Unit IV

Question 1

Beiguan

Answer 1

a traditional Chinese instrumental ensemble which uses both wind instruments and percussion. players learn their parts by singing them first using gongche

Question 2

Gongche

Answer 2

a Chinese system for learning to sing pitches. it is similar to the solfege syllables used in the West - i.e. the “do-re-mi” system. it is written in Chinese characters in columns that are read from top to bottom and from right to left

Question 3

Erhu

Answer 3

a two-stringed bowed instrument found in China

Question 4

Jianzipu

Answer 4

tablature style of notation for the Chinese Qin

Question 5

Qin

Answer 5

a Chinese zither instrument

Question 6

Pipa

Answer 6

lute instrument of China and other parts of Asia. The strings are plucked with fake fingernails

Question 7

Shizu

Answer 7

part of the Jiangnan sizhu or “silk and bamboo” music of China

Question 8

Suona

Answer 8

the loud and reedy instrument used in the Chinese Beiguan

Question 9

Hocketing

Answer 9

single melody dispersed or split among two or more voices or instruments. “a very communal form of music making

Question 10

Golpe or Cajoneo

Answer 10

type of drumming on the harp sound box found in Wayño music

Question 11

Ira and Arca

Answer 11

the names for the two rows of a set of panpipes of Bolivia

Question 12

Ira

Answer 12

male principle

Question 13

Arca

Answer 13

female pricinple

Question 14

Zampóña

Answer 14

panpipe instrument used in the Bolivian K’antu music

Question 15

Organum

Answer 15

an approach to harmony in western music that developed in the middle ages in which the melody is harmonized in perfect fourths and fifths. this type of parallel harmony is also used in Bolivian K’antu

Question 16

Azan

Answer 16

Islamic call to prayer

Question 17

Dumm and Takk

Answer 17

drumming syllables of Arabia

Question 18

Maqam

Answer 18

mode or scale in Arabian music. There are many of them

Question 19

Muessin

Answer 19

the man who chants the Muslim call to prayer or azan

Question 20

Riqq

Answer 20

a tambourine instrument of Arabia

Question 21

Takht

Answer 21

an Arabic ensemble of 3-8 instrumentalists and occasionally a singer who perform traditional Arab music on Arab stringed, wind, and percussion instruments

Question 22

Scordatura

Answer 22

false tuning; it is used to describe tuning that departs from the norm for a particular string instrument. for example, the violin is normally tuned in 5ths with strings - G-D-A-E. Arabic violinists typically tune the two top strings down a whole tone to - G-D-G-D. thus a violin tuned for Arabic music would be tuned in both 4ths and 5ths.

Question 23

Tajwid

Answer 23

the ritualized pronunciation of the Islamic chant tradition

Question 24

Qur’anic recitiation

Answer 24

another form of the Islamic chant tradition. used to intone passages from the Qur’an

Question 25

Tarab

Answer 25

translating as “ecstasy” or “enchantment”, this is said to be the emotion or feeling that Arabic music produces. performers strive to create this affect, and audiences expect it

Question 26

Taqasim

Answer 26

an instrumental improvisation in an Arabic piece such as is heard when the Takht ensemble plays “Al-Shaghal”

Question 27

Iqa’

Answer 27

The characteristic rhythmic patterns found in Arabic music

Question 28

Why did the Jingju tend to recycle melodies in various operas?

Answer 28

reusing music allowed performers to avoid unpaid rehearsal time, and it also encouraged them to develop multiple versions of each tune to better express the needs of the scene in question

Question 29

Where does the Sizhu ensemble perform?

Answer 29

used to perform at weddings and local operas, but now they are better known for playing in tea shops by groups of friends who have formed a music club, similar to an Irish pub

Question 30

Where does the Beiguan ensemble perform?

Answer 30

they play outdoor ritual music, predominantly at funerals and temple festivities

Question 31

Rhythm

Answer 31

Printed music for the Qin uses a type of tablature notation which conveys to the player the note to be played, and how the instrument is to be plucked. What musical element is not indicated in the tablature notation?

Question 32

Opera troupes were itinerant and minimal sets and props made for easier travel

Answer 32

Historically, Jingiu (Chinese opera) has used minimal sets and props, but elaborate costumes and make-up. Why did they used minimal sets and props?

Question 33

What types of instruments are used in a Jiangnan Sizhu ensemble?

Answer 33

erhu, sanxian (three-stringed, long-necked lute), pipa, ruan (four-stringed, round-bodied lute), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), dizi (transverse bamboo flute), sheng (mouth organ), woodblocks, clappers, zheng or guzheng (a bridged zither with usually twenty-five strings), and a xiao (bambo end-blown vertical flute)

Question 34

Where might a performance of a Jiangnan Sizhu take place?

Answer 34

tea shop

Question 35

The Zampoña (panpipes) is played during the dry season in the Andes. The traverse flute (i.e. flutes held horizontally) or duct flutes are played during the rainy season. Why?

Answer 35

the preference for duct flutes during the rainy season may be related to the belief that their clear sound attracts rain and prevents frost, both of which are necessary conditions for growing crops

Question 36

In a Wayno ensemble, how is rhythm created?

Answer 36

the golpe (a type of drumming on the harp sound box) involves something close to an eighth and two sixteenths; this pattern, sometimes close to three triplets, is the near-invariant rhythmic signature of the wayno

Question 37

True or False: Zampoña players also dance when playing

Answer 37

True

Question 38

What is the primary instrument in a Wayno ensemble?

Answer 38

harp

Question 39

Explain why Arabian music is based on an 8-beat cycle

Answer 39

It is called wahda. it comes from the Arabic word wahad or “one” because there is only one dumm to each 8-beat cycle.

Question 40

How is the violin tuning in Arabian music different than the violin tuning in Western music?

Answer 40

our violin is tuned in 5ths and theirs is tuned in 4ths and 5ths (scordatura)

Question 41

What are the typical instruments in a Takht ensemble?

Answer 41

‘ud, buzuq, violin, nay, qanun, riqq

Question 42

Describe the differences between an ‘ud and a buzuq.

Answer 42

an ud’ is short-necked, pear-shaped, fretless, usually with eleven strings arranged in five double courses with a fifth single bass string, generally tuned in fourths, finger plucked. a buzuq is long-necked, with twenty-four movable frets, two sets of strings in triple courses C and G, and a single bass string tuned to C, tuned in fifths, plucked with a pic.