Chinese flutes come in various types. They include
Transverse
Flutes:
*
Dizi (and its varieties such as the
qudi
The ''dizi'' (, pronounced ), is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the ''di'' () or ''héngdi'' (), and has varieties including Qudi (), Bangdi (), and Xindi (). It is a major Chinese musical instrument that is widely ...
and
bangdi; primary transverse flutes, usually made of bamboo and distinctively has a buzzing membrane)
*
Koudi
The ''koudi'' (Chinese: 口笛; pinyin: kǒudí; also spelled ''kou di'') is a very small Chinese flute made from bamboo. It is the smallest flute in Chinese Flute family. Its original shape is from prehistorical instruments made with animal bo ...
(a small center-blown mouth flute with open-ends)
*
Tuliang (a large center-blown flute with open-ends)
*
Chi (an ancient center-blown transverse flute with closed ends and front finger holes.)
*
Hengxiao (
dizi without membrane)
*
Xindi (fully chromatic
dizi without membrane)
*
Jiajian Di (keyed
dizi without membrane)
End-Blown Flutes (air split directly on mouthpiece):
*
Xiao (
end-blown vertical bamboo flute)
*
Gudi Gudi may refer to:
* Gudi, a term for a Hindu temple
* Gudi (instrument)
The Jiahu gǔdí () are the oldest known musical instruments from China, dating back to around 6000 BCE. ''Gudi'' means "bone flute" in Chinese.
History
Since 1984, ...
, an ancient vertical flute made from the bones of large birds
*
Paixiao
The ''paixiao'' (traditional: 排簫; simplified: 排箫; pinyin: ''páixiāo''; also pái xiāo) is a Chinese wind instrument, a form of pan flute. A major difference between the Chinese Paixiao and the panpipes used in European and South Ameri ...
(
pan pipes
A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have bee ...
with distinctive notched or curved blowholes to allow for greater expression)
*
Xun (clay globular flute)
(
Uyghur and
Mongolian minorities also play a version of the
Turkish ney.)
Fipple
The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flute ...
Flutes (air split through whistle flue duct):
*
Jiexiao "Sister xiao" (one of many forms of
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
-style flutes)
*
Dongdi (special
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
-style flute with additional internal reed)
*
Paidi (fipple pipes)
*
Taodi and
Wudu
Wuḍūʾ ( ar, الوضوء ' ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 4 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of ''Wudu'' consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and the fe ...
(Chinese
ocarina.)
Free-Reed flutes (use free-reed instead of splitting the airway, but otherwise play in a similar capacity to flute in terms of breath support and fingering.):
*
Bawu
The ''bawu'' (; also ''ba wu'') is a Chinese wind instrument. Although shaped like a flute, it is actually a free reed instrument, with a single metal reed. It is played in a transverse (horizontal) manner. It has a pure, clarinet-like timbre an ...
(transverse free-reed flute)
*
Hulusi
The ''hulusi'' (traditional: 葫蘆絲; simplified: 葫 芦 丝; pinyin: húlúsī), also known as the cucurbit flute and the gourd flute is a free reed wind instrument from China, Vietnam and the Shan State and by the indigenous people of A ...
(vertical gourd free-reed flute normally with one or two drone pipes)
Chinese flutes are generally made from
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
(see
bamboo flute
The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kn ...
s) and belong to the ''bamboo''
classification of Chinese music, although they can be (and have been) made of other materials such as
jade.
References
External links
Ron Korb's Asian Flute Gallery(features descriptions and photos of the
dizi,
xun, and other Chinese wind instruments
Chinese flute (dizi) finger chartExtensive displays of Hulusi flute and Bawu flute
Chinese musical instruments
Flutes
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