Far-Eastern Musical Instruments

A sheng is a musical wooden Chinese wind instrument, usually consisting of 17 bamboo pipes set in a small wind-chest into which one blows through a mouthpiece. Usually tuned in a pentatonic scale. In the 18 century, a sheng was taken to Russia and evolved into such instruments as the harmonica, concertina, harmonium, and accordion.

Japanese end-blown flute, vertical bamboo pipe, with unknown origin. Usually played as a solo instrument or accompanied by other Japanese traditional instruments, such as the shamisen or koto. It has 4 front fingerholes and a rear thumbhole.

Originated in China, during the 8th Century, the koto, a string instrument of the Zither family, is regarded as Japan's national instrument. In the past, the Koto was being used to entertain officials in the Japanese royal court. Nowadays, it is used for both accompaniment and solo performance in all levels of society.

The pipa is a Chinese short-necked lute and goes back more than 2000 years, probably originating in Central Asia. It has 4 silk strings and 19 to 26 bamboo frets glued to the belly of the lute. It is held vertically and plucked with fingernails. In the past, the pipa was used for court entertainment.

This is a 3-string plucked instrument with snake skin heads and long wooden neck. The strings are plucked with fingernails of the right hand. Mostly used for accompanying singing. In Japan, the Chinese sanxian is also known as shamisen.

The Morin chur (mongol. "horse sounds") is the national instrument of Mongolia and one of its musical symbols. It owes the name of "horse sounds" or "horse head fiddle" to the carved horse head at the end of its long narrow neck. The Morin chur is a 2-horsehair string plucked instrument with a trapezoid body. Mostly used for accompanying the singing of the South-Siberian folk singers of the Tuva, which imitates tones of nature and expresses their deep solidarity with their natural environment.

Images and sounds courtesy of

MusixCool© By Nadav Dafni