Essay Sample on Suzhou Pingtan

Introduction

Suzhou Pingtan refers to the regional variety and compositions of the shuochang as well as the oral performances and art form which is quite popular in the northern Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu, and the Jiangnan regions of China. They are full of cultural orientations and have been present since time immemorial. They are played and performed with the specific musical accompaniments by the chosen people in the societies, and have specific messages alongside being used for entertainment. Thus, there are performances which have specific messages to certain groups of people in the Chinese cultures where they are practiced. It originated from the city of Suzhou (Bin, 2015). Also, it is the combination of 'Tanti' and 'Pinghua' that forms the two Chinese narratives and musical traditions. It dates as far back as Song dynasty and is greatly influenced by Wu culture, that includes its literature, music, and art.

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Suzhou Pingtan has been created by the works of Pingtan artists, and thus it is the form of art which is greatly popular in the Jiangnan areas. Its long history which has majorly influenced its development has also aided in the establishment of its firm foundation. Thus, its contents are quite rich on various messages which aid in the holistic developments of the participants and the audiences, despite it being a simple form. There are the performances techniques which include the playing of music, the cracking of jokes, the telling of stories, as well as the aria singing. There are the artistic features of the form, which include the unexpectedness, minuteness, interest, tastes, as well as reasoning by the involved stakeholders. Even though the form has its origin in Suzhou, it managed to flourish in the Shanghai regions alongside the developments of culture and commerce in the turn of the 19th century and 20th century. Subsequently, Pingtan form of the art managed to be the new form of performance through the innovation and carrying the tradition on. The various forms of Pingtan art are performed where the participants employed different features, styles, props, and forms. In the task at hand, there are the discussions surrounding five pieces: butterfly love flower, jasmine flower, landscape Chinese beauty, know whether, and Gao Bowen concerning their playing styles, analyses in terms of language, playing instruments, audience, and even their melodies. There is also the focus made on their changes and innovations over time (Bin, 2015). They are as presented in the subsequent paragraphs.

Starting with the songs by Gao Bowen, they have been composed and performed in their various unique ways, and at the apex, with most of the similarities since they are subscribed to one individual. Gao Bowen employs various playing styles where the guitar and piano musical instruments are employed. Also, most of his pieces are meant to take along the message of love, which is addressed mostly to the lovers in all areas of the society, so long as they can understand the Chinese languages in which the songs are being propagated. It can be observed that when using the guitar, there is the inclusion of various performance style (Bin, 2015).

The way the songs are being sung has greatly influenced how the guitar is being played at such scenarios, hence differing as per such scenarios. Such have therefore been the root of the varied styles of playing the guitar. Also, the availability of more styles in which then guitars can be played has largely influenced their choices for application in the playing of various songs by Gao Bowen (Bin, 2015). The composer has also been switching different styles of playing the guitar when plating various music so as to bring about variety which at the same time helps offset monotony where the same guitar style is used in different musical pieces. It can further be understood that Gao Bowen managed to make use of various guitar styles for the benefit of impressing the audience. It is a technique which is similar to that of fighting off monotony where one guitar style s used in paying many songs. In the end, the targeted audience managed to be hooked by the power of creativity employed by Gao Bowen in different musical pieces being played. It forms part of the many reasons which led to Gao Bowen having a large number of audiences across China, who were well impressed by his skillful mix in delivering the contents of Pingtan musical pieces. Finally, it is said that Gao Bowen managed to learn the exemplary skills of a variety of guitar styles from his masters, whom he worked with from the time he developed interests in the Pingtan musical pieces playing. He cultivated them and later managed to arrive at his heartful desires of becoming one of the icons having employed exemplary guitar skills in various of his musical compositions.

Thus, there were the specific techniques and scales employed by Gao Bowen in most of his musical pieces. They contributed the colors for mixing and matching hence obtaining a unique identity among the stakeholders on the Pingtan world (Yu, 2010). One of them is the use of blues, one of the styles present in the playing of a guitar. It features melancholic, slow, and sharp music, which had a sad lining. In this regard, the technique was employed by Gao Bowen when performing the love music which could have had a bad ramification on both or either of the lovers. It served to corroborate the message of the music, where the audience were quickly tuned to the nature of the music as presented by the musical tunes of the guitar styles employed. Gao Bowen was thus successful in the use of the blues style of guitar in some of his love music, which managed to well present the intended message in the desired tone. It can also be found that the use of the above technique followed the call and response format. The use of the simple progression of chord made it easier for Gao Bowen to multitask in the mix of playing the guitar as well as singing. It is a technique that earned him a great deal of audience's attention in the entire course of his Pingtan musical career.

Besides, there was a focus on the guitarist when the blues guitar style was being played. In this regard, some of the music which has its origins in shanghai and composed by Gao Bowen had relatively slow tempo, which made it easier for the composer to deliver the messages to the audiences in a semblance of a slow and an organized manner. Alongside, there was the use of many other instruments that were meant to improvise around its effectiveness, and where the resonating guitar was used in the playing of the walking lines as the music playing progressed.

Besides the use of the different playing styles of the guitar as the musical pieces were being played by Gao Bowen, there was the employment of the piano playing styles of the Pingtan musical pieces composed by Gao Bowen. One of them involved the use of the piano styles which were based on the blues. In this regard, the blues piano styles were employed to rhyme with the blues styles of playing the guitar in the run to harmonize the delivery of the messages in the music as per the required order. Also, it was meant to do away with the discrepancy emerging from the mixing of different instrumentation styles that produce a cacophony of sound hence resulting in the formation of noises. In this regard, the blues when it comes to the piano playing styles entailed the emphasis on both the minor and major pentatonic scales. There was also the inclusion of the additional notes, meant to provide the stylistic instrumentational accompaniments in the run to make the delivery of the messages of the music quite impressive on the side of the audiences. The addition of the flattened fifth to the minor pentatonic aids in the creation of the blues scale as the musical performance is being undertaken. It can be understood that most of the blues songs have their bases on the simple progression of chords, referred to as the 12 - bar blues. Gao Bowen made use of the I, IV, and V chords of the scale in the creation of the foundation of solos and melodies. It can, thus, be observed that the arrangement of the playing styles of the musical instrumentations by Gao Bowen aided in rhyming with the movement of the musical pieces being sung, that had a slower tempo, hence collectively contributing to the effective delivery of the intended messages to the end audience, in an effective manner.

As pointed out above, the musical instruments used in the playing of various music by Gao Bowen include the guitar and piano. They were mostly set in the blues form, where they could together take part in the simple progression of chords as the songs were resented in the slow tempo. The songs presented by the performer were primarily the love songs, which advised, led, warned, and even taught the audience regarding the world of love. They were being guided in various ways to handle their relationships (Jun, 2014). The musical pieces were presented in the standard Chinese language, the Yue, and Wu languages: which form the three top languages of China, to facilitate in the effective passage of the intended messages to all audiences in all the segments of the society. There were also some of the melodies which were employed in the performances by Gao Bowen. They for the linear succession of the musical tones which the listeners could perceive as one entity. The melody employed was the combination of both the pitch and rhythm, alongside the tonal color. It made the instrumentation accompaniments impressive to be heard by the intended audiences.

Secondly, there is the song entitled 'butterfly love flower,' composed by Jim Reeves. It is one of the musical pieces under the Suzhou Pingtan. In this regard, there are various elements surrounding the song, such as the melody, the musical instruments used, the playing style, the language used, performance style, audience, and the melody. The song was performed by the use of a series of motion pictures which change as the melodies change in the music. The motion pictures entailed the flowers and the butterfly, which were seen to stand on the flower as a show of the impressive beauty of nature, and perhaps in the expression of the love message (Jun, 2014). The musical instrumentation employed in the playing of the music is mainly piano. It has been played in a series of melodious rhythm mixed with pitch. The rising and falling intonation of the played keys brings about a coherent rhythm and adds a tonal color to the piece. The tune, line, or voice which is created by the piano as it is being played brings about successive musical tones which can be perceived to be bringing about a semblance of a single entity. The end audience can thus be able to get the message of the music through paying attention to the way in which the musical instrument as they are being played, coupled with the ways in which the motion pictures are being blended with them. It will also be very important for the audience to pay attention to the melodies generated in the process, as they add to the taste and atmosphere of the song as it progresses.

In the musical performance, there is an organized presentation which has been adopted by Jim Reeves to ensure that the song reaches the end audiences as required. It has led to the development of the musical sounds alongside some controlled silence as the song is targeted to bring out the intended message delivery as well as entertainment to the audiences. The listeners are also being enriched and edified following the good presentation of the song at hand. The parameters in which the song has been performed has greatly been determined by the boundaries which are understood culturally. It has thus facilitated the composition and performance of the musical piece whi...