Lülü
China's twelve pitch standards — and the pipes that set them
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Lülü is the collective name of China's twelve pitch standards: six yang lü and six yin lü, at once pitch standards and the tuning pipes that set them. Names such as Huangzhong and Dalü are the pitches of this system.
It differs from the five notes: the five are scale degrees, lülü is a system of absolute pitch and tuning; it differs from equal temperament too: traditional Chinese tuning is generated by methods such as the three-part division, not by equal division. The usual mistake is to treat lülü as a scale — it is a tuning frame, not a melodic ladder.
Read deeper → gong shang jue zhi yu
Sources
- 十二律与律管的制度，参《中国音乐词典》与 Grove "China"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.