The complete structure of Changde silk string music, the unique singing method, the flexible and free performance form, and the rich and colorful accompaniment techniques give it a unique charm and touching charm. Therefore, it has endured for a long time and is deeply loved by the audience. People love it.
Changde Si Xian’s music, language, melody, mode and tonality and other musical factors have formed a system of their own. Its themes and genres have the unique characteristics of typical rap music. What is more noteworthy is that What is worth learning and researching is: its complete musical structure, unique singing method, flexible and free performance form, and rich and colorful accompaniment techniques are unmatched by many types of music. These factors constitute the strong individual characteristics of Changde Silk String.
Music structure and singing method
Changde silk string music has a relatively complete system, and its musical function is also unique. It has the characteristics of combining narrative and lyricism, and can not only express history Stories, folk customs, and folk customs. In creating and singing tunes, conveying emotions and ideas is the main focus. Particular attention is paid to singing while speaking, speaking while singing, and the method of embellishment of the tune by emphasizing that the tune comes from the words and the sounds follow the rhyme. While colloquial and rapping, it also pays attention to the beauty, beauty and lyricism of the melody.
⑴. There are more than 300 tunes in traditional Changde string music, most of which are based on historical stories and Han folklore. It is divided into three types: Qupai style, Banqiang style and mixed style.
Qupai style, also commonly known as Paizixian, is a suite of music that connects many tunes with complete and independent content to reflect a unique theme. It is the most basic form of Changde silk string singing. The most common form. There are more than a hundred commonly used tunes in Changde Silk String. These tunes with different contents, different styles and different techniques have fully demonstrated their respective characteristics and style through long-term ups and downs and twists and turns of singing practice. Some of these tunes can be combined with other tunes or sung alone, and some are only suitable for singing alone, but the vast majority of tunes can be combined with other tunes to exert a good overall function. The use of several different melodies, different structures, different rhythms, and even different tonal tunes for singing greatly enriches the expressive power of music and achieves a more perfect artistic effect.
Banqiang, also commonly known as wuzixian, is a kind of banqiang music that is not limited by tunes but has the characteristics of opera music. It is an important part of Changde silk string music. It has a systematic and complete singing style and a sincere appeal. It is an indispensable basic music for singing large-scale repertoire (i.e. silk string opera). It includes two vocal styles, Laolu and Chuanlu. According to an old silk string artist, Laolu evolved from local folk music; Chuanlu is inextricably linked to local operas in Sichuan. Most of the old roads are deep, thick, majestic and stirring; the Sichuan roads are generally clear, broad and vigorous. Laolu and Chuanlu each include three basic formats: [First-rate], [Second-rate], and [Third-rate]. [First-rate] and [Second-rate] usually have a regular and unified structure, clear arrangement, melodious and graceful melody, and orderly composition. They can both narrative and rap. Lyrical emotions have strong expressiveness and propulsion; while [三流] is a tightly coupled loose board form with free and flexible rhythms and ups and downs of melody. It is good at expressing sorrow, anger, resentment, and exciting and fluctuating thoughts and feelings.
In addition, there are hybrids. According to records, it is a new form of music structure that appeared after the 1930s. It refers to a repertoire that contains both Qupai style music and Banqiang style music, or a mix of Qupai and a Banqiu style, or Lao, Sichuan and Sichuan styles. Mix various types of boards and one or more tunes from each route. This structure is mostly used in medium- and long-form pieces.
In Changde silk string music, whether it is a short piece, a medium piece or a long piece, whether it is a Qupai style, a Banqiang style or a hybrid style, the structural principles of rising, leveling and falling are all very important. Its musical melody features a leap of fifths.
The sentence structures of Changde Silk Strings are mostly two-sentence, four-sentence and long and short sentences. The two-sentence style is extremely common in Qupai tunes, and Banqiang style is composed of upper and lower sentences as the basic structural principles. The four-sentence style usually forms a musical paragraph according to the principle of beginning, succession, turn and combination, and is a relatively common structural form in Qupai style tunes. The long and short sentence styles change with the structure of the Qupai sentence pattern.
Changde silk strings have various modes and colors. Qupai style music is most common in Zheng mode, Shang mode, Gong mode and Yu mode, while Jiao mode is less common. The Chuanlu singing style in Banqiang music is mostly in the six-tone G Shang mode. Most of Laolu's singing styles are in the C-shang mode.
⑵ Changde Silk Strings is sung in the Changde dialect centered on Laogaoshan Street in Changde City. Not only southerners can hear it clearly, but northerners can also understand it. Its singing not only conforms to the aesthetic habits of the broad masses of the people, but is also unique. Changde people speak their own dialect as if they are singing, especially women, whose tone is gentle and graceful, like the breeze blowing on their face. Therefore, some people say that the music of Changde Silk String is linguistic music, but the language is also musical language. The two familiar words "咿儿yo" and "咿咋yo" seem to put a label on Changde Silk String, which can be clearly seen wherever it is placed. (Example 3) Changde Si Xian not only emphasizes colloquialism and rapping, but also pays more attention to the beauty, lyricism and musicality of the melody, making the style soft, beautiful, tactful, or cheerful, jumping and humorous. Artists believe that words weigh a lot and the listener will automatically understand them. Artists pay attention to the accent coming from the words and the sounds following the rhyme, making the melody more lively and dignified.
Due to factors such as dialects, artists’ hobbies and interests, and the needs of plot development, different artists will sing different charms for the same song and the same song, producing the same song with different effects; even the same song and song The same piece of music, sung by the same artist, may also use different cadences in the words and tunes to obtain changes in the melody of the tune. Taoyuan artist Li Yucheng's singing is like flowing clouds and flowing water, sometimes clever and light, sometimes subtle and deep, sometimes vigorous and heroic; Changde artist Dai Wangben plays and sings by himself, and his singing is vigorous, deep and powerful; Tianjin artist Huang Xueqian's singing seems simple and honest. The different singing characteristics of artists have gradually formed different styles and schools.
The traditional singing method of Changde Si Xian is very particular about self-playing and self-singing. One person has multiple roles. The actor is required to have a sweet, crisp and mellow voice, coupled with the embellishment technique that is suitable for the character in the plot, and sings through changes in voice. Stories, depicting various characters. According to the needs of rapping and narrating stories, actors must be able to enter the role at any time, that is, go in and out, sometimes be the rapper, and sometimes play the characters in the play. Due to the diverse performance forms of Changde Silk Strings, in the "Hunan Folk Music Census Report" edited and published by the China Music Research Institute in 1955, Changde Silk Strings were classified as opera. It can be seen that some of Changde Silk Strings' repertoire at that time adopted some elements of opera. Performance techniques. Changde Silk String has always had many singers with profound skills. Through their continuous inheritance and development, Changde Silk String is catchy, easy to sing, easy to remember and easy to learn, and is loved by the masses.
Performance forms and accompaniment methods
Changde Silk String is a Han folk rap performance art that focuses on singing, supplemented by speaking, and includes both rap and rap. It can be both short and concise. It can also sing large-scale pieces with plots and stories. When singing silk string pieces, the singer often has multiple roles, coming in and out, which is just a simple form of folk art; while when singing large-scale repertoire, it is a dramatic structure (i.e. silk string opera), which is completely different from the previous form. The most important thing is that the singer has to enter the role from beginning to end, and there are as many people in the play as there are actors in the repertoire. In addition, silk string paragraphs can also be divided into two different forms of expression: one is lyrical paragraphs. This type generally does not pay attention to the storyline, but only focuses on praising and singing one thing or object. When singing, multiple lyrics are usually paired with the same tune, but the tune is based on the words and the melody is slightly changed. The other is a single paragraph of narrative. This type mainly uses a more complete storyline and more detailed character descriptions to deepen the theme and ideas, and according to the needs of different content, mood, and style, a number of different tunes are combined into a suite to sing. In the singing of Changde Si Xian The application is relatively common.
⑴. The traditional singing form of Changde silk string is seated singing. Most of them sing long sections of silk string with stories and characters. There are usually 6 singers. During performances, great attention is paid to the seating position. Artists use the dulcimer against the drumboard, the gaohu against the erhu, and the sanxian against the pipa. The performers must be able to play (play) and sing by themselves, with multiple roles in one person, and use their voices to create various characters such as Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou, as well as rap stories. If there are more roles in the repertoire than there are singers, each person will have one main role and then another one. Li Yucheng, an old Silk String artist commonly known as "One Person, One Opera", is the most famous one. She is good at blowing, playing, playing and singing, and she accompanies and sings by herself. Changde silk string singing is usually performed in houses, halls and teahouses.
As the times continue to move forward and people's increasing pursuit of cultural life and the continuous improvement of their appreciation and identification level, the singing art of Changde Silk String has also been continuously reformed, developed and matured, and its singing forms have become increasingly diverse. It not only includes single singing, double singing, group singing, performance singing, etc., but it is also put on the stage as a silk string opera. Since the late Qing Dynasty, silk string artists have been trying to hang their clothes on stage (perform in costume). After liberation, this exploration of drama became even more intensive. Changde and Taoyuan both produced a number of silk operas. Some of them participated in provincial and local drama performances and won awards, and some participated in performances of the Beijing Opera Research Association. At the same time, there were special bands, actors no longer served as musicians, and accompaniment instruments also increased.
⑵. The main accompaniment for silk strings in Changde is the Huqin. The barrel of this Huqin is larger than the ordinary Jinghu and smaller than the Erhu. In Lixian area, the Sihu is used as the main instrument. Sometimes, depending on the needs of the program, Jinghu or Gaohu are also used.
The traditional bangu used in Changde silk strings is a special small bangu, which is shaped like an upside-down rice bowl and is made of a large bamboo bag. In the early 1940s, silk strings were added to the gong and drum percussion of Han opera and flower drum opera, and were used in transitional music to enhance the atmosphere.
In the accompaniment of silk string singing, there are often five basic methods: supporting the tune, wrapping the tune, lining the tune, padding the tune and adding flowers. The supporting melody means that the accompaniment melody is the same as the singing melody, only changes are made in certain places, and a relatively fixed rhythm pattern is used to set it off to highlight the singing melody. Wrapped tune, that is, the accompaniment melody is basically the same as the singing tune, but in some places it is required to add flowers to the singing tune to achieve a harmonious blend of the two. Lining the tune requires the accompaniment to bring out the charm of the singing tune, which is rich and colorful, but does not overwhelm the guest and take the lead. The cushioning function is to use accompaniment music to cushion certain pauses in the melody or at the breath of singing, which plays the role of connecting the previous and the following and connecting the singing. Adding flower accompaniment is a common technique. In the process of supporting the tune, the accompaniment often uses adjacent sounds, passing sounds and other sounds to modify and add flowers to enhance the expressiveness of the music.
In order to adapt to the changes in people's aesthetic psychology, hobbies and appreciation habits, Changde Silk String's band accompaniment innovates on the basis of tradition, and makes bold efforts in expanding the band's formation and mixing Chinese and Western instruments. attempt. Since the Changde silk string traditional piece "Double Down the Mountain" was compiled and performed in 1957, most of the pieces performed by professional folk art (literary) groups have simple accompaniment scores. The number of musical instruments has also increased from the original 6 to more than ten such as Jinghu, Zhonghu, and cello.
According to information, in 1975, the Changde silk string piece "A Red Sun Shines on the Breast" in the stage art film "New Flowers of Mass Literature and Art" used a small Chinese and Western band, using a mixed Orchestra accompaniment, consisting of dulcimer, jinghu, erhu, pipa, cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, and trumpet. Since then, Changde Silk String's accompaniment has added a lot of color and produced new artistic effects. It has taken a crucial and fruitful step towards shaping the characters' personalities and deepening the storyline more completely, directly and vividly. new steps.
Music form
Changde Si Xian mainly sings, supplemented by speaking, and interspersed with rap. It not only sings short lyrical passages, but also sings large passages with characters and plots. Its singing is elegant, the tunes are beautiful, the repertoire is rich, the structure is complete, the tunes are diverse, and the melody is catchy. It is a form of folk art music commonly used in mass creation and singing activities.
Changde Silk Strings has more than 100 traditional repertoires, most of which are based on historical stories and folklore. Among them, the outstanding traditional songs "Baoyu Cries", "Lu Zhishen Drunk and Attacking the Mountain Gate", "Double Down the Mountain", "Wang Po Scolded the Chicken", "Zhaojun Leaving the Fortress" and so on have always been loved by the masses. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a number of new songs that reflected real life emerged, such as "A Lot of New Things", "Praise Shopkeeper", and "Exploring Relatives in the Wind and Snow", which were widely sung throughout the country. Since the 1980s, Changde silk strings have been undergoing a revival. Tracks such as "Love in the Melon", "Golden Plaque to be Hanged", "Pretty Granny Goes to College" and other tracks won the national-level "Stars Award" gold medal, and tracks such as "Zhilan Yayun" were performed in Malaysia and were well received by overseas friends. love. Changde silk strings have had extensive social influence at home and abroad, and have high cultural and artistic value and social practical value.
Changde Silk String has unique local characteristics and local flavor. Its unique music style, singing and performance form are of great protection value.
However, due to the lack of professional performance groups, the death of older generations of silk string artists, and the loss of more than 100 tunes, it has become withered and endangered.
The protection of Changde’s excellent traditional repertoire of silk strings has attracted great attention from relevant departments. The Changde Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, and Municipal Culture Bureau have formulated practical rescue and protection measures through multiple special meetings, and are organizing and implementing them.