The Chinese pipa has a history of more than 2,000 years. In the long history of Chinese civilization, it has accumulated musical works of different periods and styles, with special aesthetic and technical characteristics.

1. Traditional music

Traditional music is collectively referred to as Wentao, Wutao, large or small. Most of our country's national instrumental music has titles, one of which is a nominal title: as a symbol, it has no direct connection with the content of the music, such as "Three Five Seven", "Working Ruler", etc.; A class is a symbolic title: the title is related to the music content, and to a certain extent summarizes the content and realm expressed by the music.

Most of Pipa Wuqu music is the standard title music, which is characterized by realism and narrative, and often develops a continuous narrative according to the content of the plot, similar to chapter novels or dramas, with a huge structure and magnificent momentum. Representative repertoires include "House of Flying Daggers", "The Overlord Disarms", "Haiqing Takes the Swan", "The Order of the General of Han", "The Order of the General of Manchu", etc. Taking "House of Daggers" as an example, this song is based on the historical fact that the Han army defeated the Chu army in an ambush in 202 BC when Chu and Han fought at Gaixia. There are more than a dozen subtitles in the whole piece: the introduction is "column", the pre-war preparations include "wind and beat", "pointing generals", "arrangement", "walking in line", the war process includes "ambush", "Small battles" and "big wars", the end of the war includes "calling and withdrawing the army", "King Xiang defeats the battle", "suicide on the Wujiang River", and at the end is "the army pays tribute", "the generals compete for merit", and "return to the camp after victory" . Through the division of these title passages, every detail before the war, during the war, and after the war is vividly expressed. This is a typical technique of pipa martial arts. In the performance techniques of Wuqu, special techniques such as strumming, suffocating, twisting, pushing and double-stringing, slapping, lifting, and full wheel are widely used.

The characteristics of Pipa Wenqu lie in its generality and lyricism. It often expresses profound inner talk with simple and moving melody, or shows a desirable artistic conception with beautiful and fresh tones. The representative repertoires include "Xiao Drum in the Sunset", "The Moon is High", "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace", "Song on the Plug", "Qinglian Yuefu", "Flying Flowers and Green" and so on. One of the works with the style of court music and dance also has a symbolic title as the main line running through the whole piece. Taking "Moon's High" as an example, the whole song has more than a dozen passages, such as Island Ice Wheel, Jianglou Watching the Moon, Galaxy Crossing, Jade Rabbit Sinking in the West, etc. The structure is complex and complete, and the melody is soothing and graceful. Although the author cannot be determined until now, it can be imagined from the careful conception of the music that it was created by cultural musicians related to court singing and dancing life. Among the pieces of Pipa Wenqu, "Xiao Drum in the Sunset", also known as "Spring River and Flower Moon Night", is also an excellent and traditional lyrical Pipa piece. The melody is fresh, smooth and poetic. The whole song depicts the setting sun and returning to the boat on the river through the passages such as the introduction, the return wind, the moon, the water, the mountaineering, the group howling, the evening view, the returning boat, and the ending, showing that there are constant new expressions and flows in the tranquility. This flow is submerged in the beauty of moderation and elegance.

Another type of works in Wenqu is the works that depict the mentality of ancient women and the mentality of literati. The representative works of the former include "Song on the Forbidden City", "Chen Sui", "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace", "Zhaojun Out of the Fortress", etc. In these works, the female images of ancient feudal society are always quiet and poignant, and the tune is resentful and gentle, expressing The unique inner world of ancient women of different identities. The literati in the latter are a very special class in Chinese society, they are learned, talented, aloof and refined. Represented by "Qinglian Yuefu" and "Flying Flowers and Emeralds", it is a work with both taste and pursuit, which expresses the mentality of the literati and refined scholars. In terms of performance techniques, Wenqu uses more left-handed skills such as pushing, pulling, chant, kneading, hitting, and belting. The style is delicate and the emphasis is on lyricism.

2. Music with local color and regional style

Pipa music has absorbed different styles and colors from different places in the process of development. After processing and inheritance, it has many solo works with complete structure and rich techniques.

(1) Chaozhou Music

Chaozhou music adopts the two-four notation method, and the traditional modes include light three-six, heavy three-six, and live five modes. "The Resentment of Zhaojun", "Jackdaw Playing in the Water", "Water Lotus", "Si Chun" and other pieces of music, the structure of the music is mostly sixty-eight board, and the theme is mostly the repetition, adding flowers, shifting, and expansion of the core tones. method developed. The characteristic of the theme presentation is the relationship of origin, inheritance, transformation and integration. Pay attention to the perfection of both hands in playing techniques. When playing the characteristic sounds of light three-six, heavy three-six and live five, the left hand must have the ability to control the tension of the string body, and the right hand volume and timbre must be played properly.

(2) Jiangnan silk and bamboo style

The style of Jiangnan Sizhu music is light, bright, cheerful and lively, which reflects the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, and is the representative music of Jiangnan. Feather, palace, and levy modes are often used, the melody is simplified and complex, and more flowers are added. Representative works include "Three Six", "Zhonghua Liuban" and so on. Mr. Liu Dehai's "Zhonghua Liuban" is based on the folk instrumental music card [Lao Liuban], which is spread in the north and south of our country, and expanded and added flowers. One board and three eyes, the speed is moderate, the addition of flowers changes more, the melody is lyrical and beautiful, and it is full of the brisk and smooth characteristics of Jiangnan Sizhu music. In terms of playing techniques, the magic use of half-round, the intertwining of points and lines, can be played elegantly and refined.

(3) Suzhou Pingtan

Suzhou Tanci is the main form of rap in the Wu dialect region in the south of the Yangtze River. Suzhou Tanci and Pinghua are collectively known as Suzhou Pingtan. The melodies are rich, and some tunes have been absorbed in folk music, such as [Dianjiang Lips], [Suo Nanzhi] in operas, [Mountain Song Melody], [Scissors Cut Flowers], [Silver Buttons] in folk tunes Etc., the left hand mostly uses fine chanting movements in playing techniques, and the range of sound waves changes is small. The right-hand wheel tone is crisp and rounded. "Spring Rain" by Zhu Yi and Wenbo is based on Suzhou Pingtan tunes, depicting the vitality brought by the spring rain to the earth. The performance of this type of music requires a clear and transparent sound quality, and has extremely high requirements for the independent function of the fingers and the penetration of the force.

(4) Henan Bantou Song

Henan music is free and easy in style, straightforward and straightforward, and the music is concise and individual. "Bantou Qu" is an instrumental piece played before singing "Henan Opera". It is popular in Nanyang, Xuchang, Kaifeng and other places. Later, it was artistically processed on "Bantou Qu" and became an instrumental solo piece. The pipa song "High Mountains and Flowing Water" is a bantou song in Nanyang, Henan. In terms of playing techniques, the left-hand chanting has a large amplitude, and the sound wave changes in density and amplitude. The left-hand and right-hand coordination pay attention to point-to-point, and the sound quality is thick. When playing repetitive sounds and accent rhythms, it requires a sharp contrast of strength and weakness and changes, and the overall style is hearty.

(5) Shaanxi style

Qin Opera and Wanwan Opera in Northwest China are the representatives of Shaanxi style music. "Bitterness" (also known as crying) and "Huanyin" (also known as Huayin) are widely used in it. The bitter sound is used to express sadness and grief, and the happy sound has a cheerful and cheerful style. The joyous sounds are mainly mi and la, and the colors are bright, cheerful, and firm. In addition to so, dou, and re, the bitter sounds are mostly fa and descending xi, and the colors are dark, desolate, and sad. The representative work "The Love of the Wei River" is based on the Qin Opera brand song "Yongshou'an", which is intended to express the nostalgia for the homeland of San Qin. This piece uses the unique push, pull, chant, and kneading in the performance techniques, with softness in the rigidity, and rigidity in the softness.

3. Adapting and transplanting music

The pipa is now a twelve well-tempered instrument, which is easy to change. Therefore, the music of Western instruments in the sound area suitable for the pipa can be adapted and transplanted to become the pipa solo and etude. We are familiar with Kleitzel's violin etudes, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", Mozart's "Turkish March", Danish folk music "Quarter Dance", Sudanese music "Homeland Sun" , Romanian music "Spring", "Hora Dance", the former Soviet music "Moonlight Variation", Sarasati's "Wanderer", Monti's "Caldas", etc., as well as "New Year's Music" composed by Chinese composers ", "Xinjiang Spring", "Sunshine Shines in Tashkurgan" and so on. Most of these pieces are violin pieces, and they are trained to play quickly, focusing on the point-to-point granular training of the left and right hands. It is worth noting that: when playing this type of music, the original work should be respected first, especially when the performer is creating a second time, he should not change the pitch and tone at will, resulting in a change in the mode, and should not arbitrarily add some "pushes". , pulling, chanting, kneading" and other traditional Chinese pipa music performance techniques, avoid "superfluous" in the performance, resulting in nondescript performance effects. The clauses, ventilation and breathing in the adagio part should respect the original work, and must not change the musical style of the original piece by imagining or arbitrarily clauses.

4. Create music

One category of creative music is solo pieces created by performers. Because these pieces are made by performers, they are easy to perform in performance, and have a close connection with traditional music. Combined with the characteristics of the times, they are more contemporary. For example: "Spring in the Tianshan Mountains" created by Wang Fandi, "Yi Dance Music" and "Jiangnan March" created by Wang Huiran, "The Night of Torch Festival" created by Teacher Wu Junsheng, and "Flower Catching Party" created by Teacher Ye Xuran. Pipa master Liu Dehai has composed dozens of solo pieces such as "Swan", "Spring Silkworm", "Celebratory Arhat", "White Horse Packed Sutra", and created many new performance techniques. These pieces of music require more comprehensive techniques in performance, and the melody is smooth, which can easily arouse the resonance of the listeners.

The other type is the music composed by the composer, which can be divided into two cases: one is the music created by inheriting the traditional cultural characteristics of the Chinese nation, such as Mr. Wu Houyuan's "Voice-Reading Tang Poems and Pipa Actions". , "Little Sisters on the Prairie" by Mr. Wu Zuqiang and Wang Yanqiao, "Mulan" by Mr. Gu Guanren, and "Blessing" by Mr. Zhao Jiping. The performance of these pieces requires the performer to be more technically comprehensive and to be able to express the composer's meaning well. The other is modernist works, such as Chen Yi's "Dian", which is inspired by the eight laws of the word "Yong", Luo Yonghui's "Thousands of Chapters Sweeping", "One Finger Zen", and Zhu Jian'er's "Jade". In this type of music, the composer uses a lot of different playing techniques from the traditional. For example, "Dian" has changed the conventional tuning relationship, "Thousand Chapters Sweeping" uses a lot of strumming, and "One Finger Zen" only uses the index finger and one finger to play. These works are different from traditional performance methods. On the new road Exploration was carried out and fresh blood was injected into Pipa playing.