Pipa 琵琶Chinese Lute

- Four string plucked instrument

- Original Country: China

Name 批把 : hands/ fingers, implying action with fingers

枇杷 : made from the wood

琵琶 : string instrument

History, evolution, and construction:

Second century B.C Started from Qin Dynasty and developed by the Han Dynasty. Xi Liu of the Eastern Han Dynasty described in his book, The definition of Terms- On Musical Instruments The name of the instrument pipa originally referred to two finger techniques. The two Chinese characters p’I and p’a stood originally for two movements, plucking strings forwards and backwards.

Qin pipa• Han Dynasty• Four strings, twelve frets.• Plucked with finger nails.

Xainto Qin Dynasty Plucked- instrument. Straight neck, rounded Body Played horizontally.

Hu (Foreign)Pipa Northern and Southern Dynasty Oud or Barbat Persian origin. Crooked neck and four or five strings, plucked with plecturm. Introduced through the Silk Road from Central Asia

Tan Pipa

• Straight neck and bent neck.• Body shape changed from round- shaped to pear- shaped.• Finger nails technique, instead of using plectrum.• 4 to 5 silk strings, and 5 to 6 frets.

Modern Pipa30 frets. Pipa has as a complete chromatic scale. 4 steel strings. 5 finger plectra(faked nails) Four feet long a foot across the belly. The neck, six ledges made of wood, horn or ivory. Pear-shaped body made of hard wood and its surface is covered with paulowania. Tuning A-D-E-A. Over three and a half octaves.

Playing technique

• “pi” push the fingers of the right hand from right to left.• “pa” pull the thumb of the right hand from left to right. • Rolls, slaps, pizzicato, harmonics.• “Wu qu” (Material Style) •“Wen qu” (Civil or lyrical Style)

Notation

Kung-Ch’e System 工尺譜

Pipa Concerto – pipa and orchestra

• Traditionally, pipa is a solo instrument. Sometimes, used in “silk and bamboo ensemble” which often found in South-East China.• Nowadays, pipa used in contemporary composition for ensembles or orchestras with combination of both Chinese and western instrument.• Tan Dun’s pipa concerto “Ghost Opera.”

Biwa

Japanese lute• Pipa came to Japan as a gift from Chinese Tang Dynasty(618-907 AD).• Five main varieties of biwa, each with its own history, function and, shape, and technique. (Gagaku biwa, Gogenbiwa, Mōsō biwa, Heike biwa, Satsuma biwa)