What is Guqin?
Guqin is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted by the quote “a gentleman does not part with his qin or se without good reason,” as well as being associated with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius.
As a symbol of elite culture, the qin has been used as a prop in much of Chinese popular culture. References are made to the qin in a variety of media including TV episodes and films. This resulted in an increase in the number of people seeking to learn Guqin. To allow more people to understand Guqin, “He Yue Zhai” Music and Arts centre will be organizing a Guqin workshop.
The teacher
Mr Zhong is a young and accomplished musician who specializes in both the sheng and guqin. He is also a composer who graduated with a master’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He is currently a sheng musician with Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), as well as a committee member of the professional sheng instrument section of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society and a member of the Shanghai Musicians Association and the Shanghai Guqin Research Association. Mr Zhong is also founder of the Singapore He Yue Zhai Arts Centre.
The class in detail
Mr. Zhong started by sharing the basic background of Guqin, the ancient Chinese musical instrument.
Guqin is similar to the violin. In addition, it is a type of musical instrument which will have a better sound quality over time. There are Guqins from Tang Dynasty which can still be played nowadays. Imagine how old these instruments are!
Mr. Zhong then shared the old music notes of Guqin back in 502–557 AC. He read two notes and played them for the class accordingly.
Mr. Zhong also played the Guqin piece written by a famous litterateur back in 220–280 AC. The music piece is named “Jiu Kuang”.
Soon it was time for the students to try out the instrument for themselves. They were instructed to play a modern simple music piece named “Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao” and guided by Mr Zhong.
Students tried to play and learned from the teacher. This instrument requires careful hand picking and might take a while to master. Nonetheless, it is a very unique and interesting way to play music!
The workshop was limited to 15 people and the class was full.
Any requirements to learn?
Requirement for language: Chinese intermediate level
However, regardless of whether you have any music fundamentals, you will be able to learn how to play a simple Guqin song after this workshop. The amount of slots are limited so please register early if you are interested! Download our Dadafish app today and attend our next class!
Time: 23 July 2016 (Saturday), 4pm-5pm
Price: Small Group (6 people) — 10 lessons at $300 or 1 hour per session at $30/h
