A Gesture-based Typology of Sliding-tones in Guqin Music

Abstract

A good part of the expressive character of traditional Chinese guqin music can be accounted for in terms of sliding-tones, of which vibrato and portamento form major constituents. In this paper, a representative performance of a guqin piece formed the starting point for identifying an alphabet of basic movements on top of which it was possible to define different vibrato and portamento gesture types. The methodology is based on a pitch analysis of the musical audio and a subsequent segmentation and categorization of the pitch patterns which draws upon the player's knowledge of guqin playing. The typology focuses on the morphological aspects of pitch and control gestures, and it allows a description of sliding-tones in terms of concatenations of basic movements of the finger on the string. The close relationship between control gestures and pitch patterns justifies the use of the term “gesture” for both sonic and control patterns, although sonic gestures do not always completely overlap with control gestures. The present paper is a first attempt at an identification and classification of the gestures that make up guqin vibrato and portamento. The approach offers opportunities for future testing, using measurement tools and experimental techniques. The applications of this typology in education and sound synthesis are straightforward.