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It’s very old.
Instruments specific to China.
Maybe it tells a story?
Lots of string instruments.
Maybe similar to Japanese music?
Pentatonic Scale

Strings (Lute, Zither, Bowed, Dulcimer), Winds (Flute, Free Reed),
Percussion

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Four-stringed lute with 30 frets and a pear-shaped body. The instrumentalist holds the pipa upright and plays with five small plectra attached to each finger of the right hand.
Vibrato is created by shaking the left hand.
Musicians use tremolo to sustain the notes (make them last longer).
Songs
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White Snow in the Spring
Sunlight
Opening of Heaven’s Gates

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Guitar like instrument.
Yueqin video

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A large 18–23-or-more stringed instrument. It is said that it is an ancestor of the Japanese koto.
Unlike Japanese koto players who kneel on the floor, Chinese musicians sit in chairs in front of guzheng desks.
Often performed solo.
Moveable bridges for tuning.
Finger plectra on the right hand.
Left hand bends the strings to change pitch or create vibrato.
Evening Song From The Fishing
Boat
Fighting the Typhoon

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A two-stringed fiddle, which is one of the most popular Chinese instruments.
It was once mainly used in operatic performances, but now it is popular as a solo instrument.
It is a two-string, violin-like instrument that is played with a bow set in between the two strings. It isn’t as loud as a violin because the sound box is small. The sound box traditionally has a snakeskin cover.
It is used to imitate the sound of singing, bird calls, and horses.
Autumn Moon Over the Han Palace
Horse Racing

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Hammered dulcimer played with two flexible bamboo hammers.
Plays a role much like a piano.
Spring on River Qing
Journey to Lhasa

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Dizi are generally made of bamboo, and they generally have six or more finger holes.
One hole is covered with paper so that the flute has a peculiar buzzing sound that people like.
It is a transverse flute, therefore it is held to the side and air is blown over the sound hole.
Moon on Guan Mountain
Flowing Water of Paradise

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Free Reed - a musical instrument that produces sound as air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame. Air pressure is typically generated by breath or with a bellows.
HulusiVideo
Hulusi - Deep in the Bamboo
Forest
Sheng

 Chinese music does not have a large focus on percussion however some simple percussion instruments are used, such as gongs, chimes, and barrel shaped drums.

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Pentatonic scale
Focus on melody, not harmony
No emphasis on rhythm or beat.
Use of ornamentation – tremolo, glissando, grace notes, etc.
Three kinds of traditional music
 Chinese opera music meant for theatrical performances,
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ensemble or orchestra music for cultured audiences, and
solo instrumental performance.
Traditional Chinese music is supposed to be simple, tranquil, and facilitate appropriate conduct. It is meant to be happy and is often inspired by nature.

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Sunny Spring, White Snow
My Motherland - Dizi solo in beginning and example of singing technique.
Heavenly Home
A full concert of Chinese music.

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Glissando – Sliding with finger or plectrum on the string(s) to create a sliding, continuous sound.
Tremolo – playing a single note quickly in repetition. Used to sustain notes on plucked instruments.
Dulcimer – trapezoid shaped instrument. Played by striking strings with hammers made of bamboo.
Zither – string instrument, played by plucking the strings with plectrums attached to the fingers. Strings are tuned with moveable bridges.
Free Reed – Mouth organ, wind instrument where air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame.
Trill – playing two different pitches quickly in succession.