Chinese musicology
Encyclopedia
Chinese musicology is the academic study of traditional Chinese music. This discipline has a very long history. The concept of music yue stands among the oldest categories of Chinese thought, however, in the known sources it does not receive more or less clear definition until the Book of Music (partly preserved as the Classic of music
).
s were derived from the harmonic series
. On the Guqin
all of the dotted positions are equal string length divisions related to the open string like 1/2, 1/3, 2/3, 1/4, 3/4, etc. and are quite easy to recognize on this instrument. The Guqin has a scale of 13 positions all representing a natural harmonic position related to the open string. All musical tunings all over the world are based on this primary system. Afterwards different cultures moved to alternate variations of this harmonic system.
The ancient Chinese defined, by mathematical means, a gamut or series of Shi Er Lü
(called the 十二律 12 lü) from which various sets of five or seven frequencies were selected to make the sort of "do re mi" major scale familiar to those who have been formed with the Western Standard notation
. The 12 lü approximate the frequencies known in the West as A, B flat.....G, and A flat.
, with the intervals (in terms of lǜ) almost the same as those of the major pentatonic scale. The notes of this scale are called gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. By starting from a different point of this sequence, a scale (named after its starting note) with a different interval sequence is created, similar to the construction of modes in modern Western music.
Since the Chinese system is not an equal tempered tuning, playing a melody starting from the lǜ nearest to A will not necessarily sound the same as playing the same melody starting from some other lǜ, since the wolf interval
will occupy a different point in the scale. The effect of changing the starting point of a song can be rather like the effect of shifting from a major to a minor key in Western music. Pythagoras
's scalar tunings, based on 2:3 ratios (8:9, 16:27, 64:81, etc.), are a western near-parallel to the earlier calculations used to derive Chinese scales.
Classic of Music
The Classic of Music is sometimes referred to as the sixth "Chinese classic text". It was lost by the time of the Han Dynasty.A few traces remain and can be found in other ancient Chinese classics like Zuo Zhuan , Zhou li , and the Classic of Rites...
).
Music scales
The first musical scaleMusical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
s were derived from the harmonic series
Harmonic series (music)
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
. On the Guqin
Guqin
The guqin is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family...
all of the dotted positions are equal string length divisions related to the open string like 1/2, 1/3, 2/3, 1/4, 3/4, etc. and are quite easy to recognize on this instrument. The Guqin has a scale of 13 positions all representing a natural harmonic position related to the open string. All musical tunings all over the world are based on this primary system. Afterwards different cultures moved to alternate variations of this harmonic system.
The ancient Chinese defined, by mathematical means, a gamut or series of Shi Er Lü
Shi Er Lü
Shí-èr-lǜ |pitches]]) is a standardized gamut of twelve notes. Also known, rather misleadingly, as the Chinese chromatic scale it is one kind of chromatic scale used in ancient Chinese music. The Chinese scale uses the same intervals as the Pythagorean scale, based on 2:3 ratios...
(called the 十二律 12 lü) from which various sets of five or seven frequencies were selected to make the sort of "do re mi" major scale familiar to those who have been formed with the Western Standard notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
. The 12 lü approximate the frequencies known in the West as A, B flat.....G, and A flat.
Scale and tonality
Most Chinese music uses a pentatonic scalePentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
, with the intervals (in terms of lǜ) almost the same as those of the major pentatonic scale. The notes of this scale are called gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. By starting from a different point of this sequence, a scale (named after its starting note) with a different interval sequence is created, similar to the construction of modes in modern Western music.
Since the Chinese system is not an equal tempered tuning, playing a melody starting from the lǜ nearest to A will not necessarily sound the same as playing the same melody starting from some other lǜ, since the wolf interval
Wolf interval
In music theory, the wolf fifth is a particularly dissonant musical interval spanning seven semitones. Strictly, the term refers to an interval produced by a specific tuning system, widely used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the quarter-comma meantone temperament...
will occupy a different point in the scale. The effect of changing the starting point of a song can be rather like the effect of shifting from a major to a minor key in Western music. Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
's scalar tunings, based on 2:3 ratios (8:9, 16:27, 64:81, etc.), are a western near-parallel to the earlier calculations used to derive Chinese scales.
Source
- 一种体系 两个系统 by 陈应时 (Yi zhong ti-xi, liang ge xi-tong by Chen Ying-shi of the Shanghai Conservatory), Musicology in China, 2002, Issue 4, 中国音乐学，2002，第四 期