About guzheng
Zheng has a history of over 2000 years. Chinese guzheng, the Japanese koto, Korean kayagum, and Vietnamese Dan Tranh are all decedents of the Qin zheng which originated from the Qin State during the Warring Period (450 - 221 B.C.). Among all Chinese traditional musical instruments, guzheng has the most beautiful sounds.
The modern-day guzheng is a plucked, half-tube zither with movable bridges and 21 strings, although it can have anywhere from 13 to 26 strings. The guzheng's strings were formerly made of twisted silk , though by the 20th century most players used metal strings. Since the mid-20th century most performers use steel strings flatwound with nylon.
The guzheng has a large resonant cavity made from pao tong wood (Paulownia tomentosa). Other components may be made from other woods, usually for structural and decorative purposes.
Where did the name of guzheng come from?
Gu Zheng ( Chinese : 古箏; Pinyin : gǔzhēng ) or zheng (箏) ( gu- means "ancient") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument.
Guzheng has a very interesting story about its name.
Thousands of years ago, there was a very famous musician in China. He was known for his master skills in playing the "se." The "se" had 25 strings stretched over an arched wooden soundboard. Beneath each string was a triangular support. The support could be moved left and right for tuning. When performing, the musician would sit behind his "se" and use his fingers to pluck the strings. Sometimes, he used both hands to pluck the strings. But most times, he plucked the strings with his right hand and pressed the strings with his left hand to produce the right pitch.
The musician was very old. He wanted to leave his instrument to one of his two sons. But both sons wanted it. The two sons argued. Nobody was willing to give in. To have peace at home, the old man came up with a solution. He cut his "se" into two pieces -- one had 12 strings and the other 13 -- so each son could get half of the instrument.
Tuning Guzheng
For some guzheng lovers, the tuning of guzheng is always a tough job. We noticed that some students still can't tune the pitches of guzheng well even after quite a few years of playing. Some students asked me, "Why do I feel that I play much better in the classroom than at home?" It's actually because the guzheng in the classroom is very well tuned.
As a pluck-string instrument, guzheng changes its pitches nearly everyday or every time you play it. It's mainly due to three causes.
- Unevenly distributed tensions on each string.
This mainly happens on new guzhengs and new strings. After the string is tuned to the right pitch, the pitch decreases noticeably, usually in a few hours, sometimes in minutes.
In general, this problem will fade away after the string has been tuned a few times. But this is frustating and discouraging for beginners. A quick solution is to pull the string up a few times and tighten it. You may either pull at the middle of the string or at the bridge position of the string. (Caution: when pulling string #1 - #5, wear a protective glove when pulling the string)
- Movements of bridges.
Some bridges may be moving back and forth when the strings are pressed. This usually causes slight changes to the pitches.
The best solution is to fine-tune the pitches every time you play. A quick solution is to put a tiny piece (1mm x 1mm) of double-sided tape underneath the foot of the bridge. This will not cause any damage to the surface board as the tape is easily removeable.
- Weather changes.
Temperature and humidity both play important roles in the changing of pitches. There isn't much you can do to prevent the changing of weather, but you surely can prepare the guzheng for the changes.
Store the guzheng in a low-humidity room; avoid direct sunshine; avoid AC/heat vent; cover the guzheng with a piece of thick cloth.
