gung1 cek3 pou2工尺譜工尺谱
Definition
Gongche score; a traditional Chinese musical notation system that represents musical notes with Chinese characters.
How it's used
Gongche notation is primarily used in traditional Chinese music genres like Cantonese opera and Kunqu. It functions as a relative pitch system rather than an absolute one, meaning the pitch depends on the key set by the lead musician. Because it is a historical system, the specific character set and their corresponding pitches can vary significantly between different regional musical traditions.
Measure word
fan2份fánExamples
Related words
Common phrases
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly assume that the characters used in gongche notation have fixed, universal pitch values like Western musical notes. In reality, the exact pitch represented by a character like 工 or 尺 can shift depending on the specific musical tradition or the instrument being played.
Grammar color guide
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
