Melody Yan celebrates sounds of ancient Chinese culture through the guzheng
We all hear so many songs and sounds inspired by ancient instruments passed down from generation to generation as we simply move through our daily lives. It feels important to take a step back to celebrate the cultures these sounds came from and the instruments their people built to bring them to life.
Although relatively unknown in the West, the guzheng is as revered as the piano of Asia, according to instrumentalist Melody Yan. It’s the parent instrument of the long zither family with more than 2,500 years of history.
Yan was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, China and started learning the guzheng with a famous Guzhengold master at the age of nine. Performing since the age of ten, she won many youth competitions. She went on to become the first guzheng musician to appear on American TV, publish four albums, and perform for several prestigious events around the world.
There are many techniques of playing the guzheng, with some creating sounds that can evoke the sense of a cascading waterfall, thunder, the scenic countryside, and lush landscapes. At times, the instrument sounds like a harp-sitar hybrid, yet uniquely identifiable with its own melodic qualities.
The various styles or schools of playing the guzheng are identified by region. The two broad schools are northern (associated with the Henan and Shandong regions) and southern (associated with the Chaozhou and Hakka regions of eastern Guangdong). In Chinese classical music, central pieces of work composed on the guzheng include "Gao Shan Liu Shui" ("High Mountains Flowing Water") and "Han Gong Qiu Yue" ("Han Palace Autumn Moon") from the north. And "Han Ya Xi Shui" ("Winter Crows Playing in the Water") and "Chu Shui Lian" ("Lotus Blossoms Emerging from the Water") from the south.
The construction of the guzheng is as elegant as its sound. Its main body is made up of a rectangular hollow wooden box, with the top surface protruding to a certain degree. The strings lie on top of the body tied across the two bridges at its ends. These sounds were recorded on AKG C414s through Avedis MA5 preamps.
