Guzheng

Does anybody know of an ancient Chinese stringed instrument called a
guzheng? Someone I met recently purchased one in an antique shop and
would like to know how to tune it.

Any help would be most appreciated!

JdL

Could you send us a link to a picture, and/or a description of this
instrument? The vibrating length (nut to saddle) of the strings and string
diameters, would give clues about their intended pitches. If the
pronunciation or spelling is variable, the description/picture might be the
thing to jar someone's memory.

Someone mentioned Koto music, but only knew of one album. Here's three
albums of traditional Koto music that I really like:

* Art of the Koto, the music of Japan. Played by Kimio Eto. Elektra
EKS-7234
* Japanese Koto Classics. Shinichi Yuize, Koto master. Nonesuch Explorer
H-72008
* The Koto Music of Japan. (multiple musicians). Nonesuch International
HS-72005

I have them all on vinyl, and have no idea what might be available on CD.

---
Glen Peterson
30 Elm Street
North Andover, MA 01845
(978) 975-1527

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John A. deLaubenfels [mailto:jadl@idcomm.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 9:36 AM
> To: tuning@onelist.com
> Subject: [tuning] Guzheng
>
>
> From: "John A. deLaubenfels" <jadl@idcomm.com>
>
>
> Does anybody know of an ancient Chinese stringed instrument called a
> guzheng? Someone I met recently purchased one in an antique shop and
> would like to know how to tune it.
>
> Any help would be most appreciated!
>
> JdL
>
>
>
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The guzheng is not a koto. Sometimes it is just called zheng.
It is similar to a koto, but it is Chinese. There is a photo and
brief description on this web page:

http://www.cs.ust.hk/icmc99/virtuosi.html

The green strings are usually tuned to A (but that depends on the
scale -- see the details on the web page).

I got my zheng recordings at HMV in Hong Kong, in the Chinese
Music section. There are several CDs available from Amazon.com.
The world Music Institute may also have some zheng CDs but I
don't have their contact information handy.

Best,

Lydia Ayers

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for information on
tuning the guzheng. The information I have been able to pass on so
far has been very useful.

[Glen Peterson, TD 287.16:]
> Could you send us a link to a picture, and/or a description of this
> instrument? The vibrating length (nut to saddle) of the strings and
> string diameters, would give clues about their intended pitches. If
> the pronunciation or spelling is variable, the description/picture
> might be the thing to jar someone's memory.

> Someone mentioned Koto music, but only knew of one album. Here's
> three albums of traditional Koto music that I really like:

> * Art of the Koto, the music of Japan. Played by Kimio Eto. Elektra
> EKS-7234
> * Japanese Koto Classics. Shinichi Yuize, Koto master. Nonesuch
> Explorer H-72008
> * The Koto Music of Japan. (multiple musicians). Nonesuch
> International HS-72005

> I have them all on vinyl, and have no idea what might be available on
> CD.

Thanks for your offer, Glen! I'll pass it on to my acquaintence and
let the two of you connect up.

[Lydia Ayers, TD 287.17:]
> The guzheng is not a koto. Sometimes it is just called zheng.
> It is similar to a koto, but it is Chinese. There is a photo and
> brief description on this web page:

> http://www.cs.ust.hk/icmc99/virtuosi.html

> The green strings are usually tuned to A (but that depends on the
> scale -- see the details on the web page).

> I got my zheng recordings at HMV in Hong Kong, in the Chinese
> Music section. There are several CDs available from Amazon.com.
> The world Music Institute may also have some zheng CDs but I
> don't have their contact information handy.

Thanks, I'll pass that on!

JdL