Our purpose for living is to create the future.

– Author: Michael Krozer

Often times when I listen to music its usually Guzheng music. This ancient instrument has a history well over 2500 years and almost went extinct throughout its long period of transformation. This powerful instrument was once reserved for the imperial family now soothes our modern ears today with its silken sounds. The Guzheng is a zither harp like instrument with 21 strings, tuned pentatonic ( 5 notes that repeat over the 21 strings) and has moveable wooden bridges under each string. Each bridge is of a different height, shorter bridges for the thinnest strings and thicker taller bridges for the thickest strings. The Guzheng bridges are not fixed to the sound board, they can be easily moved to change key or to tune, they can be placed at different parts of the sound board for more avant- garde experimental sounds. The right side of the instrument is tuned, the left side is not tuned and its mostly used for creating those unique bending sounds or (vibrato) that we often hear and love.

Here is a picture of Guzheng legend Master Weishan Liu playing the Guzheng, notice the bridges holding the strings which allows for the musician to bend the sound which is a highlight of the instruments character.

You can check out a video of Master Weishan Liu playing the guzheng here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx3vAvRQjF4

The beautiful and profoundly soothing sound of this instrument has been the source of inspiration for poets and scholars for over two thousand years. Below is a poem I wrote in awe of this instrument.

The guzheng is very much like a dragon over the sea, peaceful and strong, associated with the qualities of water and spirituality, this instrument has certainly brought beauty to us in the USA. I hope that people will always continually be inspired to learn this incredible instrument and its history!. I will never forget the first time I heard my teacher play High Mountain Flowing Rivers 高山流水 (Gao Shan Liu Shui) it moved me to tears. Before me sat an expert Guzheng musician from China with 50 years experience playing the guzheng, with sound he painted a scene of ancient China, with mountains and rivers, trees and forest animals all majestically one with nature. I encourage you to check out the guzheng and read about its history, quite a cool instrument!

Jarrelle