The biwa (Japanese: 琵琶) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching …

biwa, Japanese short-necked lute, distinguished by its graceful, pear-shaped body. The biwa has a shallow, rounded back and silk strings (usually four or five) attached to slender lateral pegs. The instrument is played with a large wedge-shaped plectrum called a bachi .

Although shaped like a Western lute, the Biwa 's back is flat and it has a shallower body. The short neck has four raised frets, each one specifically assigned to one of the left hand fingers. The strings are struck with a hand-held wooden plectrum. …

2024年11月26日 · With a pear-shaped body and four to five strings, the biwa is often compared to a lute. Its deep, resonant sound has made it an iconic instrument, particularly associated with narrative storytelling and classical Japanese music.

The Biwa, Japan's plucked lute, is descended from the Chinese pipa in the 7th century. In Japan it was first used in court music (gaku-biwa), then in a smaller version by Buddhist monks (moso-biwa). Later the heike-biwa, used to recite the epic Tale of Heike, combined elements of most and by the 12th century the most popular instrument.

The biwa developed into five different types in its long history: Gaku, Heike, Mōsō, Satsuma, and Chikuzen. Each type has different and unique tones, techniques, and musical styles. Gaku-biwa (楽琵琶) This is the original form of biwa that came to Japan in the 8 th century. This type of biwa is used for court music called “gagaku ...

2017年9月5日 · The biwa is the Japanese version of a lute. A lute a string instrument that is plucked to produce sound. Its neck can be both unfretted as well as fretted, leading to a signature head that bends backward.

It is said to have made its way into Japan via the Silk Road 1,400 years ago. It is a pear-shaped string instrument belonging to the lute family and has developed independently in Japan, evolving into several styles such as the Heike biwa, Satsuma biwa and Chikuzen biwa among others.

The biwa is a long-necked, 4 or 5-stringed instrument, plucked with a large pick called a bachi. It is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa: both originated in Middle East and were delivered to the West and East via the Silk road.

2024年3月29日 · Nobuko-san first started playing the biwa lute around twenty years ago. Despite the popularity of other traditional Japanese instruments, such as the shamisen or the koto, she found herself drawn to the biwa. “The biwa is not just an instrument that produces sound,” she explains to me on a snowy Tokyo afternoon in Nezu, “the biwa has a ...