Guangdong music, also known as Cantonese music

Cantonese music

Cantonese music may refer to:*The music of Cantonese-speaking peoples, especially the music of Guangdong, music of Hong Kong and music of Macau*Cantonese language music, especially Cantopop...

(广东音乐 Guǎngdōng yīnyuè) is a style of traditional Chinese instrumental music from Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 and surrounding areas in Pearl River Delta

Pearl River Delta

The Pearl River Delta , Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea...

 of Guangdong Province on the southern coast of China. The name of the music is not an accurate description because Guangdong music is not the only music of the whole Guangdong area. In Guangdong, there are numerous traditional genres of music such as Teochew music and Hakka music (Hakka Hanyue and sixian). The name of the music originated in the 1920 and 1930s when the music was popular in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 ballrooms in the form of "Spiritual Music" (精神音樂, Jīngshěn Yīnyuè; more properly translated as "spirited music"). As the performers were almost entirely from Guangdong, Shanghai people generalized the form of music as Guangdong music. Musically, compositions are based on tunes derived from Yueju (Cantonese opera

Cantonese opera

Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Cantonese culture. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing,...

), together with new compositions from the 1920s onwards. Some pieces have influences from jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and Western music, using syncopation

Syncopation

In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...

 and triple time, and incorporating instruments such as the saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

, violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, drum set, or xylophone

Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...

.

Instrumentation

The gaohu

Gaohu

The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera...

is the most common lead instrument used in performing Cantonese music. It was invented by Lü Wencheng

Lu Wencheng

Lü Wencheng was a Chinese composer and musician. He is considered to have been a master of Cantonese music and Guangdong folk music....

 (吕文成, 1898-1981) in the 1920s. Prior to this, the erxian

Erxian

The erxian is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It has two strings and is used primarily in Cantonese music, most often in "hard string" chamber ensembles...

was the most common lead bowed string instrument in the Cantonese ensemble. Ensembles led by the erxian and also featuring the tiqin are called yinggong (硬弓, literally "hard bow") ensembles, while those led by the gaohu are called ruangong (软弓, literally "soft bow") because the erxian and tiqin have thick bamboo bows, while the gaohu has a thinner, flexible bow.

Guangdong music gradually evolved into a string ensemble format by the 1960s, led by the gaohu

Gaohu

The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera...

 with ruan

Ruan

The ruan is a Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel...

, qinqin

Qinqin

The qinqin is a plucked Chinese lute. It was originally manufactured with a wooden body, a slender fretted neck, and three strings. Its body can be either round, hexagonal , or octagonal. Often, only two strings were used, as in certain regional silk-and-bamboo ensembles...

, yangqin

Yangqin

The trapezoidal yangqin is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, originally from Middle East and Persia . It used to be written with the characters 洋琴 , but over time the first character changed to 揚 , which means "acclaimed". It is also spelled yang quin or yang ch'in...

, sanxian

Sanxian

The sanxian is a Chinese lute — a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snakeskin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a...

, yehu

Yehu

The instrument comes in various sizes. In Chaozhou music it is a leading instrument, and is tuned quite high. In Cantonese music it can be quite large and is often tuned to a relatively low pitch, lower than the erhu...

, tiqin

Tiqin

The tiqin is a name applied to several two-stringed Chinese bowed string musical instruments in the huqin family of instruments.-Types:There are several types of tiqin:*The tiqin used for kunqu opera...

and various woodwind

Woodwind instrument

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...

 (including houguan

Guan (instrument)

The guan is a Chinese double reed wind instrument. The northern Chinese version is called guanzi or bili and the Cantonese version is called houguan . It is classified as a bamboo instrument in the Ba Yin system...

) and percussion

Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

 instruments. Alto saxophone

Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

, xylophone, violin, piano, electric guitar, and drum set may also be used, in combination with traditional instruments.

Composers

• He Liutang (何柳堂, 1874-1933)
• Lü Wencheng
  Lu Wencheng
  Lü Wencheng was a Chinese composer and musician. He is considered to have been a master of Cantonese music and Guangdong folk music....
  
   (吕文成, 1898－1981)
• Qiu Hechou (丘鹤俦, 1880-1942)
• Yan Laolie (严老烈, dates unknown)

Compositions

• Baihua Ting Nao Jiu (百花亭闹酒)
• Bu Bu Gao (步步高, by Lü Wencheng)
• È Mǎ Yáo Líng (饿马摇铃, possibly by He Liutang)
• Han Tian Lei (旱天雷, by Yan Laolie)
• Jiao Shi Ming Qin (蕉石鸣琴, by Lü Wencheng)
• Píng Hú Qiū Yuè (平湖秋月, by Lü Wencheng)
• Qīng Méi Zhú Mǎ (青梅竹马, by Lü Wencheng)
• Sailong Duojin (赛龙夺锦, by He Liutang)
• Xiao Tao Hong (小桃红)
• Yu Da Ba Jiao (雨打芭蕉, possibly by He Liutang)
• Yu Le Sheng Ping (娱乐升平, by Qiu Hechou)

Audio samples

External links

• Guangdong music page (Chinese)