By Eyram Mabel Amenuvor

Table of contents

China music
Structure and features

History Instrumentation
 01
Chinese
music
 Chinese music, the art form of organized
vocal and instrumental sounds that developed
in China. It is one of the oldest and most
highly developed of all known musical
systems
Significance
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Chinese music has a rich and diverse history, reflecting the country’s cultural evolution over
the centuries. It continues to evolve, embracing both its traditional roots and
contemporary influences.
 03
Structure and
features
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it
 1. scales - a strong theoretical preference for the pentatonic scale is observed in
practice; the seven note diatonic scale and the 12 note chromatic scale are also
encountered

2. melodies tend to be highly ornamented with idiomatic inflections within a

hetreophonic texture

4. Register–there is a strong preference for the high register; even if instruments have
notes in a low range, these are rarely used.

5.Rhythm – tempos range from slow to fast and are somewhat flexible, meter and
subdivision is almost always duple. The sense of somewhat loose rhythmic
coordination is heard in the preferred texture, heterophony.
The five core tones of Chinese scales are sometimes connected with the five elements, or
wuxing (earth, wood, metal, fire, and water), while the 12 pitches of the tonal system
are connected by some writers with the months of the year, hours of the day, or phases
of the moon
The Chinese system concentrates in a similar way on a seven-tone scale but with a five-
tone core (wu sheng) plus two changing (bian) tones to accommodate transpositions of
a single mode to different pitch levels as well as modulations from one mode to
another. As in the Western system, modes can be constructed in Chinese music, and the
scale can be transposed.
Chinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, non resonant voice or
in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral

Melody and tone quality is the outstanding expressive features of Chinese music,
and great attention is paid to the correct articulation and intonation of each
musical tone. The variations in rhythm and tone quality in traditional Chinese
music are unique and unlike their western counterparts
 Th
The difference
Background. Traditional Chinese music uses a different scale system. Instead of
the diatonic scale used in Western music (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C),
Chinese music uses pentatonic scale
Pictures composers
Hiii Audio
1. Guzheng 古箏 — a Chinese Zither
2. Erhu 二胡 — the Chinese Violin
3. Dizi 笛子 — a Chinese Transverse Flute
4.Pipa 琵琶 — the Chinese Lute or Chinese Guitar
5.Guqin 古琴 — Chinese Seven-String Instrument
 Guzhe
Erhu ng
Dizi
Pipa
 Composers

1. Chen Yi
2. Tan Dun
3. Wu Man
4. Jennifer Lee
5. Qu xiaosong
1. https://youtu.be/tb5O_P6cVTA?si=y-jtBpeMpBR_a2Lx
Akpe