Shi'er lü
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Sh%C3%AD-%C3%A8r-l%C7%9C_on_C.png/300px-Sh%C3%AD-%C3%A8r-l%C7%9C_on_C.png)
Shi'er lü (Chinese: 十二律; pinyin: shí'èr lǜ; lit. '12 pitches'; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂɻ̩˧˥ aɚ˥˧ ly˥˩]) is a standardized gamut of twelve notes used in ancient Chinese music.[1] It is also known, rather misleadingly, as the Chinese chromatic scale; it was only one kind of chromatic scale used in ancient Chinese music. The shi'er lü uses the same intervals as the Pythagorean scale, based on 3:2 ratios (8:9, 16:27, 64:81, etc.). The gamut or its subsets were used for tuning and are preserved in bells and pipes.[2]
Unlike the Western chromatic scale, the shi'er lü was not used as a scale in its own right; it is rather a set of fundamental notes on which other scales were constructed.[3]
The first reference to "standardization of bells and pitch" dates back to around 600 BCE, while the first description of the generation of pitches dates back to around 240 CE.[3]
Note names
[edit]- 黃鐘 (黄钟) - Huáng Zhōng - tonic/unison - 1 : 1 -
- 大呂 (大吕) - Dà Lǚ - semitone - 37 : 211 -
- 太簇 - Tài Cù - major second - 32 : 23 -
- 夾鐘 (夹钟) - Jiá Zhōng - minor third - 39 : 214 -
- 姑洗 - Gū Xǐ - major third - 34 : 26 -
- 仲呂 (中吕) - Zhòng Lǚ - perfect fourth - 311 : 217 -
- 蕤賓 (蕤宾) - Ruí Bīn - tritone - 36 : 29 -
- 林鐘 (林钟) - Lín Zhōng - perfect fifth - 3 : 2 -
- 夷則 (夷则) - Yí Zé - minor sixth - 38 : 212 -
- 南呂 (南吕) - Nán Lǚ - major sixth - 33 : 24 -
- 無射 (无射) - Wú Yì - minor seventh - 310 : 215 -
- 應鐘 (应钟) - Yìng Zhōng - major seventh - 35 : 27 -
There were 12 notes in total, which fall within the scope of one octave. Note that the mathematical method used by the ancient Chinese could never produce a true octave, as the next higher frequency in the series of frequencies produced by the Chinese system would be higher than 880 hertz.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Chinese_Music_Gamut_%26_Scales.svg/800px-Chinese_Music_Gamut_%26_Scales.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/%E5%92%8C%E6%BC%A2%E6%B4%8B%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E9%9F%B3%E5%BE%8B%E5%AF%BE%E7%85%A7%E8%A1%A8_1909%E5%B9%B4_%E9%9F%B3%E5%90%8D%E3%83%BB%E9%9A%8E%E5%90%8D.jpg/220px-%E5%92%8C%E6%BC%A2%E6%B4%8B%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E9%9F%B3%E5%BE%8B%E5%AF%BE%E7%85%A7%E8%A1%A8_1909%E5%B9%B4_%E9%9F%B3%E5%90%8D%E3%83%BB%E9%9A%8E%E5%90%8D.jpg)
See the article by Chen Ying-shi.[4]
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Reinisch, Richard (?). Chinesische Klassische Musik, p. 30. Books On Demand. ISBN 978-3-8423-4502-7.
Sources
[edit]- ^ Joseph C.Y. Chen (1996). Early Chinese Work in Natural Science: A Re-examination of the Physics of Motion, Acoustics, Astronomy and Scientific Thoughts, p. 96. ISBN 962-209-385-X.
- ^ Chen (1996), p.97.
- ^ a b Needham, Joseph (1962/2004). Science and Civilization in China, Vol. IV: Physics and Physical Technology, p.170-171. ISBN 978-0-521-05802-5.
- ^ 一种体系 两个系统 by 陈应时 (Yi zhong ti-xi, liang ge xi-tong by Chen Ying-shi of the Shanghai Conservatory), Musicology in China, 2002, Issue 4, 中国音乐学,2002,第四 期
External links
[edit]- Graham Pont. "Philosophy and Science of Music in Ancient Greece: The Predecessors of Pythagoras and their Contribution", Nexus Network Journal.