The horse head qin is a Chinese Mongolian folk stringed instrument. It has a handle carved into the shape of a horse's head and a trapezoidal body, is the Mongolian people's favorite musical instrument, the body is made of wood, about a meter long, there are two strings, *** sound box is trapezoidal, the sound is mellow, the volume of the volume of the weaker, low back to the twang.
Horse head qin introduction
Horse head qin is also known as "Hu Wuer", "Huqin", "Horsetail Huqin", "Morin The horse-head qin, also known as "huwuer", "huqin", "horse-tailed huqin", "morin huwuer", etc., is a typical representative of the Mongolian musical culture. Whether it is its modeling, production materials, or its sound quality, tone, musical expression style and performance methods are all reflective of the connotation of the Mongolian character, fully reflecting the historical form of the nomadic life of the Mongolian people, and expressing the philosophical thinking and realization of the Mongolian people of the nature of the universe.
The Mongolian horse-head fiddle has a long history, and it has existed since the formation of the Mongolian people. In the long-term historical development, the horse-head qin has formed different genres with distinctive regional colors, and these genres are closely related to the internal and external gatherings and separations of the Mongolian people as well as the historical changes. It can be said that the horse-head qin has accompanied the Mongolian people all the way from the steppe and the distance of history, which carries rich historical and cultural information.
The horse-head qin is a stringed instrument. Because the upper end of the piano pole carved with a horse's head for the decoration and the name. It consists of *** sound box, piano pole, head, string shaft, horse, strings and bow and other parts. *** sound box is mostly trapezoidal, but also square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal. Box frame plate made of hardwood, both sides covered with horsehide or cowhide, sheepskin, there are also front masked leather, back masked with thin plate. The instrument poles are made of colored wood, pearwood or mahogany, and there is a string shaft on the upper left and right sides, with a head at the top. The bow is made of rattan or wooden poles and horse tails, and the two strings are synthesized with 40 (inner strings) and 60 (outer strings) horse tails, which are knotted with silk strings at both ends and tied to the zither.
Origin of the Horsehead Harp
The Horsehead Harp is a stringed instrument of the Mongolian ethnic group, an ethnic minority in China, named for the horse's head carved into the upper end of the harp. The horse-head qin has a long history, evolving from the Xiqin, a stringed instrument of the Tang and Song dynasties. When Genghis Khan (1155-1227) has been spread to the folk. According to Marco Polo's Travels, a two-stringed zither was popular among the Tatars (the predecessor of the Mongols) in the 12th century, which may be its predecessor. It was used in court bands during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The horse-head qin is a representative instrument of the Mongolian nation, which not only occupies a place in the family of musical instruments in China and the world, but is also a favorite instrument of folk artists and herdsmen, and the music played by the horse-head qin is characterized by deep, rugged, and impassioned music, which embodies the production, life, and steppe style of the Mongolian nation.
The emergence of the Horse-head fiddle
From the period of hunting culture in the mountains and forests to the beginning of the nomadic culture in the steppe, the musical instruments used by the Mongols were not the horse-head fiddle but the flugelhorn instruments such as the firebird and the tobushul and they were mostly used for entertaining songs, dances, and dance accompaniments. From the "Secret History of Mongolia", "Yuan Shi" in the records, Genghis Khan to Kublai period, the Mongolian national musical instruments are still dominated by plucked instruments, the Mongolian soldiers and herdsmen in the Yuan Dynasty, good at playing the fire Bisi, like to dance collective tread song.
When the rapid development of nomadic music in the steppe, the horse-head qin, a stringed instrument, was born, widely popularized, and eventually replaced the status of plucked instruments, the Mongolian nation's most grassland characteristics of folk instruments. Obviously, the stringed instrument replaced the plucked instrument, and the firebird gradually declined, so the horse-head qin became the main character of the Mongolian musical instrument in a natural way.
Methods of playing the horse-head qin
The horse-head qin is played differently from other stringed instruments in that its bow is not sandwiched between the inner and outer strings of the qin, but rather it is played by rubbing the strings on the outside of the two strings. It is mostly used as a solo instrument or for singing. Its pronunciation of soft, thick and low, melodious tone, mellow, rich grassland flavor, and thus some people describe that: "for the description of the grassland, a melody of the horse-head qin, far more than the color of the painter and the poet's language more evocative".
The excellent repertoire of the Horse-head qin
The excellent repertoire of the Horse-head qin is many, and the traditional qin tunes are in various styles, rich in grassland characteristics, and the tunes are euphemistic, and most of them are depictions of the natural scenery or the singing of horses. Such as "Juseli", "cool Hanggai", "Four Seasons", "Shepherd's Song", "Green Pine", "Sunrise", "Narrative Song", "Mongolian ditty", "Ordos Spring", "cool spring", "Walking Horses" and "Horse's Pace", "Cheers", "Mongolian ditty", "Grassland Connected to Beijing", "Song of Praise", "Sengi Derma", "Blue Lullaby", "Running Horse", "Rising Sun", "Rewind", and "The Horsehead Qin", which is the best repertoire of horsehead Qin. Sun", "Rondo", "Ten Thousand Horses Running", "Joyful Grassland", "Shepherd", "Suhe's Little White Horse", "Ovootel Youth", "Destiny", "Ordos Plateau" and so on.