![]() A didgeridoo can measure anywhere from 1-3 metres (3 to 10 feet) long – generally, the longer the instrument, the lower its pitch or key, and is usually made from hardwood, especially eucalyptus. Developed by the country’s indigenous peoples, it’s a wooden trumpet ‘drone pipe’, classified by musicologists as a ‘brass aerophone’. One of Australia’s most distinctive instruments is surely the didgeridoo. Other featured instruments on the Asia playlist include the dizi flute, pipa guitar, guzheng, hulusi flute, zither, gamelan and tabla. This large, wooden instrument is played with picks worn on the fingers, and uses movable bridges placed under each string to change the pitch. Historians think the koto was invented around the fifth to the third century BC in China, with the 13-stringed version coming to Japan during the Nara period (710-794). Sometimes called a ‘five-holed bamboo flute’ in English, it has four holes on the front, and one on the back, and is characterised by its distinctively poignant tone. ![]() The shakuhachi is a flute made of bamboo that’s played by blowing on one end. It’s played with a large triangular plectrum that’s used to strike the strings. It has three strings, with the pitch adjusted by tuning pegs on the head, like a guitar or violin. The shamisen resembles a guitar, with a long, thin neck and a small rectangular body covered with skin. The key instruments used to play Japanese music are: shamisen, shakuhachi and koto. The focus is on creating music that flows, in an attempt to mirror the behaviour of nature. All of the rhythms are ‘ma’-based and silence is an important part of the songs. Sitar players hold the instrument at a 45° angle on their laps while seated, plucking the strings with a wire plectrum worn on the right forefinger while the left hand manipulates the strings with subtle pressure on or between the frets and with sideways pulls of the strings.Īn interesting feature of classical Japanese music is its sparse rhythm and absence of regular chords. The sitar, popular in northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, typically measures about 1.2 metres (4 feet), with a deep pear-shaped gourd body, a long, wide, hollow wooden neck, strings, both front and side tuning pegs and 20 arched movable frets. Hear the balalaika on our Europe playlist, together with Hardanger fiddle, bouzouki and accordion.
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