hmm.. isn't their name mention in any booklet?

who is the leader btw? what's his name?

most songs when played on piano have its own charm.. and it has its own feelings, mayb u r too concentrated to having the chinese instrument having their credits that u neglected them.. i'm sure the piano rendition of 黄水谣 have its own colors as well.. haha..

but I don't deny that chinese traditional songs perform the best using the chinese instruments..coz it has the 'chinesey' mood that it produce.. haha.. btw, may i know how is扫摇 being played?

Cassie,
I am not using my bias to judge. I am using the audience applause. You have to know the context of 黄水谣 to appreciate what they are doing and the audience do not the context.

I think I must scold you lah. I don't address a note to you (by writting youn name on top) then you dont read it. I had talk about 扫摇already. While talking about it, I asked you some question. They are in bold.

hmm..to tell u.. I read it b4.. but I don't understand it.. haha.. so i tot there's another explanation for it..

anyway, about tat chords thingy.. i did not reply to that is coz i do not know much about it either... i'm bad in chords and now u r talking about chords in numbers and I get more confuse. Since I did not take any exams, i guess my teacher did not emphasize to me about the chords things..

btw, about 扫摇 how do u read this 2 words actually ar? haha..

u mean this is a technique use to play 3notes and above together izzit? I'm still confuse actually..

Cassie,
I think you are also a banana
扫(sao) = sweep. The equalvilent word in this case should be strumming.
摇(yao) = shake. You strike the string with your thumb away from your body and also strike the same string with your thumb going in the direction of your body. It is like moving the thumb back and forth striking the same string. It should be done faster than 1/16 time.

The 扫摇 technique is best understood from how the any course will build you up to it. Lets look at the most basic level. If I ask you to pluck 2 green strings how will you do it. You will do it with your thumb and middle finger. (Haiz! Now I must talk colour. I must talk number mah, I never learn with notes on staff. Thumb hit upper 5 -the note "so". Middle finger hit middle 5 - green string mah. By the way, you learn guzheng with notes on staff wan meh?)

The next level is called 双抹. Here your middle finger hit two strings (the 5 and the string next to it 6) at the same time while you thumb hit the upper5. Take it another step ahead you middle finger hit another string (5,6 and upper1) simultaneously while your thumb hit the upper5.

Now you take those strings that you have pluck above and put in on a staff lor, then tell me if they are chords. Musical chords are universal mah. It doe not matter if it is piano or erhu. A chord will be a chord regardless of instrument.

The last level is do a 摇 after striking the four strings.

u mean after plucking few strings then 摇 one of the strings? means lik we do 'yao zhi'? (i dunno the chinese wording) but we 'yao' after plucking few strings la? haha..

btw, i use numbers when learning gu zheng, just tat i never notice the chords much ar.. haha.. normally the chords i play will be 521 5215.. something lik tat.. haha..

oh.. btw, any few notes played together will form a chord if I'm not mistaken.. so previously ur 561 5 should be a chord la.. (if i'm not mistaken ya ><")

hope someone can clarify this matter.. haha.. getting more confuse adi..

Yes yao zhi 摇指 not any string but on upper5. I just use 摇 for short.

Yes 5215, 521, 525 or 52 are common chords. I was just wondering if 5165 is an common chord with a name like C Major (CEG or 137).

Dont get confuse. Each time you play just think of the 11th string as middle C :hehe I am sure you will notice the chord that you are familiar with in piano.

hmm.. maybe the types of chords is different.. i try to put in the notes..

for example, in guzheng piece which is in Dm, so the 5215 will be AEDA.. correct? but we don't normally see this chords in piano.. I'm not so sure though..

if in piano, common chords for Dm might be DFAC/1356? haha..

hmm.. good question to ask my teacher.. haha

Sorry lah,
5 = G. I previously say CEG = 137. Should be CEG = 135.
So 5125 = GCDG. Should 12356 = CDEGA.

Actually, I am more confuse between guitar chords and piano chords. I know in piano CEG is call C major but in the guitar there is two additional notes (6 strings mah). Its all the theory thingy which at that time I refuse to learn. I just feel I need to take it up now. Hoping I can finally learn it.

actually ar.. in chinese notation also have Dm/Gm/etc right? so, if ur piece is in Dm, then 1 = D, 2=E, right?

haha... omg omg.. blur blur adi la.. where's all the top guru gone? haha

OMG I want to import from yang zhou so much

This post has been edited by devilmok: May 18 2010, 05:57 PM

Yes Cassie, 1=D. I always treat it as C because it is easier for me. When ever I play any instruments, I like to look at the position middle C. I learnt this from my choir master long ago. In doing so we can play any instrument. I later use this concept to use my harmonica to tune my instruments.

Guzheng is tune at 1=D. If there is a need to reach higher notes then they tune it to 1=G (known as G调). As my laoshi told me at the first class. Tuning is 1=D without 4 and 7 to make sliding up or down the scale smother.

yup yup... i'm learning 1=G now as well as 1=D now.. kinda confusing la.. haha.. coz the 1 move to another string adi so make soo confuse when playing.. haha..

I guess I will get confuse too. A senior classmate once show me the G调. I look at it as transposing the notes 3 higher just to get the higher notes. I did not occur to me that I can get confuse. I believe I will because the 11th string dont sound like D anymore.

I had my own share of confusing with both hand. I guess now I am playing with two right hands. I just had 4 more bars to go to complete 凤阳花鼓. Then again there are another 3 bars that I am not consistent. I make mistakes frequently at these stumbling block. I wonder if the entire process will repeat it self when I play a new song.

haha.. true.. i never tot tat it will be so confusing.. the 1st time i try it, i nearly gone bonkers trying to control my finger dun play the green string as no 5.. haha..

anyway, now is a bit better, but still slow when playing the whole piece.. coz still not that comfortable yet.. haha..

so now u hav progress to 2 right hands.. u r going to gain ur pair of hands soon.. wow..u work really fast.. haha.. so hardworking.. hehe..

I thought the pieces in G调 will still refer to the green string as 5. Except 5 is no longer G but C.

When I bump in to difficulty, I play one bar at a time. I do not proceed to the next bar until I can play the bar. At the same time I ensure I put at least 1 hour a day to practise. If I am going too slow I increase it 2 hours.

When no difficulties are encountered, I ensure that I play for at least 15 minutes a day.

haha.. then u hav a lot of time.. when i reach home it will be around 10pm.. sometime later.. haha..

but wat my teacher teach me, i just tune the 3 in D调 to be 1 in G调.. so that means all the numbering will be different adi..

Look at attached peice I got from guzheng114.

Take note of the label 1=F on the top left. I think it means tune string 1 to F. Ask your teacher how to do this. I believe the 11th string will be tune to F. That should be call F调. Counter check it with the middle F sound on the piano. Perhaps now you can check if you string 11 string and the middle G on your piano is the same sound .

u mean tune every string when u change to another key ar?

coz i only tune my no 3 which is F# to G when i play pieces in G调..

my 9th string become no 1 when i tune to G调

is this the right way? haha

Yes Cassie tune all strings +3 (D-G is a difference of 3 tones). I think the theory terminology is a called transposing. If you only tune a few selected strings, then the instrument is not out of tune, meh?

nope.. coz in D调

1= D
2=E
3=F#
4=G
5=A
6=B
7=C

so in G调

1=G (D调 3)
2=A (D调 5)
3=B (D调 6)
4=C (D调 7)
5=D (D调 1)
6=E (D调 2)


my interpretation is this la.. haha