Traditional Asian Musical Instruments and Performing Arts
Traditional Asian Musical Instruments & Performing Arts
Gamelan: Indonesian Ensemble Music
Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese cultures in Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments.
The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called kendhang, which register the beat.
Other commonly used Gamelan instruments include:
- The kemanak (a banana-shaped idiophone)
- The gangsa (another metallophone)
- Xylophones
- Bamboo flutes
- A bowed instrument called a rebab
- Vocalists named sindhen
Although the popularity of Gamelan has declined since the introduction of pop music, it is still commonly played on formal occasions and in many traditional Indonesian ceremonies. For most Indonesians, Gamelan is an integral part of Indonesian culture.
Guqin: The Chinese Seven-String Zither
With a history of more than 5,000 years, the guqin has long been regarded as the crown of all musical instruments in China and a symbol of Chinese high culture.
The body of the guqin measures 3 chi 6.5 cun (old Chinese feet and inches, approximately 120-125 centimeters), symbolizing the 365 days of the year.
The guqin is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement.
As highlighted by the quote, “a gentleman does not part with his qin or se without good reason,” the guqin is also associated with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius.
It is sometimes referred to by the Chinese as:
- “The father of Chinese music”
- “The instrument of the sages”
Chinese Lutes: Pipa and Liuqin
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category.
Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets, ranging from 12 to 26.
Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa.
Beijing Opera: A Comprehensive Chinese Art Form
Everything about Beijing Opera is carefully structured with specific guidelines. The stories are of two general types:
- Civil Plays: Focus on emotions and relationships between characters, exploring themes like love or mystery.
- Martial Plays: Emphasize action, filled with acrobatics and martial arts.
Music is very important to Beijing Opera. Certain story types are accompanied by specific types of music, which may include arias, percussion patterns, and fixed-tune melodies.
Fixed-tune melodies are familiar tunes to which a composer adds new words for a specific opera or story.
Performances use an orchestra different from what is typically seen in the West. The orchestra sits out of audience view, split into two divisions:
- Civil Part: Made up of string and wind instruments, it accompanies singing.
- Military Part: Comprising many types of drums and other percussion instruments, it accompanies acting, dancing, and fighting.
Beijing Opera combines singing, reciting (spoken word), acting, and martial arts. Therefore, performers need to be excellent singers, dancers, actors, and acrobats.
Operas are usually performed in Mandarin, a Beijing dialect, and do not involve many props or elaborate stage sets. The focus is entirely on the characters, their appearance, and performances.
Shamisen: Japanese Three-String Instrument
The shamisen is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian.
It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
Kabuki: Classical Japanese Dance-Drama
Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama, known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
In 2005, “Kabuki theatre” was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value.
Kabuki is a traditional Japanese popular drama with singing and dancing performed in a highly stylized manner. It is a rich blend of music, dance, mime, and spectacular staging and costuming, and has been a major theatrical form in Japan for four centuries.
The term kabuki originally suggested the unorthodox and shocking character of this art form.
Kabuki’s highly lyrical plays are regarded, with notable exceptions, less as literature than as vehicles for actors to demonstrate their enormous range of skills in visual and vocal performance.
These actors have carried the traditions of Kabuki from one generation to the next with only slight alterations. Many of them trace their ancestry and performing styles to the earliest Kabuki actors and add a “generation number” after their names to indicate their place in the long line of actors.