the.com/guzheng
a 2,500-year-old zither that sounds like a waterfall arguing with a thunderstorm
means A Chinese plucked zither with a long wooden soundboard and many strings stretched over movable bridges, played by plucking with the fingers (often with picks) to produce flowing, resonant tones.
from From Mandarin Chinese 古筝 (gǔzhēng): gǔ meaning "ancient" and zhēng, the name of the zither family. The zhēng is documented in China well over two thousand years ago, with later forms developing the movable bridges and growing string counts we know today. It belongs to a broad East Asian family of bridge-zithers — a cousin of the Japanese koto and the Korean gayageum, which trace back to related instruments.
- string count
- modern versions have 21 strings, ancient ones had 5
- finger picks
- played with picks taped to four fingers
- movable bridges
- each string rides its own sliding bridge
- left hand magic
- pressing strings bends pitch into eerie slides
- family tree
- ancestor of Japan's koto and Korea's gayageum
liu fang — chinese guzheng master who recorded over 100 albums and performed worldwide since the 1980s
wang zhongshan — contemporary guzheng virtuoso and composer who won the national music competition in china
high mountain flowing water — classical guzheng composition attributed to qu xiaoxiao, one of the most famous pieces in the instrument's repertoire