Chinese Music Online

September 16, 2008

Listen to Chinese Music Mostly Played on Erhu and Dizi

This is a great player (below) linked from an excellent site called The Chinese Outpost which I recommend you visit if you are interested in learning the Chinese language or culture.

The site author has created an embedded player to provide you with a nice background of traditional Chinese music whenever and wherever you’re online, nearly half an hour’s worth. Most of the songs in this collection feature the Chinese erhu or dizi.

The erhu (pinyin: èrhú), often called the “Chinese violin” or Chinese two string fiddle in the Western world, is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It belongs to the huqin (pinyin: húqín) family of bowed string Chinese instruments, together with the zhonghu, gaohu, banhu, jinghu, sihu, and several others.

The dizi is a major Chinese musical instrument, and is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, as well as Chinese opera, and the modern Chinese orchestra. Traditionally, the dizi has also been popular among the Chinese common people, and it is simple to make and easy to carry.

Most dizi are made of bamboo, which explains why dizi are sometimes known by simple names such as “Chinese bamboo flute.” However, “bamboo” is perhaps more of a Chinese instrument classification like “woodwind” in the West.

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