Timbral Characteristics of a Seventh-Century Qin Piece of the Chinese Literati

Abstract

The music of the qin, the seven-string zither of the Chinese literati, is characterized by its timbral variety produced by different playing techniques. This paper analyses the timbral characteristics of the earliest extant qin piece, Jieshi diao youlan, dating from the seventh century. Spectrograms help readers to visualize the timbral characteristics of individual tones as well as the intermixture of different tone colors within a single musical phrase. This study demonstrates that the interplay between timbre and other musical elements can be of structural significance. At a large-scale level, timbral distinctions help to map out an overall four-part structure. At a small-scale level, timbre is used as a defining feature of a musical phrase. At particular points, relationships can be identified among fingering, timbre, and transposition, as well as among fingering, timbre, and melody in two layers. Such focus on timbre is related to the structure of the instrument, its fingering techniques, its notations which prescribe the timbral changes, and the rich cultural background and distinctive aesthetic tastes of the literati. This study illustrates a timbre-centric methodological approach for research on the qin repertoire and potentially on other musics which have traditionally been analyzed from pitch-centric perspectives.