Instruments

Explore our Instruments 探索我们的乐器

Erhu/Violin

The erhu (二胡) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, like a spike fiddle. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock, and jazz.

Our Members: Alex Tan, Alice Liu, Ashley Huang, Ella Chen

Pipa

The pipa (琵琶) is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. The instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 26. It is played by plucking the strings with the fingers or picks attached to the fingers.

Our Members: Ashley Chang, Hibiscus Chen, Nala Peng, Coco Guo, Stella Zhang

Dizi

The dizi (笛子), is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the di (笛) or héngdi (橫笛), and has varieties including Qudi (曲笛), Bangdi (梆笛), and Xindi (新笛). It is a major Chinese musical instrument that is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, Chinese opera, as well as the modern Chinese orchestra.

Our Members: Ray Chang, Amy Liu, Tony Wu

Sheng

The sheng (笙) is a Chinese mouth-blown polyphonic free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes. It is one of the oldest Chinese instruments, with images depicting its kind dating back to 1100 BCE, It is one of the main instruments in kunqu and some other forms of Chinese opera.

Our Members: Zonghang Li, Amy Liu

Guzheng

The guzheng (古筝) is a Chinese plucked zither that has 21 strings, around 64 inches long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from Paulownia wood. It has a light timbre, broad range, rich performance skills, and strong expressive power.

Our Members: Daisy Li, Ashley Huang

Yangqin

The yangqin (扬琴) is a Chinese hammered dulcimer. The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges and may be arranged chromatically. Traditional instruments, with three or more courses of bridges, are also still widely in use.

Our Member: Emily Shen

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument of the violin family. It enjoys a large solo repertoire with and without accompaniment, as well as numerous concerti. As a solo instrument, the cello uses its whole range, from bass to soprano, and in chamber music such as string quartets and the orchestra's string section.

Our Member: Vicky Nie

Piano

The piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when pressed on the keys. Most modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys: 52 white keys for the notes of the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, and B) and 36 shorter black keys raised above the white keys and set further back, for sharps and flats.

Our Member: Olivia Qin

Percussion

Percussion refers to an electric mix of Western and Chinese instruments. The western instrumens include timpani, snare drum and triangle and the traditional Chinese instruments include the diyin daluo (tam tam), muyu (temple blocks), dabo (Chinese crash cymbals) and the bangzi (Chinese claves).

Our Member: Hibiscus Chen