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Yo-sen has 2 tones regarded as auxiliary tones. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. A rapid strum is called sao (), and strumming in the reverse direction is called fu (). Sometimes called the "Chinese lute ", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Of particular fame were the family of pipa players founded by Cao Poluomen () and who were active for many generations from the Northern Wei to Tang dynasty. This overlap resulted in a rapid evolution of the biwa and its usage and made it one of the most popular instruments in Japan. 3 (Winter, 19771978). Sandstone carving, showing the typical way a pipa was held when played with plectrum in the early period. These styles emphasized biwa-uta () vocalisation with biwa accompaniment and formed the foundation for edo-uta () styles of playing, such as shinnai and kota.[2]. The instrument is played with a large wedge-shaped plectrum called a bachi. A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. length Formation: Japanese. [41] Three Ming dynasty pieces were discovered in the High River Flows East (, Gaohe Jiangdong) collection dating from 1528 which are very similar to those performed today, such as "The Moon on High" (, Yue-er Gao). Of the remaining post-war biwa traditions, only higo-biwa remains a style almost solely performed by blind persons. 3 in. [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). 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. We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710794). The tuning of the strings changes according to the pieces mode. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: She lives in San Diego, California and works extensively with Chinese, cross-cultural, new music, and jazz groups. However, the playing of the biwa nearly became extinct during the Meiji period following the introduction of Western music and instruments, until players such as Tsuruta Kinshi and others revitalized the genre with modern playing styles and collaborations with Western composers. The plectrum also contributes to the texture of biwa music. [51][52] Different schools have different repertoire in their music collection, and even though these schools share many of the same pieces in their repertoire, a same piece of music from the different schools may differ in their content. A pipa player playing with the pipa behind his back. Over 100 years after its development, the H-S system is still in use in most museums and in large inventory projects. 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]. The exception for these methods is for when hazusu or tataku are performed on the 4th string. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments. greatest width of plectrum 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, The narrative biwa music adopts a relative tuning; the pitch is decided to match with the players range of voice. This minute design detail gives rise to sawari, the distinctive raspy tone of a vibrating string. 2008. 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. The 5 String Pipa is tuned like a Standard Pipa with the addition of an Extra Bass String tuned to an E2 (Same as the Guitar) which broadens the range (Tuning is E2, A2, D3, E3, A3). It had a pear-shaped wooden body with two crescent-shaped sound holes, a curved neck, four strings, and four frets. Title: Satsuma Biwa () Date: ca. The six fret type is tuned to B, E, B and b. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889. However, following the collapse of the Ritsury state, biwa hshi employed at the court were faced with the court's reconstruction and sought asylum in Buddhist temples. 4. Notes played on the biwa usually begin slow and thin and progress through gradual accelerations, increasing and decreasing tempo throughout the performance. By the Song dynasty, the word pipa was used to refer exclusively to the four-stringed pear-shaped instrument. 20002023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The biwa ( Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. are crucial techniques to create the biwas subtle in-between notes that are unique for fretted instruments. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. As part of, Mamoru Ohashi (Japanese, active Ogasa, Shizouka Prefecture 1953). The pipa reached a height of popularity during the Tang dynasty, and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. In modern biwa, particularly in Satsuma-biwa, one sometimes strikes the soundboard sharply to get percussive effects. The loquat is in the family Rosaceae, and is native to the cooler hill regions of south-central China. The strings on a biwa range in thickness, with the first string being thickest and the fourth string being thinnest; on chikuzen-biwa, the second string is the thickest, with the fourth and fifth strings being the same thickness on chikuzen- and satsuma-biwa. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. The number of frets is considerably fewer than other fretted instruments. These cookies do not store any personal information. The Kyushu biwa traditions, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music, edited by Alison McQueen Tokita and David W. Hughes. Depictions of the pear-shaped pipas appeared in abundance from the Southern and Northern dynasties onwards, and pipas from this time to the Tang dynasty were given various names, such as Hu pipa (), bent-neck pipa (, quxiang pipa), some of these terms however may refer to the same pipa. There are 4-string and 5-string biwas, both with 5 frets, and the soundboard is made from soft paulownia wood. Most contemporary performers use the five string version. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer widely used. Yamashika, born in the late Meiji period, continued the biwa hshi tradition until his death in 1996. The biwa is related to the Chinese pipa, an instrument that was introduced to Japan in the late 7th century. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), Classification: This instrument also disappeared in the Chinese court orchestras. Other noted players of the early 20th century include Liu Tianhua, a student of Shen Zhaozhou of the Chongming school and who increased the number of frets on the pipa and changed to an equal-tempered tuning, and the blind player Abing from Wuxi. However, the biwas cultural significance is due to its evolution during the medieval era into a narrative musical instrument. Catalogue of the Crosby Brown . Kaeshibachi: The performance of arpeggio with an up-ward motion of the plectrum, and it is always soft. [13] What the plectrum is made of also changes the texture, with ivory and plastic plectrums creating a more resilient texture to the wooden plectrum's twangy hum. The biwa developed into five different types in its long history: . Like pearls, big and small, falling on a platter of jade. Gao Hong graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and was the first to do a joint tour with Lin Shicheng in North America. Clara H. Rose (d. 1914) Catalogue of the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments: Asia, Gallery 27. The two-headed tacked drum hung in an elaborate circular frame in court music is a gaku-daiko or tsuri-daiko. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (), the reverse motion is called zhi (). Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. 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. This music called heikyoku () was, cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14-15. [12] The plectrum is also critical to creating the sawari sound, which is particularly utilized with satsuma-biwa. 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. The same piece of music can therefore differ significantly when performed by students of different schools, with striking differences in interpretation, phrasing, tempo, dynamics, playing techniques, and ornamentations. The excerpt is performed by the ensemble Reigakusha. [32][33][34] A famous poem by Bai Juyi, "Pipa xing" (), contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River:[35]. It is not used to accompany singing. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. This instrument was also used many times as an accompanying instrument in larger ensembles. In performance it was held sideways and played with a plectrum. Players hold the instrument vertically. The origin of the Japanese biwa as a generic type of instrument dates back to around the year 700 CE when the pipa was first introduced to Japan from China as part of ensembles gifted to the Japanese Emperor. The full vibrating lengths of the strings, the distance between their bend over the nut and the knots that secure their lower ends to the string holder, are all 27.7 inches. Harmonics: The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonics of each open string can be performed by attacking the string with either the plectrum or the finger, and in both cases, the overall sonority is quite soft. 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. The fourth and fifth strings, if 5-stringed, are tuned to the same note. This music was cherished and protected by the authorities and particularly flourished in the 14th-15th centuries. Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted. This type of biwa is used for court music called gagaku (), which has been protected by the government until today. It always starts from the 4th string and stops on either the 3rd, 2nd, or 1st string depending if the arpeggio contains 2, 3, or 4 pitches, respectively. [19] Pipa acquired a number of Chinese symbolisms during the Han dynasty - the instrument length of three feet five inches represents the three realms (heaven, earth, and man) and the five elements, while the four strings represent the four seasons.[7]. During the Qing dynasty, scores for pipa were collected in Thirteen Pieces for Strings. Bodmin, Cornwall, Great Britain: MPG Books, pp. The stroking motion always starts from the 1st string, sequentially sweeping toward the others until it reaches the arpeggios last string. The five-stringed pipa however had fallen from use by the Song dynasty, although attempts have been made to revive this instrument in the early 21st century with a modernized five-string pipa modeled on the Tang dynasty instrument. [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. [21] For example, masses of pipa-playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. Instrument Information Origins. Biwa traditions began with blind priests who traveled from village to village singing sutras. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. [45] Other collections from the Qing dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan () and Ju Shilin (), each representing different schools, and many of the pieces currently popular were described in these Qing collections. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" () which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. A player holds it horizontally, and mostly plays rhythmic arpeggios in orchestra or ensemble. This is the original form of biwa that came to Japan in the 8. century. NAKAMURA Kahoru, the biwa player with whom we worked, mentioned that for a concert including pieces in two different modes, she tunes two biwas before the concert. The biwa is a stringed instrument used in Japan as a sort of story telling method. Shamisen. Generally speaking, biwa have four strings, though modern satsuma- and chikuzen-biwa may have five strings. The biwa strings are plucked with large wooden pick called bachi () that requires a full-handed grip. [2] Pear-shaped lutes have been depicted in Kusana sculptures from the 1st century AD. From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. The plectrum is usually made from rosewood with boxwood or ivory tips for plucking the strings. The archlute ( Spanish: archilad, Italian: arciliuto, German: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the [44] The first volume contains 13 pieces from the Northern school, the second and third volumes contain 54 pieces from the Southern school. For example, a piece like "The Warlord Takes off His Armour" is made up of many sections, some of them metered and some with free meter, and greater freedom in interpretation is possible in the free meter sections. In this case, the left hand fourth finger taps the string so that the un-attacked pitch or pitches can be somewhat heard. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. The Traditional Music of Japan. It is an arpeggio that is always starting from the first string (the lowest) and swepping upwards to either the second, third or fourth string. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. With the abolition of Todo in the Meiji period, biwa players lost their patronage. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/502655, Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown ; Clara H. Rose (d. 1914), The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. In biwa, tuning is not fixed. Komoda Haruko. Figure 4 introduces the biwas six traditional tunings. [18], As biwa music declined in post-Pacific War Japan, many Japanese composers and musicians found ways to revitalize interest in it. It had close association with Buddhism and often appeared in mural and sculptural representations of musicians in Buddhist contexts. Traditionally, the 2nd pitch either acts as a lower neighboring tone or a descending passing tone. 2. Japanese lute with 4-5 strings and frets. In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. [6] The strings were played using a large plectrum in the Tang dynasty, a technique still used now for the Japanese biwa.