|
|
|
Plucked String Instrument
The zheng is an ancient Chinese instrument. It has been developed from a small instrument made from bamboo, originally used by herdsman. It was very popular during ancient times, as early as the Warring States Period and the Qin Dynasty (225 to 206 BC and earlier). The Zheng has an arched surface and is elongated-trapezoidal with 13 to 21 strings stretched over individual bridges. Although metal strings are common today, the strings were of silk in ancient times. The zheng rests on two pedestals and is played using 3 to 4 imitation fingernails. On the right side of the bridges, both hands pluck the strings and on the left side, the left fingers bend the strings to change pitch or to provide embellishment. Its playing range spans three to four octaves. We had this instrument made when we worked in Chengdu at the music conservatory. |
Zheng
The
zheng is a plucked half-tube wood zither with movable bridges, over
which a number of strings are stretched. The parent instrument of the
Asian long zither family, the history of the zheng can be traced back to
2500 years ago. While the ancient zheng had 12 or 13 silk strings,
modern instruments usually have 16, 21 or 25 strings, constructed of
metal, or steel wound with nylon. It is traditionally tuned to an
anhemitonic pentatonic scale, but many modern scales range from
combinations of different pentatonic scales, to diatonic and
semi-chromatic scales.