Playable heritage game

Dizi

Also known as 笛子 · bamboo flute

The dizi is the Chinese side-blown bamboo flute. It has six finger holes and a further hole covered with a thin membrane, which makes the tone bright and slightly buzzing.

Play the preview About this tradition

Dizi: photograph by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, source on Wikimedia Commons

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How to play

Each pipe shows the finger holes to cover: dark discs are covered, light ones left open.
Each mark that falls onto the line is one note; sound that pipe as it arrives and hold the longer ones.
Notes are named in the numbered way: 5 6 7 are the low notes, 1 2 3 the middle ones, then the octave above.

Rules at a glance

Covering all six holes sounds the lowest note and lifting fingers from the bottom upward climbs the scale; the same fingering sounds an octave higher with a stronger breath.
The three tunes are played twice, in four beats to the bar: a slow scale, a folk-song style tune and a quick run.
A note on the beat scores in full, a close one scores less, and an extra stroke costs a little.

About the tradition

The dizi has been played in China for many centuries in folk music, theatre and village bands, and in two main schools: a lyrical southern style with short ornaments and a fast, bright northern one. Its membrane hole is a distinguishing feature of the instrument.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Classical Worlds (about 1000 BCE to 500 CE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of China.

Credits

Tune patterns: World Heritage Games (original teaching patterns)
Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, source on Wikimedia Commons
Text: CC BY-SA 4.0, World Heritage Games.

Sources

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dizi_MET_mi65.149.R.jpg

Get the app

Dizi is one of 10 instruments and dances in the Music & Dance of the World app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Submitted to the App Store and Google Play; in review. Store links appear here the day it goes live. One app, many traditions, no account needed.

See all 10 instruments and dances in the app

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