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The Music of Asia. A BREIF overview. Asia has many countries and each has a unique mix of sounds and styles. We will only look at China, Japan , and Indonesia . Realize that these are just brief looks at the surface of music in Asia!. China. Chinese culture reaches back to 2000 B.C.
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The Music of Asia A BREIF overview
Asia has many countries and each has a unique mix of sounds and styles. • We will only look at China, Japan, and Indonesia. • Realize that these are just brief looks at the surface of music in Asia!
China • Chinese culture reaches back to 2000 B.C. \ • They invented the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing • Their music in characterized by heterophony and the pentatonic scale
Silk and Bamboo • Sizhu (SUH-droo) music played in tea houses • a “jam session” with instruments like the erhu and dizi • Northern Chinese villages often have suona (so-nah) players. • Chinese opera is popular in the cities • Opera singers sing with tense-Guttural sounds
Chinese instruments • Erhu (ur-hoo): Two string fiddle that rest on the player’s knee • Pipa: 4 or 5-string lute held like a small cello • Dizi (dee-zee): bamboo flute that buzzes like a kazoo • Yangquin (yahn-chin): hammered dulcimer • Sheng (shung): small bamboo pipes bound in a circle. • Chinese Pop Music: Cui Jian
Japanese Taiko • Taiko: a drum ensemble that blends martial arts and music • Taiko drums were used in religious ceremonies and in battle to frighten the enemy and issue commands
Japanese Instruments • Shamisen: three stringed guitar that is plucked • Koto: a 13 string instrument that is plucked with finger picks. The koto is Japan’s national instrument. • Shakuhachi: a bamboo flute • An ensemble of Shamisen, Koto, and Shakuhachi is called a sankyoku.
Music of Thailand • There are three major types of classical music in Thailand: Piphat, KhruangSai, and Mahori. • Most of the music has small ching hand cymbals and wooden sticks to mark the beat. • The Qeej • Khong Wong is a circle of gongs similar to the instruments of the Indonesian Gamelan
Indonesian Gamelan • A gamelan is a set of gong instruments that are struck with padded sticks • Gamelan is mainly from the islands of Bali and Java • A gamelan cannot be separated into individual instruments or interchanged • Gamelan music uses unique scales, or sets of notes, that sound strange to our ears.