The ''tiqin'' () is a name applied to several two-stringed Chinese bowed string

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

in the ''

huqin ''Huqin'' () is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes ...

'' family of instruments.

Types

There are several types of ''tiqin'': *The ''tiqin'' used for ''

kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu (region), Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate ...

'' opera *The ''tiqin'' used for Cantonese music *The ''tiqin'' used in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

*An antiquated name for the sihu

Overview

The ''tiqin'' used in Cantonese music, also known as the ''zhutiqin'' (竹提琴) is a member of the "hard bow" (硬弓) ensemble in

Cantonese opera Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of ...

. Its neck is made of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

, often ''suanzhi'' ( 酸枝,

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

) or ''zitan'' ( 紫檀, red sandalwood). The ''zhutiqins sound chamber is made of a very large section of

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 ...

(larger than that of the '' erxian'', another bowed string instrument used in Cantonese music). Instead of snakeskin, the face is made of a piece of ''tong'' wood ( 桐, '' Firmiana simplex'') or

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

wood (like the face of a ''

yehu The ''yehu'' () is a bowed string instrument in the '' huqin'' family of Chinese musical instruments. ''Ye'' means coconut and ''hu'' is short for ''huqin''. It is used particularly in the southern coastal provinces of China and in Taiwan. The ...

''). The back of the sound chamber is made of the natural joint in bamboo, with sound holes cut in it. The ''tiqin'' used today in Cantonese opera is tuned to 仜-士/mi-la/E-a (the opposite of the '' erxian'', which is tuned A-e.) The name also occasionally referred to what is now called the sihu. Additionally, the term ''tiqin'' is used in Chinese as a generic term referring to Western bowed string instruments of the

violin family The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole ''da gamba''). The standa ...

: *''Xiao tiqin'' () =

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

*''Zhong tiqin'' () =

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

*''Da tiqin'' () =

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

*''Diyin tiqin'' () =

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

External links

''Tiqin'' page
Chinese musical instruments Necked bowl lutes Huqin family instruments Bowed instruments Drumhead lutes Continuous pitch instruments {{huqin-stub zh:提琴

Types

Overview

See also

External links