Flutes made in China come in a variety of different types:
Transverse flute
A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played.Powell, A. (2001). Transverse flute. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 6 Feb. 2024 The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to ...
s:
*
Dizi (and its varieties such as the
qudi and
bangdi; primary transverse flutes, usually made of bamboo and distinctively has a buzzing membrane)
*
Koudi (a small center-blown mouth flute with open-ends)
*
Tuliang (a large center-blown flute with open-ends)
*
Chi (an ancient center-blown transverse flute with closed ends and front finger holes.)
*
Hengxiao (
dizi without membrane)
*
Xindi (fully chromatic
dizi without membrane)
*
Jiajian Di (keyed
dizi without membrane)
End-blown flute
thumb , Notched flute, showing U-shaped notch in the instrument’s rim.
The end-blown flute (also called an edge-blown flute or rim-blown flute) is a woodwind instrument played by directing an airstream against the sharp edge of the upper en ...
:
*
Xiao (
end-blown vertical bamboo flute)
*
Gudi, an ancient vertical flute made from the bones of large birds
*
Paixiao (
pan pipes with distinctive notched or curved blowholes to allow for greater expression)
*
Xun (clay globular flute)
(
Uyghur and
Mongolian minorities also play a version of the
Turkish ney.)
Fipple flutes:
*
Jiexiao "Sister xiao" (one of many forms of
recorder-style flutes)
*
Dongdi (special
recorder-style flute with additional internal reed)
*
Paidi (fipple pipes)
*
Taodi and
Wudu (Chinese
ocarina.)
Free reed flutes:
*
Bawu (transverse free-reed flute)
*
Hulusi (vertical gourd free-reed flute normally with one or two drone pipes)
*
Miaodi (raj nplaim): transverse free-reed flute of
Hmong people
The Hmong people ( RPA: , CHV: ''Hmôngz'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , , zh, c=苗族蒙人) are an indigenous group in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, the Hmong people are classified as a sub-group of the Miao people. Th ...
Chinese flutes are generally made from
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
(see
bamboo flute
The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic flutes, Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest f ...
) and belong to the ''bamboo''
classification of Chinese music, although they can be (and have been) made of other materials such as
jade
Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...
.
References
External links
Ron Korb's Asian Flute Gallery(features descriptions and photos of the
dizi,
xun, and other Chinese wind instruments
Chinese flute (dizi) finger chartExtensive displays of Hulusi flute and Bawu flute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese flutes
Chinese musical instruments
Flutes
Lists of musical instruments