13th May 2024

Introduction to southern bamboo flute 南方竹笛介绍

The bamboo flute, also known as the Chinese flute, is an ancient traditional Chinese instrument that has been widely played for more than 4,000 years, dating back to the Yellow Emperor period. The bamboo flute schools in China can be divided into two major schools, the southern and northern schools. Due to differences in terrain, environment, cultural customs, and other aspects, the techniques, performance, and melodic characteristics of the bamboo flute played in these two regions are also different. Today we will briefly discuss the southern school of bamboo flute. 

Southerners are more tactful, gentle, and delicate, and their use of breath during performance is more stable. The characteristics of the melody of the music they play are quite the opposite of those of northerners. Southerners usually prefer to play bamboo flutes with a medium tone range, a thicker flute tube, and a longer flute body, such as in the C and D keys. Therefore, bamboo flutes in the south are often used to accompany Kunqu Opera, and are also known as "qudi". The Southern Bamboo Flute is an important style of modern bamboo flute music. It is mainly popular in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangzhou and other regions.

Due to the large geographical span and different customs, we divide the music of Southern Bamboo Flute into two categories: Jiangnan Silk & Bamboo Music and Kun Opera. Jiangnan Silk & Bamboo is a popular form of folk instrumental music performance in Hangzhou and Suzhou, which is often performed using a combination of stringed instruments and bamboo instruments, hence the name "Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo". The "silk" in "silk & bamboo" refers to stringed instruments such as guzheng, pipa, erhu, etc., while the "bamboo" refers to bamboo wind instruments such as flute and xiao. Among them, bamboo flute is the most representative national instrument that can reflect the characteristics of music. Its music is generally created on the basis of folk customs music, closely connected with folk wedding and funeral activities, temple activities, and has a rich and diverse repertoire. Although the scale of the Silk and Bamboo band is relatively small, the performance is very exquisite and changes according to the environment. 

Kunqu Opera is an ancient form of opera singing and drama, mainly popular in Zhejiang and Shanghai. It is a form of performance on stage, performed by at least two people, emphasizing gracefulness, beauty, cadence, and often slowing down the beat to create a slower rhythm. Various types of coloratura are added to enrich the singing of Kunqu Opera. It is accompanied by wind instruments, string instruments, and percussion instruments, with bamboo flutes as the main melody. Due to the frequent accompaniment of Kunqu Opera, it is also known as "Kunqu". 

The playing characteristics of the southern bamboo flute are in harmony with the gentle and refined temperament of the southern water town. The southern bamboo flute is used to play southern opera music, Jiangnan stringed instruments, Jiangnan minor tunes, etc. It is based on a wide range of opera music, and its playing style is constantly changing with the development of the times. The southern bamboo flute has borrowed from the playing techniques of the northern bamboo flute and improved and integrated them in its own playing techniques, making our traditional national instruments also able to form bands like Western music, and bringing our Chinese national instruments to the world.