Oriental Stringed Instruments
The lute became popular around 2,000 B.C. and remained in widespread use until near the 18th Century. Oriental instruments cover a wide range of styles that originate from one location, China. There are three ways to play instruments with strings, plucking, bowing and hammering. Each method, used on a different instrument, produces a different effect and sound.
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Plucked Strings
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The lute has influenced the design of many other instruments throughout time. Some of the options in the lute family include the pipa, liuqin, dan tinh, sung and the yueqin taiwan. These are played either held in front of the player like a guitar, or upright with the neck vertical and the body resting on the left thigh (for right-handed players).
Bowed Strings
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There are many variations of bowed instruments, similar in nature, from Vietnam and China. The erhu, one of China's most popular instruments, is a two-stringed fiddle closely related to a violin. The koni has silk strings attached a wooden disk held with the mouth. The player bows the strings while securing the device with the legs. The disk makes the mouth act as a resonating chamber to create a variety of sounds unique to the koni.
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Hammered Strings
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The yangqin is a Chinese variation of the dulcimer. The yangqin, played with bamboo sticks, is square and similar to the santur of Persia. Another hammered instrument is the zheng of China. While the most common way to play was to pluck the strings, this instrument was also hammered and bowed, sometimes within the same song.
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References
Resources
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