Chinese For Dummies (93 page)
Read Chinese For Dummies Online
Authors: Wendy Abraham
gÇ
é¼
(goo) (
drums
)
lÇbÄ
åå
(lah-bah) (
trumpet
)
liùxiánqÃn
å
弦ç´
(lyo-shyan-cheen) (
guitar
)
nán dīyīn
ç·ä½é³
(nahn dee-een) (
double bass
)
sÄkèsÄ«guÇn
è¨å
æ¯ç®¡
(
è©å
æ¯ç®¡
) (sah-kuh-suh-gwahn) (
saxophone
)
shuÄnghuángguÇn
å簧管
(
é簧管
) (shwahng-hwahng-gwan) (
oboe
)
shùqÃn
ç«ç´
(
è±ç´
) (shoo-cheen) (
harp
)
xiÇo tÃqÃn
å°æç´
(shyaow tee-cheen) (
violin
)
zhÅng tÃqÃn
ä¸æç´
(joong tee-cheen) (
viola
)
The Chinese language has a few different verbs that you can use to indicate the practice of various instruments. People who play stringed instruments should use the verb
lÄ
æ
(lah) (
to draw
[as in draw a bow]) before the name of the instrument. For example, you can say that you
lÄ zhÅng tÃqÃn
æä¸æç´
(lah joong tee-cheen) (
play the viola
), but you can only
tán
(tahn) (
play
) a piano. For wind instruments, you have to
chuī
å¹
(chway) (
blow
) them.
 Traditional Chinese Instruments
If you've heard any traditional Chinese music at a concert or on a recording, you've probably heard one of these Chinese
yuè qì
ä¹å¨
(
æ¨å¨
) (yweh chee) (
musical instruments
) at one point or another:
pÃpÄ
çµç¶
(pee-pah): A plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard that sits on your lap
gÇzhÄng
å¤ç
(
å¤ç®
) (goo-juhng):
A long, plucked string instrument that rests on a large stand in front of you
èrhú
äºè¡
(are-hoo): A two-stringed bowed instrument