Sanxian
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| Sanxian | |
|---|---|
| Simplified: | 三弦 |
| Traditional: | 三弦 |
| Hanyu Pinyin: | sānxián |
| Wade-Giles: | san1-hsien2 |
The sanxian (literally "three strings") is a Chinese lute — a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snakeskin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a four-stringed version was also developed. The Northern sanxian is generally larger, at about 122 centimetres in length, while Southern versions of the instrument are usually about 95 centimetres in length.
The sanxian has a dry, somewhat percussive tone and loud volume similar to the banjo. The larger sizes have a range of three octaves. It is primarily used as an accompanying instrument, as well as in ensembles and orchestras of traditional Chinese instruments, though solo pieces and concertos also exist.
Traditionally the instrument is plucked with a thin, hard plectrum made from animal horn but today most players use a plastic plectrum (similar to a guitar pick) or, more rarely, their fingernails.
A closely related musical instrument is the Japanese shamisen, which is derived from the sanxian but which generally uses cat or dog skin rather than snakeskin to cover its resonator. Even more closely related is the Okinawan sanshin, which is also covered in snakeskin. The Vietnamese đàn tam is also very similar to the sanxian.
In addition to its use in traditional and classical Chinese music, some popular and rock musicians have used the sanxian, most notably the singer He Yong.
Although the sanxian has historically been one of the most popular Chinese folk instruments (particularly for accompanying singing), a major decline in the number of sanxian players in classical contexts has been the cause of great concern among enthusiasts of the instrument. As many Chinese orchestras exclude the sanxian, many people are unwilling to learn this instrument. Even in China, very few conservatories offer majors in sanxian, and the small number of students of this instrument, as compared to the guzheng or pipa, for example, have led to further concerns that the instrument's rich playing traditions may be lost forever. One reason for this is the fact that, unlike the shamisen in Japan, the sanxian lacks an original solo repertoire of its own, with most sanxian solo pieces being arrangements of pipa melodies, as in the case of "Big Waves Wash Against the Sands". For the most part, use of the sanxian in the Chinese orchestra is as a provider of a de facto bass line. Also, as the neck of the da sanxian is particularly long, there is a great deal of limitation on how virtuosic a sanxian player can be. This is not an issue in the smaller saxian, which are closer in size to the Japanese shamisen.
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[edit] External links
- Sanxian page from Paul and Bernice Noll site
- Sanxian photos
[edit] Video
- Sanxian video from The Musical Instruments E-book
[edit] Listening
- Sanxian audio (click headphones to listen to individual tracks)
