Music
二胡(Erhu)
The erhu sounds similar to human voice, and can imitate many natural sounds such as birds and horse. It is a very expressive instrument, most well-known for playing melancholic tune, but also capable of play merry melody. The erhu often plays an important role in the national orchestras. In the smaller orchestras, there are usually 2 to 6 erhu, in larger ones, 10 with 12. In fact, the erhu plays the same role as the violin in the Western orchestras.
竹笛(Zhudi)
Because it sounds great, is easy to learn, light to carry and inexpensive, the Dizi (Chinese Bamboo Flute) is one of most popular Chinese instruments in Asia. Most special about the Dizi is the "Mo-Cong" (membrane hole), which is located between the blowhole and 6th finger hole.
琵琶(Pipa)
Pipa is a four-stringed lute with 30 frets and pear-shaped body. The instrumentalist holds the pipa upright and play with five small plectra attached to each finger of the right hand. The pipa history can be dated back at least 2000 years and developed from pentatonic to full scales. This instrument has extremely wide dynamic range and remarkable expressive power.
古筝(Guzhen)
The Zheng, commonly known asGuzheng, (pronounced "Goo-Zheng"), is a plucked string instrument that is part of the zither family. It is one of the most ancient Chinese musical instruments according to the documents written in the Qin dynasty (before 206 BC). Zheng is the forerunner of Japanese koto, Korean kayagum, Mongolian yatag, and Vietnamese dan tranh. Due to its long history, the zheng has been calledguzhengorGu-Zhengwhere "Gu" stands for "ancient" in Chinese.
马头琴(Matouqin)
The Morin Khur or horse-headed violin is a typical Mongolian bowed instrument with two strings, however, very different from Er-Hu. The horse hair of the bow doesn't go between the two strings, instead, the instrument and the way of playing is more similar to cello than to erhu. The instrument was originally made from a horse head for the body, horse skin for the resonator, and horse hair for the strings and bow. The music played upon this instrument is of great variety and virtuosity.
古琴(Guqin)
Guqin is seven-stringed zither without bridges, the most classical Chinese instrument with over 3000 years of history. Guqin has the most well-documented history and best preserved repertoire among all the intruments from China. There are a lot of literatures around guqin, and the information about the guqin is plenty. Being on top of the four traditional arts, the guqin has historically been regarded as one of the most important symbols of Chinese high culture.
扬琴(Yangqin)
The Yangqin is a dulcimer played with bamboo mallets, with the size of a chopstick, and one held in each hand, are used to hit strings in pairs. This produces a high and tinkling timbre in its top registers, a soft and beautiful tone in the middle and a strong rich sound in the lower registers. The metallic tone resembles the harpsichord. It has the widest range of scale amongst the Chinese plucked-strings instruments (about 5 octaves).
唢呐(Suona)
Suona, a very expressive reed instrument with a conical metal bell, is very popular in China's vast countryside in funeral, wedding, and other celebrative occasions. Meanwhile, it is also an indispensable part of a number of local operas in Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Guangdong provinces.