyalty and sacrifice for the country were created and widely played. However, false nails made of horn existed as early as the Ming period when finger-picking became the popular technique for playing pipa.[24]. Detail #2 shows the backside of the instrument; detail #3 is a side view revealing both the shallowness of the bowl-shaped resonator and the height of the frets that are glued onto the neck. The strings are numbered from the lowest (first string) to the highest (fourth string). Because of this bending technique oshikan (. [72] He was also the first musician to add a strap to the instrument, as he did for the zhongruan, allowing him to play the pipa and the zhongruan like a guitar. In the beginning of the Taish period (19121926), the satsuma-biwa was modified into the nishiki-biwa, which became popular among female players at the time. Hazusu: This is a sequence of two pitches, where the first one is attacked, and leades to a second one which is not attacked. The satsuma-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and four frets, was popularized during the Edo period in Satsuma Province (present-day Kagoshima) by Shimazu Tadayoshi. The Traditional Music of Japan. Hornbostel-Sachs Instrument Classification System.pdf A new way to classify the acoustical properties of woods and clearly separate these two groups is proposed in this paper. Biwa traditions began with blind priests who traveled from village to village singing sutras. After having arrived in Japan via the Silk Road for purely instrumental music, the biwa evolved over time into a narrative musical instrument. Like with the shamisen, a distinctive raspy tone quality called sawari is associated with the chikuzen biwa. The strings are depressed not directly against the frets, but between them, and by controlling the amount of applied pressure the performer can achieve a range of pitches and pitch inflections. [6] Another Han dynasty text, Fengsu Tongyi, also indicates that, at that time, pipa was a recent arrival,[7] although later 3rd-century texts from the Jin dynasty suggest that pipa existed in China as early as the Qin dynasty (221206 BC). This music was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14th-15th centuries. Its tuning is A, E, A, B, for traditional biwa, G, G, c, g, or G, G, d, g for contemporary compositions, among other tunings, but these are only examples as the instrument is tuned to match the key of the player's voice. Koto 3. The pipa has also been used in rock music; the California-based band Incubus featured one, borrowed from guitarist Steve Vai, in their 2001 song "Aqueous Transmission," as played by the group's guitarist, Mike Einziger. And thanks to the low tension of the strings, it is easy to bend the strings by adding pressure. to divide instruments into eight categories determined by materials. The pipa is held in a vertical or near-vertical position during performance, although in the early periods the instrument was held in the horizontal position or near-horizontal with the neck pointing slightly downwards, or upside down. Its pick or bachi () is the largest among all types of biwa it sometimes. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. 2000. The biwa, originally an instrument of high society, gradually spread among wandering blind monks who used this instrument to tell stories. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. So, here are six traditional Japanese instruments you can listen to today! General tones and pitches can fluctuate up or down entire steps or microtones. Typically 60 centimetres (24 in) to 106 centimetres (42 in) in length, the instrument is . Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The chikuzen biwa is played with the performer in the seiza position (on the knees, legs folded under) on the floor. This type of instrument was introduced to Korea (the bipa ), to Japan (the biwa ), and to Vietnam (the tyba ). These works present a radical departure from the compositional languages usually employed for such an instrument. [2][29] Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example Ma Zhiyuan's play Autumn in the Palace of Han (), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun),[30][29] as well as in music pieces such as Zhaojun's Lament (, also the title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa. [14], Biwa usage in Japan has declined greatly since the Heian period. The pipa pieces in the common repertoire can be categorized as wen (, civil) or wu (, martial), and da (, large or suite) or xiao (, small). Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API. This singing style is complemented by the biwa, which biwa players use to produce short glissandi throughout the performance. greatest depth of resonator, multiple (by pressure stopping against fretted fingerboard). Pipa | musical instrument | Britannica [38] It has however been suggested that the long plectrum depicted in ancient paintings may have been used as a friction stick like a bow. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. The gagaku biwa (), a large and heavy biwa with four strings and four frets, is used exclusively for gagaku. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese n t b in Southeast Asia.