1. A BREIF overview

2.  Asia has many countries and each has a unique mix of sounds and styles.  We will only look at China, Japan, and Indonesia.  Realize that these are just brief looks at the surface of music in Asia!

3.  Chinese culture reaches back to 2000 B.C. \  They invented the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing  Their music in characterized by heterophony and the pentatonic scale

4.  Sizhu (SUH-droo) music played in tea houses Sizhu  a “jam session” with instruments like the erhu and dizidizi  Northern Chinese villages often have suona (so-nah) players.suona  Chinese opera is popular in the cities  Opera singers sing with tense-Guttural sounds Opera

5.  Erhu (ur-hoo): Two string fiddle that rest on the player’s knee Erhu  Pipa: 4 or 5-string lute held like a small cello Pipa:  Dizi (dee-zee): bamboo flute that buzzes like a kazoo Dizi  Yangquin (yahn-chin): hammered dulcimer  Sheng (shung): small bamboo pipes bound in a circle. Sheng (shung): small bamboo pipes bound in a circle.  Chinese Pop Music: Cui JianCui Jian

6.  Taiko: a drum ensemble that blends martial arts and music Taiko  Taiko drums were used in religious ceremonies and in battle to frighten the enemy and issue commands

7.  Shamisen: three stringed guitar that is plucked Shamisen  Koto: a 13 string instrument that is plucked with finger picks. The koto is Japan’s national instrument.  Shakuhachi: a bamboo flute  An ensemble of Shamisen, Koto, and Shakuhachi is called a sankyoku.

8.  There are three major types of classical music in Thailand: Piphat, Khruang Sai, and Mahori.Piphat  Most of the music has small ching hand cymbals and wooden sticks to mark the beat.  The Qeej The Qeej  Khong Wong is a circle of gongs similar to the instruments of the Indonesian Gamelan Khong Wong

9.  A gamelan is a set of gong instruments that are struck with padded sticks  Gamelan is mainly from the islands of Bali and Java Gamelan  A gamelan cannot be separated into individual instruments or interchanged  Gamelan music uses unique scales, or sets of notes, that sound strange to our ears.