Characteristics of Guangdong ditties

The traditional scale is a seven-tone temperament, and the intervals between the seven adjacent tones are roughly the same, with no difference between whole tones and semitones.

Most people mistakenly believe that the Seven Rhythms are composed of two tones, Fa and Si, between Mi-So and La-Do (neutral scale). Most people even think that this type of music is Fa or Si. The phenomenon is caused by the crude and inaccurate production of musical instruments.

The results of research by modern ethnomusicologists have determined that this is a rhythm system that is completely different from the Western and even the traditional Chinese three-point rhythm. The replaced modes include the Yi-anti tune of Cantonese music, the heavy six tunes and live five tunes of Chao music, the soft line of Hakka and Han music, the crying tune of Qin opera, and there are many such tunes in Northwest Wanwan tune.

This kind of temperament has no semitones. The intervals are as follows:

DoReMiFaSoLaSiDo

一一

One, three, five, six, eight, two, two

Eight, six, two, nine, seven, three, 0< /p>

0　0　五0　0　五0

Points, points, points, points

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/< /p>

One-one-one-one-one-one

Eight eight six six eight six six

0　0　五五0五五

Points Fenfenfenfenfen

As can be seen from the above table, the seven-tone scale, except Fa, is lower than the Western scale. Not only is Fa higher, but Si is lower, it's that simple.

The Yifan tune of Cantonese opera has the most important relationship with Qilu. The most famous example is "Zhaojun's Resentment".

[The Resentment of Zhaojun] The first sentence of the original song is:

|　2　|4　245| 5　-|

--====

It is exactly the same as Zhaojun Yuan, the most important six-tone poem in Chaozhou's top ten string poems. See the table below:

| 212 |4　2 1 | 561 |

---- ----- . ----

Near people Translate Si as bSi, and regard the reverse tone of B as the modulation notation, recorded as

|3　3|5　3 56| 6　-|

--== == .

In fact, a few B-anti-tune does have the original intention of modulating, but most B-anti-tune is indeed a scale conversion, just like the Western major and minor scale conversion.

To convert the Western C major into C minor, you need to flat Si, Mi flat, La flat, and borrow the key signature of bE major. But the roll calls in the first keys of C minor and bE major are different. (In modern times, the Western C minor corresponds to the La mode and is translated as the tonic =la, which is wrong.)

In the Chinese pentatonic scale system, the second key to the lower key is #Mi, #La. It is consistent with the use of Fa, (#Mi), and Si (#La=bSi) instead of using Mi and La in the reverse tone of B. However, it is the same as the situation in which Western transpositions borrow high transpositions, so it cannot be determined that the transposition is high. The Cantonese opera [Lian Kuan] has Yi-anti lines in one song, and Yi-anti lines can especially show it clearly.

B reverse line

（7171 2 2 2 04 24 24 5）

==== -- -- --

Yi reverse line

(6161 2 2 2 03 13 23 5),

==== -- -- --

This same tune The conversion of different scales is especially common in Nanyin rap.

If a seven-temperature traditional musical instrument is used, there is no big difference between the two notations of [Zhaojun Yuan]. When a Western twelve-temperature instrument is used, the original flavor of Yifan tune cannot be played. To play Yi and reverse tune, the left index finger should be pressed on Si-Fa, which is called the empty finger.

The characteristics of Cantonese ditties, in addition to the rhythm and key mentioned above, are derived from Cantonese opera a cappella. Around the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, there was an eight-tone troupe that specialized in singing Cantonese opera a cappella. They used Cantonese opera scripts, Cantonese opera tunes, and Cantonese opera's "stage mandarin" to sing in different roles. Later, there appeared blind female artists who sold and sang through the streets, and they were called "Gu Ji" and "Master Niang". Each of them has to master the singing of different roles, and one person can sing multiple roles. Compared with the "eight-note class", they have made new developments in singing skills. This kind of singing has been popular for more than 60 years and is called the "Master Niang Period" in the history of Cantonese opera. The main repertoire they sang included the "Eight Famous Songs" such as "Baili Xi Meets His Wife", "Daiyu Buries Flowers", "Abandoning Chu and Returning to Han". After the Republic of China, bright-eyed women gradually appeared on the teahouse singing stage singing Cantonese opera, and people called them "female actresses." They changed the "Stage Mandarin" to Guangzhou dialect, changed the falsetto voice to the real voice, and divided it into three singing styles: Dahou, Pinghou (this is a special tune for male roles), and Zihou (a special tune for female roles). Cantonese Opera It has entered its heyday, known in history as the "Era of Actresses".

Modern Guangdong was the least constrained by historical baggage and had the greatest flexibility for free development. In addition, it was located as a trading port with foreign countries and was the first to have contact with foreign cultures and was influenced and inspired by Western culture.

The dulcimer, a foreign musical instrument, was first introduced from Guangdong and was successfully used in Guangdong music.

Guangdong music was the first to adopt the method of dulcimer and bamboo to note the difference between

thirty-second notes and syncopations, front couplets, and back couplets. Later, it was also the first to use simplified music notation, and the first to publish a collection of music. , signed with the composer's name and surname, accompanied by an introduction to musical instruments and playing methods and Western music theory. It was the first to use steel strings, using high positions and sliding finger-changing methods. The first to successfully compose music using techniques such as midway modulation and dark modulation. From the comparison of music score collections published by Zao Ji, we can find that in just ten years, the performance of the same music score has been very different. This kind of evolutionary phenomenon is unique to Cantonese opera. Cantonese opera is also the only traditional music genre that is constantly being created. The contemporary and social themes of the repertoire also fully reflect the prosperity of this music genre. Although modern scholars do not fully agree with this direction, they cannot deny the existence of this fact.

Among the many traditional folk musics, Cantonese opera is the only one whose author’s name can be traced and is spread in all provinces across the country. In the early years of the Republic of China, in just twenty years, about 500 pieces of music were produced. The hard bow preparation was also quickly changed to the soft bow preparation. Add twelve-tone instruments, even Western instruments, and more. Compared with Kunqu Opera and Nanguan Opera, whose instruments, arrangement, notation and repertoire have been stagnant for a long time, it is indeed refreshing.

These evolutionary factors are all responsible for its successful spread.

Secondly, the great Western influence and Westernization are also obvious characteristics of Cantonese opera. Cantonese opera uses violins, saxophones, amplified guitars, xylophones, mute trumpets, jazz drums, pianos and other Western instruments, as mentioned above. Cantonese opera also adopts Western composition techniques such as triple time and dance rhythm, pattern progression, melody, musical progression, and arpeggio progression. The notation method also completely absorbs the terminology and notation of Western music. It can be said to be the type of music most influenced by the West.

The earliest commercialization of Cantonese opera, the most suitable commercialization has continued to this moment:

Cantonese opera records were first used for dubbing silent films. This stimulated record publishing and the establishment of professional bands. It led to the creation of music and the emergence of professional composers and performers. Dance halls can also use it as dance music. To this day in Taiwan, Chinese-style bands in dance venues, restaurants, teahouses, and restaurants still mainly play dulcimer and Cantonese ditties.

The range of Cantonese ditties is wider (can be big jumps), the speed can be faster, the melody is denser (fills), and the styles are diverse (there are many composers), and the adagio portamento playing method is even more expressive Delicate and diverse techniques can be soft or hard. With its plasticity and broad adaptability, it can be used to play folk songs, pop songs, and dance music. It is difficult for us to imagine using Nanguan and Pingju bands to play popular and entertainment music. The gorgeous, smooth and pleasant Cantonese ditty is very familiar with this. The general public is also familiar with it.

In short, Cantonese opera is an extremely advanced, westernized and commercialized music genre.

In terms of technique, everyone can talk about the portamentos and fills in Cantonese opera and they can explain it clearly.

The Gaohu instrument was first replaced by steel strings by Lu Wencheng, and the high pitch was set at five degrees to match the rhyme of the human voice. In addition to the front portamentos such as note and chao that are also found in other music types, back portamento such as bringing up and bringing up are often used when jumping in, and even big portamento. Repeating the same sound emphasizes the rotary portamento. The minor third progression often uses the glissando method for both notes (which is different from Jiangnan Sizhu which only uses glissando on high notes, or only uses pad finger glissando on low notes), which is called the wiping method.

The addition of flowers on Jiangnan silk and bamboo, as well as the embellishment of tunes, are especially good at the development of tunes. There are examples of the "eight boards" system such as "Five generations living under one roof".

However, if you delve deeper into the history of Cantonese opera, you can easily collect the sources of some famous songs and their spread in different periods, so as to understand the development process of its fillers and melodies. In particular, after analyzing the process of Yan Laolie's four famous songs - Lian Lian Kou, Spring Comes, Falling Curtain, Drought Thunder, we have to admit that his techniques of adding flowers and developing techniques are unique in terms of the polishing and development of the tunes. It is impressive, no less than Jiangnan Sizhu.

1. Cantonese opera often uses a three-ban attack. Before the attack, the clapper plays two bars to determine the speed. This is called Zhongding Qi, which is different from the Qikou ban that starts on the first beat. The leader's introduction can be done in the second half of the second beat by adding flowers to introduce the music, which is called taking the lead.

The first note can range from one to four notes, usually two notes. These two tones and the attack sound form a scale, and after adding the auxiliary tones, they become four tones. Therefore, there are often two identical tones among the four tones. Such as:

|0　0 32　12　32|=|0　03532　12　32|

--==---- ---====----< /p>

2. Change the long beat fill-in to unison repetition or octave interspersion. Use less long wheels and more short-beat pulleys (single bamboo wheels)

| 5 3 3 3 6 1|=| 5555 3 3333 3 6 1 |

- -- --- ==== --==== ---

3. Between the two jumps, you can add an intermediate sound to increase the smoothness. On the contrary, an external sound can be added between two adjacent sounds to increase the sense of beating.

. . . ..

| 1-31 | 7 = |1 7 6 5 3 56 12|7

--- --- - -== --

4. A sparse tone melody can be turned into a dense tone melody by adding the modal tonic in the weak beat, which is called seat tone.

6535|5 55 27 27 6 |5

---------------------

= 6535|5555 5525 7525 7565| 5

======== ==== ==== ====

5. If the two beats before and after have the same note or proceed in a scale, A strong beat sound can appear again on a weak beat, which is called a double hold sound. When the front sound is reproduced and the original sound appears with a delayed small beat, it is called a single-sustained sound.

Dual-hold tone|0 0 32 1 23 5 |=|0 0 32 1 2 1235|

--== ------ --== -- - ====

Single-sustained tone|0 0 32 1 23 5 |=|0 0 32 1 12 3 35|

--== ------ --== --== --==

6. Double the two-note beat and repeat it twice, which is called doubling.

| 00 321 23 5 |= |0 0 32 12123 5 |

--==------ --== ====---< /p>

7. For the upper (lower) sound, first insert the reverse adjacent sound, and then play the original sound to increase the forward sound potential, which is called auxiliary sound. This is the Chinese music grammar that is popular throughout the country.

| 00 321 63 5 |= | 00 32 1216 3235 |

--==------ --== ==== ====< /p>

8. Use scale progression instead of homophonic repetition. This is a bolder way of adding flowers.

| 67654 350 |= |6765 4 356150 |

====--- ==== --====

9. Add a fill-in to the long shot.

| 216 2 12 3|

|61|2 - - -|5= |2 - 3-|=|2.1 2 3| | 2.12316 2123 |

10. After the short beat note, you can use a one-handed pulley to add the next note to the lower note.

|0 0 321 6 3 5 |= |00 321 6．23 5|

--==--- --- --==--=== =---

11. For back-beat sounds, you can use the sustained tone method of the front beat to form a doubling of the current beat. This is a common usage in Cantonese music

3

|0 352 20 35 |= |0 3522232 35 |

--==------ --==----==--=

12. There are more changes from one tone to two or more, to name a few:

6 5=61 56=6561 5356 6 1=65 61=6156 1761

5 6=51 65=5617 6765 2 3=21 23=2313 2123

Finally, let’s talk about the repertoire of Cantonese opera. In his introduction to national instrumental music, Gao Houyong classified Cantonese opera repertoire into narrative scenes and narrative emotions. In fact, all local music repertoire, if divided by the title, can be distinguished into narrative works and narrative works. This is the same as describing fineness, smallness and elegance as the characteristics of Jiangnan silk and bamboo, which is not generalized.

In silk and bamboo music, Cantonese ditties are the most widely circulated music. The reason is that the tunes are beautiful, the skills are superb, the repertoire is diverse, and the creations are novel. Coupled with the promotion of commercialization in the early Republic of China, professional bands and musicians were produced; this encouraged the creation and improvement of musical instruments and the publication of music, which further contributed to the circulation of Cantonese opera.

The above summary can be summed up in two words: "evolution". It is said that this is because Cantonese opera is more evolved. For example:

˙The period when Cantonese opera was formed is closest to modern times.

˙The sound range of Guangdong ditties is wider (can have big jumps), the speed can be faster, and the melody is denser (filling), which is also more in line with the preferences of modern people

˙The theme of the song Times and socialization also fully reflect the prosperity of this music genre, and its entertainment and commercialization capabilities are also the strongest

˙The source of the music, the variation process, and even the creative style can still be analyzed and compared. Qu example.

˙Guangdong has the earliest contact with the West, and its music has been greatly influenced by the West: for example, the dulcimer was introduced to Gaohu, who adopted violin strings, tuning methods, playing methods (clipping, high bar, vibrato) and even added guitar The saxophone, saxophone, etc. adopt syncopation, triple time and other more complex music beats that are not traditional. They were also the first to adopt Western simplified notation. Western composition techniques such as modulation, modular progression, musical progression, and arpeggio progression are adopted.

˙It pioneered the creation of traditional music in modern times. At that time, publishing became a trend, and there were many composers who could not be found in various traditional music genres.