lolx... im a pipa player as my main... i know yang qin, erhu, ruan,sheng and limited gu zheng.

learning pipa is not hard la... i duno mandarin.. but still pass thru grade 7.... but i stopped... lolx.. going to college..


the ''finger pickings'' you have to practice everyday... even when you're doing other stuff, move your fingers to get accustom to the motion.. take a chopstick and pluck on it to train ur finger's strength(no kidding.. long solos are tiring.....)

it will take about 2-4 months for you to learn and start doing it like it's second nature. Once you pass that curve, it's all smooth sailing. ^^

i didn't play for 2 years, till now i stil rmb as it's second nature... so, if ya like the sound of pipa? go for it. it's not hard as people say... once you get thru the first few months la.. lolx....

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Added on July 6, 2011, 12:13 pmlolx.... i came frm an english school background, and i still spent 7 years of my life playing in orchestra/solo/performances.... blablabla...

all on traditional chinese instruments.

You can say it is 'rare', but i too can say 'your' choice of music genre is ''COMMON""..

lolx...

like what I say? If you don't, stop flaming please.

thank you.

This post has been edited by IvanWong1989: Jul 6 2011, 12:13 PM

lolx... ruan is also lighter than pipa actually... hahax... though i must say.... ruan strings are... abit too ''tebal'' for me.. so i only played it enough for orchestras... my fingers grow pain over few days. lolx... for me la.

erm... pipa 5 fingers 2 months for basic sounding.... it will still sound like crap but still acceptable. lolx... that is the first mountain. the second mountain is when ur fingers strt to ''loosen'' up. lolx... i reach that in about 2years... lolx.. i duno it's long or not... by that time... it has matured till individual plucks can be heard clearly on 5 finger sustained plucking. THAT is when the beauty of your songs come in. hahax. It mimics the sound of clear water trickling thru the yam leave. *pardon me.... my sifu likes to explain concepts this way. lolx*

er... aren't guitar plucks inward while pipa plucks outward???? i have a guitar at home.. but it never excites me... lolx

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Added on July 6, 2011, 1:32 pmlolx... btw... im more into yang qin in the later years.. lolx... it sounds terrific. lolx.... though no whr portable... =.=

This post has been edited by IvanWong1989: Jul 6 2011, 01:32 PM

er... may i know whut instrument you play? hahax

erm.. nope... pipa string are thinner and softer... since they need to stretch.... er... this probably u gt see b4 in utube.. ermm they pull the string to the side.. to make the special sound effect.. lolx...

main pipa plucking all is outwards de.... using ur finger nails, or wearing those fake nails... got towards inside also. but it's not often. lol.x

5 finger plucking is starting with index finger, then middle, ring, pinky, thumb, then returning with index and so on.. imagine a wheell.lolx..

when u starting to learn... ur ring and pinky finger no strngth de... weakling. lolx.. hav to train strong. hahax.

the basic plucking action is called ''tan'' using index finger, and ''tiau'' using thumb.. lolx...


similar to guitar using pick. hehe.

came frm st. michaels... missionary school.. lolx.. 99.99% all speak englishy. lolx.

lolx... im actually grateful it's an english speaking environment... haha. Trained my englishy.. hehe.... though my bm in spm nearly catastrophically failed...


haha... i bought mine last time at rm1500.... that was... erm... 5 or 7 years ago i think.... haha... then used for 2 years then sold to friend... too bz to play..

it was made from redwood.... clear varnish... so can see authentic wood pattern.. weight like a tonne!!!!!!!!!!! broke the head... hah..fixed it back myself. lolx


use guzheng to train the ''wheel'' yeng lor.. lolx..

though u must make sure it's correct leh...

once bad habit is ingrained... hard time to throw de....