I don't understand the numbering, and have no musical background so I guess that might help more then hinder but I still have nothing to fall back on.

I have a 8 hole Xiao in key of G and just wondering are the numbers from top down 1-8 since I got 8 holes (including the back one) or something else?

Is there a easy way to remember this?

Also any tips on mouth placement and blowing strength in English?

Thank you

Hi Folks!

I want to make a set of bamboo dizi but I can't find measurements aside from a wiki-how that measures in even inches which seems suspicious. I would like the measurements for every key and dizi style if possible!

If anyone knows where I can find these measurements or if you own a set of dizi that you can measure, I would appreciate the help. I need overall length, length to each hole, and diameter of the flute. Any additional information would be very helpful!

Thank you so much everyone :)

• I have knowledge of classical piano up to grade 3 theory and practical from when I was a teenager.

• A friend gifted me a guitar a long time ago. I tried to self-learn, but I failed due to my index fingers. No matter how short I trim my nails, even if I trim until they bleed, the nails are still further than the tips of my fingers, so my nails always hit the fretboard.

• I am considering learning either Guqin or Guzheng but leaning more towards Guqin as the Guzheng seems troublesome to set up and play. Aesthetically, it looks more suited for ladies with the fake nails for plucking too.

• Although I like the sounds from the Guzheng more, it seems like there is a larger variety of techniques you can do with it, whereas the Guqin seems more limited and harder to play (basically the guitar fretboard all over again). Whereas Guzheng has movable bridges to assist in setting up the scale, so whatever you pluck will at least sound in harmony (I think? Not sure if that is how Guzheng functions).

1. Will I have the same issue with my nails as I did with the guitar?

2. Which instrument is easier to maintain? Is it as easy as a guitar with a tuner app on mobile compared to a piano, where you need special equipment to tune and a heater to maintain?

3. Should I learn Guqin or Guzheng?

I'll basically be self learning with online tutorial videos.

i am from austria and cant find anyone im learning with one course i got from udemy and im doing pretty well i would say started to play 5 months ago and practice every day for at least 20-30 minutes but it would be awesome to have someone to listen and tell me what im doing wrong if i am doing something wrong

Where can I buy a keyed Suona? I'm based in the states

I'm buying my first dizi. Because there are no dizi stores near me I will have to buy it from the internets. I would like it to be a high quality one, so I have a few questions.

• DXH seems to be the most universally recommended brand and the safest bet. Is this correct?
• How can you tell if a DXH dizi is made by DXH himself or a craftsman under his guidance?
• How can you verify that a dizi is the model the seller claims it is? They all look the same to me.
• Prices for the same model seem to vary significantly at each store. What's the reason for this?
• Are there any gotchas I should be aware of?

I'm planning to get a D key qudi, if it matters. Leaning towards bamboo (as opposed to rosewood/sandalwood/stainless steel) primarily for the presumed lighter weight.

Basically what the title says. I want to buy a zhongruan (hope I am writing that correctly). I am based in Greece so the only option is to buy it online. Any advice is highly appreciated!

Hi,

I've recently picked up playing the dizi. I want to learn to count music. I was wondering if there exists a collection of music scores that progressively get harder?

If it's a book, I also don't mind spending money to buy them. I'm aware of How to Play Dizi, the Chinese Bamboo Flute: The Basic Skills by H.H. Lee and some others but the reviews seem to be mixed and not exactly what I'm looking for. What I really want is a set of scores that get progressively harder, something I can work on over time.

I ordered a Xiao flute last week, and I (here is the website: https://www.soundofmountain.com ) haven't received any updates, or anything from them yet. Is this normal? I browsed some reviews, I got mixed results.

Some even remarked that their product didn't come to their door 'til 6 months later.

What do you think?

What should I do? If I wish to change my mind. Should I call PayPal?

Mahalo from Hawai'i.

Am I getting scammed? Will it arrive in one piece or should I be worried?

Hi there,

Beginner dizi player here. In my research a few months back, I came across a site in Mandarin with a ton of traditional sheet music in jianpu, organised by instrument. I thought I found it through this sub, but having gone through all the different search terms and reading old posts, I can't find it again.

It's not: http://www.jianpuw.com/ or http://www.jianpu.cn/ or http://www.qupu123.com/ -- it was a different site, with a colour scheme of maroons and earth tones in the background of the header, and a huge amount of music available. I think it was mostly a folk music collection but I can't be sure.

Does this ring a bell to anybody? TIA

Has anyone tried to purchase a Yangqin from them ?

Any thoughts on the quality, for exemple this one : https://www.soundofmountain.com/professional-piano-lacquer-painted-yangqin-instrument-chinese-hammered-dulcimer-402-type-with-accessories/

The shipping is gonna be long, directly from China, so i want to be sure. I'm in Europe (France) and i can't find a better alternative cost-wise.

Also no string is gonna be mounted, so i expect the first tuning to be a nightmare for a newbie...

Hi,

I just got a bamboo Dizi in C key from Amazon to give it a try. It's tuned OK. I've been using tape instead of dimo to keep it simple for now. I have not played a transverse flute before but have not found it difficult to get a tone. The 2 higher octaves have also not been particularly tricky to achieve at a basic level, so just more practice needed there to get them clean and reliable.

As it's a 6 hole instrument in a major scale, it plays the same as the tin whistle which makes finding some basic western major scale tunes easy, but I was hoping to be able to find some information in English about the Dizi specific techniques and some Chinese music appropriate for a beginner.

I've seen a couple of udemy courses but both look very basic and looking at the course content it only took a couple of days to figure out the contents of the syllabus from googling, youtube videos, and experimenting.

There's a couple of books on Amazon I have been considering by H.H.Lee -

• How to Play Dizi, the Chinese Bamboo Flute: The Basic Skills https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1549577530/
• How to Play Dizi, the Chinese Bamboo Flute: The Advanced Skills https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1790670683/

...though I am somewhat cautious about trying to learn complicated embouchure techniques from a book with no feedback about what I'm doing wrong 😂 so if there are video resources or anything maybe that would be better. I am open to any kind of resource though.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good resources on Dizi techniques that are in English?

Thanks!

I'd never heard of a hulusi before but whenever I see instruments I don't know in flea market type places I love to get them - found this hulusi today for £4. A bit of research shows it's similar to ones you can get on aliexpress and the like, so seems pretty cheap. It doesn't seem to work at all - no sound is produced. However it just seems completely glued together with no way to take it apart to check the reed/clean it etc. I'd love any advice on how I can get this thing working, seems very specific so it's not like I could take it to a shop or something. Maybe it's just fucked with it being such a cheap one but worth a shot

I’m looking to buy some purple bamboo dizis and I found this set of dizi from Xie Bing on Sound of Mountain. Are they good? How is their sound and tuning?

Got a new 阮, I’ve noticed that I’m getting a metallic residue on my fingertips when doing slides. Is this just bc I bought a cheap one or is this normal for new sets of strings?

Also anyone know where I can get sheet music for this instrument, been tricky to find online and I’ve just been transcribing by ear from videos.

Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv--PhTV-eY&ab_channel=%E5%B9%BF%E5%B7%9E%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F%E4%B9%90%E5%9B%A2-Topic

I just want to know if anyone knows a way to find this music sheet without trying to recreate it yourself.

Hello everyone,

I have a question do you what is the instrument on this song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBeiuhb36RY&t=1189s

And especially all the instrument on the song Tsubaki wa Ochitakaya /椿は落ちたかや

Thanks :)

I got my first southern Xiao a month ago. I can’t still make a sound. Or at least, I can sometimes, but it’s mostly on the second octave while trying to play the lower octave. Even more rarely I can play some sounds on the lower octave. If I change the origin of my lips it takes me days to find it back. After trying to play the southern Xiao I’m also unable to make sounds on the northern Xiao, which is mostly not a problem.

Notes:

• it is a model in rosewood, in e. Gorgeous deep sound (that i very rarely hear 🤪)
• the closest thing to the southern Xiao is the shakuhachi. I tried using shakuhachi tutorials, with not much luck. I couldn’t find material for this instrument style.

Thanks in advance for any input!

I know the dimo is supposed to be wrinkled to vibrate but after playing it become smooths and the only way I found to fix it is to wet it am I supposed to do that and if not what should I do to avoid my dimo to become smooth?