pipa
Sign in to saveThe pipa () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the Han dynasty, and although historically the term pipa was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones, its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped
Key facts
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- 琵琶
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- Pipa
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- Instrument.image
- Pipa MET DP216710.jpg
- Instrument.caption
- A pipa from the late Ming dynasty
- Instrument.classification
- Necked bowl lutes String instruments
- Instrument.sound sample
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- Chinese.pic
- Pipa (Chinese characters).svg
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- "Pipa" in Chinese characters
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via Wikipedia infobox
Article
16 sectionsContents
- History
- In Chinese literature
- Playing and performance
- Repertoire
- Schools
- Performers
- Historical
- Modern era
- Use in contemporary classical music
- Use in other genres
- Electric pipa
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
The pipa () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the Han dynasty, and although historically the term pipa was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones, its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument.
The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà in Southeast Asia. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer widely used.