Manban (Slow Metre)
A slow 4/4 metre with few words and long melisma, made for reflective arias
Related
Manban is the slow metre in one ban and three yan, usually 4/4: the ban falls on beat one, then the first, middle and last yan. It stretches yuanban's durations, adding interludes, ornaments and long melisma, so a single line can last a long time.
It is made for lyric reflection; erhuang manban is especially brooding, xipi manban more expansive. Slow is not free: the beat remains clear, each beat simply holds more detail. It is sanban that withdraws the beat altogether.
Read deeper → erhuang
Sources
- 慢板一板三眼、放慢加花的形态与抒情用途，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "China" 相关条目；本文为原创表述
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