Xuangong (Rotating the Gong)
Moving the gong, the tonic, to a new pitch — the Chinese art of changing key
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Xuangong means moving the gong, the tonic: shift gong from Huangzhong to Taicu and the whole pentatonic or heptatonic set moves with it, so the key changes while the mode stays. "The twelve lü rotate as gong" states that any of the twelve may serve as gong, giving twelve keys in theory.
It is usually paired with zhuandiao, change of mode: xuangong moves the pitch level, zhuandiao moves the modal centre, and the two can happen at once. It is not a change of instrument or of qupai but a new footing within one set of scale relations; in practice, the diaomen used with gongche notation and the flute's fingering keys are where it is handled.
Read deeper → Gongdiao
Sources
- 旋宫的含义、十二律旋相为宫与旋宫转调，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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