December 24, 2010

I hope some of you find this list useful. This is an ever evolving list in terms of both formatting and content. Right now, it's just a dump from a text file I had compiled last year in my attempts to communicate with local (Shenzhen) music shop folks.  -Rand.

Western Stringed Instrument Names (Lutes)

    1-Stringer                     (洋)一弦吉他      (yáng) yī​​ xián jí tā

    2-Stringer                     (洋)二弦吉他      (yáng) èr​​ xián jí tā

    3-Stringer                     (洋)三弦吉他      (yáng) sān​ xián jí tā

    4-Stringer                     (洋)四弦吉他      (yáng) sì​ xián jí tā

    Where "洋"("yáng") means "western" to differentiate something from the

    Chinese variety of the instrument such as the "三弦" ("sān​ xián").

Chinese Stringed Instrument Names (Lutes)

	1.)  琵琶 (pí pá)  A Chinese plucked fretted 4-stringed fretted instrument like a lute with a pear shaped body / acoustical resonator. Unlike a true lute which has a separate body an neck, the pipa's body slowly tapers down to the head. In Chinese, the term "pipa" also refers to a class of similar plucked stringed instruments.
	2.) 柳琴 (liǔ qín)  The liuqin looks to be a shortend version on the pipa. This instrument is also called "liu ye qin" (柳叶琴 / liǔ ye qín) because it is said to be shaped like a willow tree leaf.
	3.) 阮 (ruǎn) A Chinese plucked fretted 4-stringed fretted instrument with a circular body like a Yueqin (moon guitar), but with a longer neck. The body also has two sound holes. They come in three sizes: big (大阮 / dà ruǎn), medium (中阮 / zhōng ruǎn) and small (小阮 / xiǎo ruǎn).
	4.) 月琴 (yuè qín) The yueqin or "moon guitar" is a four stringed fretted lute with a round "moon-shaped" body and a short neck. The head features 4 large friction tuner pegs, but no sound holes.
	5.) 三弦 (sān xián) The sānxián is a kind of long necked fretless three-stringed Chinese lute with a snakeskin covered wooden soundbox that is "squarish-oval" in shape. In Japan and in English, they are also known as "samisens" and they come in several sizes. The big drum sān xián (大鼓三弦) is popular in northern China while the small drum sān xián is more popular in southern China where it's used in the Kunqu opera.
	6.) 秦琴 (Qín qín) The qinqin is a 3-stringed plucked or strummed instrument usually found in southern China. The traditional form of the instrument has large peg tuners and a sound box that varies in shape from 6-sided, 8-sided, to plum flower shape (shown here). The modern version looks to be a banjo like instrument with a drum resonator and geared tuners, but be aware that the fretting does not match Western chromatic or diatonic fretting schemes. They may appear to be diatonic, but they are not. Take this from personal experience. But, if re-fretting an instrument is within your skill set, they do make a nice banjo like strum stick when diatonically fretted the Western way.
	7.) 胡琴  (hú​qin) Hu qin refers to a family of Chinese two-stringed fiddles, with snakeskin covered wooden sound box and bamboo bow with horsehair bowstring. The most famous of these is called the Erhu (二胡 / èr hú). Another is called the Banhu, which is like a Erhu, but with a coconut shell body. Other variations exist. All are bowed instruments.

Parts of a Guitar

1. head, headstock             琴头           qín tóu
2. neck                              琴 颈          qín jǐng
3. body                              琴体           qín tǐ
4. tuning pegs, keys           弦轴           xián zhóu
5. friction tuners                ??               ??                  摩擦 (mó cā) = "friction"
6. geared tuners                齿轮           chǐ lún            lit: "tooth wheel"
7. guitar strings                吉他弦         jítā​ xián
8. steel guitar strings        钢丝吉他弦  gāng jítā​ xián
9. nylon guitar strings        尼龙吉他弦  nílóng jítā​ xián
10. cat gut string                 肠线           cháng xiàn     "intestines (string; wire; line; thread)"
11. scale length                   弦长            xián​ cháng     "string length"
12. nut                                山口           shān​ kǒu
13. bridge                            琴马           qín mǎ
14. saddle                            ??               ??
15. fretboard, fingerboard    指板           zhǐ bǎn 
16. frets                              品              ​pǐn
17. fret marker                    ??               ??
    
18. truss rod                        桁架杆        héng ​jià​ gan​
19. sound box                      音箱            yīn​xiāng
20. sound board                   面板            miàn bǎn
21. sound hole                     音孔            yīn kǒng
22. rosette                           ??               ??
23. cut away                         ??               ??
24. pic guard                        ??               ??
25. tail piece                        ??               ??
26. heal                               ??                ??
27. shoulder strap                吉他肩带      jí​tā​ bēi​dài​
28. strap pin                        背带扣         bēi​dài​ kòu​
29. plectrum, pick                拨片, 拨子    bō piàn​, bō zi
30. slide                              滑棒             huá​ bàng​
    
31. bow                               弓子             gōng​ zǐ
32. capo                              变调夹          biàn ​diào ​jiā
33. guitar tuner                   吉他调音器    jí​tā​ tiáo​yīn qì
34. guitar case                     吉他盒          jí tā hé
35. hard case                       监 盒             jiān hé        (Maybe 硬盒 yìng hé  ??)
36. soft case                        软盒              ruǎn hé   
37. guitar stand                   吉他架子        jí tā jià zi

Verbs: 
     to tune                           调音             tiáo​yīn​   

     to tune a guitar               调音吉他      tiáo​yīn​ jí​tā
     to play/perform music     演奏             yǎn​zòu​   
     to pluck/pick                   弹                tán​    

                  弹奏    tán​zòu​          to play (a stringed musical instrument)

    to play (string instruments)    拉     lā         to pull; to drag; to draw (probably with a bow)

    to strum            乱弹 ( ? )    luàn tán​        "disorderly play a stringed instrument" ??

    Can you play the guitar?    你 会不会 弹 吉他？        Nǐ  huì bù huì tán jí tā?

    Tunning                            定音    dìng yīn        (lit: "to set sound" or "to fix sound")

    Length (of instrument)    长度    cháng dù        

    Width (of instrument)      宽度     kuān dù        At the widest point of the resonator box.

    Depth (of instrument)       深度     shēn dù        Depth of the reonator box.

    // For instance a Soprano Ukulele's tuning or 定音 (dìng yīn) is usually G-C-E-A'.
    尤克里里的定弦：
    基本定弦为" G.C.E.A"；也有定弦定弦为"A.D.#F.B"以。

    The 4 sizes of Ukuleles are:                                      长度
        1.) Soprano    高音        gāo yīn             女高音        21寸
        2.) Concert     中音        zhōng  yīn        音乐会        23寸
        3.) Tenor        次中音    cì zhōng yīn      男高音        26寸
        4.) Baritone    与低音     yu dī yīn          男中音        30.5寸

  Electric Guitar Parts

    (sound) volume           音量                      yīn ​liàng​
    volume control            音量调节器             yīn ​liàng tiáo ​jié ​qì
    pitch, tone                  音调                      yīn​ diào​   
    tone control                调调节器                yīn​ diào tiáo ​jié ​qì​
    equalizer                    均衡器                    jūn​ héng​ qì
        ??                           颤音结构等装置       "Tremolo device structures" ??

    pick-up                           拾音器              shí​ yīn​ qì​            (lit: pickup sound device)
    magnetic coil                  电磁线圈           diàn​ cí​ xiàn​ quān​    (coil, solenoid)
    single coil                       单线圈              dān ​xiàn​ quān​
    double-coil (humbucker)   双线圈             shuāng​ xiàn​ quān​
    piezo-electric pickup        压电拾音器       yā​ diàn shí yīn qì​   
    pre-amp                          前置放大器       qián​ zhì​ fàng​ dà​ qì​
    guitar amplifier               吉他音箱           jí​ tā​  yīn​ xiāng​
        吉他    jí​tā​            guitar
        音箱    yīn​ xiāng​    soundbox / resonating chamber of a musical instrument

    amplifier                         放大器              fàng​ dà​ qì​
                                 电磁扩音装置              diàn​ cí kuò​ yīn​​ zhuāng​ zhì​
                                 通过扩音装置              tōng ​guò​ kuò yīn​ zhuāng ​zhì​

    power output          ???
    speakers                          扬声器               yáng ​shēng​ qì​

    (audio) cable                // 音频电缆 ? audio electric cable
                                       // 音频线 ? audio cable
                                       // 线 ? string

??    (audio) jack        音频插孔    yīn ​pín chā​    kǒng
??    (audio) plug        音频插件    yīn ​pín chā ​jiàn

    to tune                    ??    
    to adjust                    调整           tiáo zhěng
   
    tuner                       条频器           tiáo pín qì
    electronic tuner        电子条频器    diàn  zǐ tiáo pín qì
    chromatic tuner        色彩条频器    sè cǎi tiáo pín qì

Guitar Building Materials:

    hardwood             硬木材        yìng​ mù​ cái​     
    softwood              软木材        ruǎn​ mù​ cái​
    plywood                胶合板        jiāo ​hé ​bǎn​   
    laminated wood     层压板        céng ​yā​ bǎn​

    veneer                 单板            dān bǎn​

    poplar (wood)        白杨木        bái​ yáng​ mù​
    mahogany             桃花心木        táo​ huā​ xīn ​mù​
    rosewood              紫檀 / 玫瑰木    zǐ​ tán / méi​ guī​ mù​
    ebony                   黑檀        hēi​ tán
    ash (wood)            梣木        ?? mù​
    spruce                   云杉        yún​shān​   
    maple                    枫木        fēng​mù​

Music Terminology:

1. song                               歌曲             gē​qǔ​       
2. guitar music                   吉他 音乐      jí​tā yīn​yuè​
3. guitar tabs                     吉他谱          jí​tā​ pǔ​
4. music note(s)                 音符             yīn​fú​
5. chord (music)                 和弦             hé​xián​
6. musical scale                  音阶             yīn​jiē​
7. major key                      大调             dà​ diào
8. minor key                      小调             xiǎo​ diào
9. C Major Scale                C大调音阶     C dà​diào​ yīn​jiē​
10. E Minor Scale                 E小调规模     E xiǎo​diào​​ yīn​jiē​