Both the traditional Dang Bipa and Hyang Bipa had double crescent moons on body and had from 8 to 13 monolithic old bamboo frets (there are types up to 19 frets), especially the Hyang Bipa is painted with floral motifs on the top. The modern multi-frets Hyang Bipa is mostly influenced by the Chinese Pipa frets. In the past, two types of Bipa used twisted silk strings, but nowadays they are rarely used, but instead are made from chemical silk or polyester strings.
Hyang bipa The
Hyang bipa is a five-stringed pipa, played with a plectrum – the standard type from the
Goguryeo dynasty (고구려, 37–668) to the
Silla dynasty (신라, −935). It is one of the three types of stringed lutes of the Silla dynasty (besides the
geomungo and the
gayageum). Apart from the five-stringed, straight-necked and had five pegs; the front side is made of
paulownia, the back side is chestnut. Until the
Joseon dynasty (조선, 1392–1897), it increased to 10 frets, but modern versions can have up to 12 frets (voice close to three
octaves). When performing, musician usually sit, put the lute on their lap in an upright position (slightly leaning to the left), the left hand holds the neck or the body and presses the strings, the right hand uses five fake nails (
gajogak) () to pluck the strings. In the past, people plucked the lute with a
suldae – a bamboo stick (influenced from the
geomungo), but today the person who preserves the Hyang bipa way of playing is the female musician Go Boseok (고보석) – who can also play Hyang bipa, wolgeum (moon lute),
yanggeum and geomungo. Today, most hyang bipa players use the improved hyang bipa from the Chinese pipa, and most of them use techniques from the Chinese pipa, had more frets and especially in new musical compositions.
Dang bipa The
Dang bipa is a four-stringed lute, with a curved neck with 12 frets, the modern version has a wider range of three octaves. According to the Chinese character
Dang (Hangul:唐,
pinyin:
táng) is a word referring to the
Tang dynasty, which means that this type of instrument originated in China and was introduced to Korea during the Tang dynasty. During the Goryeo period (918–1392), it was used in
Dangak music. However, since the Korean era, it has also been used in
Hyangak. The name
Hyangak means "village music", a form of traditional Korean court music that originated during the
Three Kingdoms period (삼국시대). In the past, people have tried to restore the way to play Dang-bipa, but it seems to have failed because there are no professional musicians for this type of instrument. As of the early 21st century the
Dang bipa has been restored in both its form and playing techniques. It is plucked with a
mokbal plectrum () (smaller than the
bachi used to play the
Japanese biwa) or played with a
gajogak like the
Hyang bipa. ==Notes==