The guzheng's versatility

[Bryan]

Can the guzheng handle rock music, pop and stuff? Or even techno, n.n Haha am curious

[Vi An]

You have read my website thoroughly my young guzheng lover and soon to be great master?!

I have worked with Jazz musicians, electronic DJs/laptop artists, industrical groups, rock/pop musicians, film composers, Yoga instructors, painters, folk / celtic musicians, circus performers, African musicains, percussionists, Middle Easter musicians, Japanese musicians, aboriginal singers, throat singers and the list goes on..

I have plugged my instrument into many effects peddals like the ones electric guitarists would, FX sythesizers and kaos pads, using my attachable pick up inside my guzheng. I can produce sounds you can never think or imagine the guzheng can become!

The imagination brings the guzheng into new territory. You just need to learn in time to unlearn everything you were taught on the guzheng and stick to the fundamentals of "sound creating". Beautiful and ugly sounds, heavenly and hellish sounds can come from the guzheng.

Let your imaginations go free and let the guzheng be your soul and life itself. It is a living instrument!

My best,

Vi An.

[Vi An]

To simplify:

The guzheng is a limited instrument in that it is strictly a melodic instrument with a restricted pentatonic tuning nature. However, it is in the "range" that this instrument can adapt to just anything you thow at it. This is why I love the 26 stringed guzheng because it allows me to have a few tunings in one instrument. You must learn to work in the limitations. You must also learn to grow from them too and to explore new melodic possibilities. The guzheng is more capable than many westerners think.

I ask myself, why would I want to play anything that has already be done over and over again? When I "busk" (street performing or playing in public places) a lot of people come up and request ridiculous songs. I look at them and smile. I do not take requests, but that guitarist down there is more than happy to entertain your simple self.

The guzheng is one of those instruments in the world that has great potential. I look at it like the human brain, we have only begun to use only 70 percent of it.

I pride myself on being someone who just improvises on guzheng and I love not knowing where I am going when I improvise. I love stumbling upon things as I play and teaching myself to remember what I just discovered!

I have no interest in learning the guzheng, I have a great interest in knowing its potentials. I love to jam with other guzheng musicians who have an open mind. Which is rare. So when one comes around I will be in heaven.

I just enjoy the guzheng, I happen to have a gift and talent to pick it up quickly and people love for me to perform it. The guzheng can play anything to your heart's content.

It is a versitile instrument in that it is simple, but it requires a great deal of passion and heart and soul when you perform with it. It is a great learning tool for many. For me it is becoming my voice and my inner expression coming out in the form of music. I'm a musician.

Is your guzheng a learning tool, a hobbie, or is it going to be your voice? A voice you share freely with everyone and a voice you learn to discover new things with all the time.

Vi An.

[blonderedhead]

amen! you go girl! it's great when one can think outside the box and be able to express oneself freely and explore new possibilities. i'm glad that your vehicle for expression happens to be the guzheng, one of many beautiful instruments of the world. rock on!

[Vi An]

Thanks gal-pal!

I will rock on! You keep enjoying the guzheng. THERE SHOULD BE a world guzheng appreciation day! I announced it first so I should do something about that shouldn't I?

Hmmmmm *researching who to approach*.

*strumming guzheng out*

Vi An

[Bryan]

That would be so kewl....have eu seen lunlun zou's website bout a guzheng party? Maybe eu should do that n.n

[Bryan]

Lunlun is married?! No wonder she has put on extra weight in her photos

[davidmdahl]

Hmmm. The pictures I have seen of Lunlun Zou show a beautiful lady with a lot of pizazz and joi de vivre. As a middle-aged parent, I have a lot of respect for other parents who have a lot to juggle.

By the way, today I ordered a 21 string dan tranh from Mr. Nguyen Vinh Bao of Saigon. I hope to play a variety of music on it, including Chinese. I have even heard Sakura on dan tranh, and it sounded great. How is that for versatility?

Best wishes,

David

[twilight]

davidmdahl said:

Hmmm. The pictures I have seen of Lunlun Zou show a beautiful lady with a lot of pizazz and joi de vivre. As a middle-aged parent, I have a lot of respect for other parents who have a lot to juggle.

By the way, today I ordered a 21 string dan tranh from Mr. Nguyen Vinh Bao of Saigon. I hope to play a variety of music on it, including Chinese. I have even heard Sakura on dan tranh, and it sounded great. How is that for versatility?

Best wishes,

David

that's great David. I was gonna ask you about it. I heard Sakura too. Loved it. I think to play Sakura on dan tranh, you have to adjust your strings and manipulate it with a rubberband to get that sound ;D

As for Lunlun, I think her enthusiasm in her performances is great... it kinda rub of you to see her perform

[Vi An]

Master Lunlun is a busy lady and a much respectable mommy at that!! Three cheers for Lunlun!

As for dantranh versitility to play Sakura Sakura, its not that far of a stretch because there is a minor tuning for the dan tranh that suites Japanese traditional pieces just fine. The dan tranh is a more mellow instrument when it wants to be and sometimes I prefer it over guzheng. With my 26 stringed dan tranh, it really gives me that desired depth and range versitility for the fullest expressiveness!

My dan tranh has really grown up over the years its finally staring to really "sound" for me.

Much respects,

Vi An.

[Vi An]

I think my re-work and arrangement of Sakura Sakura for octave modified violin, violin, bass koto and 26 stringed zheng is the BEST!

*Giggles*.

Just my opinion ofcourse.

[Bryan]

how kewl is tht n.n

[Vi An]

I shall have to post a recording of that one soon.

[twilight]

please do Vi an. We would love to hear it. What other examples do you have? of cross cultural pieces? (ex. Sakura, a Japanese folk song played with chinese or Vnmese instrument)

[Vi An]

I also have a few pieces where I have crossed cultures from middle east and egyptian with dan tranh where I adpoted similar tunings from them for dan tranh.. I have many friends with all sort of musical backgrounds and influences. I also adopt celtic styles for guzheng with my friends who fiddle and play bodhran.

[davidmdahl]

Interesting. Irish music in particular seems appropriate to play on a guzheng since much Irish music is pentatonic or at least modal in nature. Even some American folk music is pentatonic, such as from the South. During my first trip to Hanoi in 2001, I heard a traditional VN group include "Oh, Suzannah" in a set, much to my surprise. It is amazing to find how easily it plays on a dan bau, dan tranh, and I imagine, the guzheng. The moveable bridges of the zithers must provide some interesting and useful creative possibilities.

Best wishes,

David

[davidmdahl]

Last weekend I played in a program of traditional Vietnamese music. Afterward, I jammed with my friends on various instruments. One such friend is doing very well on guzheng. We had fun playing a few Chinese tunes with me on erhu. Wow! It seems more common that yangqin is used to accompany erhu and dizi, but I much prefer guzheng. Of course, the term accompany as I intend it does not imply a less important role than the solo instrument. It was as if we were equal partners playing duets.

Best wishes,

David