welcome to cleveland Branch of”The San Francisco GU-Zheng Music Society”.

The San Francisco Gu-Zheng Music Society (http://www.guzheng.org/index.htm) was formed in 1982 by musician Weishan Liu (http://www.guzheng.org/Text/weishanliu.htm) in San Francisco to promote and share the rich heritage of traditional Chinese classical , folk, and contemporary music.

Joanna Tang, a niece of Weishan Liu, is a second generation player from a traditional playing family.Starting at five years old, she first learned from her mother (herself a student of Cao Zheng and Zhao Yuzhai), then studied under professors Yan Li and Yang Nani.In 2001, she was awarded the top level professional playing certificate from both the China Music Conservatory and the China Nationalities Orchestra Society.Joanna has been teaching private lessons at all levels since 1998, and some of her best students have achieved a level 9 certification from the China National Musical Instruments Artistic Cultivation Performance Examination Committee.If you’re interested in learning how to play the guzheng here in Cleveland, sign up for coming 2007 summer classes by contacting Joanna at

play_guzheng@yahoo.com

or (440) 389-4134

If you need of an instrument of your own, a good starting place to order one online is http://www.chinesezither.net/index.html

About Guzhengs

Guzhengs are plucked string instruments, and one of the oldest members of the zither family.Documented as early as the Qin dynasty (~220 BCE), it is among the most ancient of Chinese instruments, as well as the ancestor of the Japanese koto, Korean kayagum, Mongolian yatag, and Vietnamese dan tranh.Guzhengs have been popular since ancient times, and today are used in both traditional chamber and solo music.In the past 150 years, the solo repertoire in particular has grown and evolved, with a noticeable increase in technical complexity.

Guzhengs are built with a special wooden sound body, with strings arched across movable bridges along the length of the instrument.These bridges are used for both tuning and producing the instrument’s sound.The very first guzhengs had only 5 strings.During the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), 12 and 13 string versions began to appear, with a 16 string variant arriving during either the Song (960-1279CE) or Ming (1368-1644) dynasty.Modern guzhengs typically have between 21 and 25 strings. The pitch of any given string is determined by the position of the bridge, and by changing their positions, a guzheng can be tuned to any scale, with the pentatonic (five-tone) scale being most common. The performer plucks the strings with the right hand and presses with the left to produce the not only the desired pitch, but subtle tones and ornamentals as well.A full scale can also be obtained by applying pressure from the opposite side of the bridge with the left hand.

For traditional songs, picks are attached to each finger with tape. In these repertoires, three fingers on the right hand are used for plucking, while the left presses on the strings from the opposite side of the bridge to create the guzheng’s characteristic tonalities and ornaments.Some contemporary repertoires even two-handed plucking, while in others, a cello bow may be called upon to produce sustained sounds and special effects. Others require sticks to hit the strings, much like the hammered dulcimer.