ChinesePod

1 sanxian, large family of 3-stringed plucked musical instruments, with snakeskin covered wooden soundbox and long neck, used in folk music, opera and Chinese orchestra

上弦

shàng xián

1 to wind
2 to tighten
3 crescent moon
4 first quarter or waxing moon

上弦月

shàng xián yuè

1 first quarter moon

Idioms (2)

弦诵不辍

xián sòng bù chuò

1 incessant playing of instruments and reciting of poems (idiom)

改弦易辙

gǎi xián yì zhé

1 change of string, move out of rut (idiom); dramatic change of direction
2 to dance to a different tune

Sample Sentences

嗯，很好，来...右手手指不要一直把弓撑开，你只是轻松地托着弓，拉内弦的时候，无名指稍微压一下...对！很好。

ng4 ，hěn hǎo ，lái ...yòushǒu shǒuzhǐ bù yào yīzhí bǎ gōng chēng kāi ，nǐ zhǐ shì qīngsōng de tuō zhe gōng ，lā nèi xián de shíhou ，wúmíngzhǐ shāowēi yā yīxià ...duì ！hěn hǎo 。

Hmm, very good, come on... the finger on your right hand shouldn't keep holding the bow away. You just need to lightly support the bow. When you are playing the inner strings, your ring finger should press down a little more... yes! Very good.

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二胡声音的大小不是看压弦的力气，是看推弓、拉弓的速度，节奏感比力气大小更重要。

èrhú shēngyīn de dàxiǎo bùshì kàn yā xián de lìqi ，shì kàn tuī gōng 、lā gōng de sùdù ，jiézòugǎn bǐ lìqi dàxiǎo gèng zhòngyào 。

The volume of sound has nothing to do with the force with which you press down on the strings, it depends on the speed with which you push and pull the bow. Your sense of rhythm is more important than the force.

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哦，吉他谱很简单，是六线谱，六根线对应六根琴弦。

ò ，jíta pǔ hěn jiǎndān ，shì liùxiànpǔ ，liù gēn xiàn duìyìng liù gēn qínxián 。

Oh, guitar notation is pretty simple, it's TAB notation, each of the lines corresponds to a string on the guitar.

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好，那我们从吉他的构造开始吧，吉他有六根弦，最细的是第一弦，最粗的是第六弦……

hǎo ，nà wǒmen cóng jíta de gòuzào kāishǐ ba ，jíta yǒu liù gēn xián ，zuì xì de shì dì yī xián ，zuì cū de shì dì liù xián ……

OK, then we will start from the structure of the guitar. The guitar has six strings, the finest string is the first and the thickest is the sixth...

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当然是大制作，耗资20亿日元呢！画面非常养眼，情节也扣人心弦，你怎么可能不知道呢？老板，你这样做生意落伍啰！

dāngrán shì dà zhìzuò ，hàozī èrshí yì rìyuán ne ！huàmiàn fēicháng yǎngyǎn ，qíngjié yě kòurénxīnxián ，nǐ zěnme kěnéng bù zhīdào ne ？lǎobǎn ，nǐ zhèyàng zuò shēngyi luòwǔ luō ！

Of course it's a big movie-- it took 20 billion yen! The cinematography is beautiful, and the plot is thrilling. How could you not know about it? Man, how can you be so behind the times in the way you do business!?

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哟，你这问题可够尖锐的，让我觉得有弦外之音啊！吃醋嘛，要看是镇江香醋还是山西老陈醋，是苹果醋还是梅子醋，还要看是做糖醋排骨还是西湖醋鱼，还得讲究......

yō ，nǐ zhè wèntí kě gòu jiānruì de ，ràng wǒ juéde yǒu xiánwàizhīyīn a ！chīcù ma ，yào kàn shì Zhènjiāng xiāngcù hái shì Shānxī lǎochéncù ，shì píngguǒ cù hái shì méizǐ cù ，háiyàokàn shì zuò tángcùpáigǔ hái shì xīhúcùyú ，hái děi jiǎngjiu ......

Oh, that's a sharp question! I feel like you're implying something! Vinegar...well, that depends whether it's aged Zhenjiang vinegar, or rice vinegar from Shanxi, if it's apple vinegar or plum vinegar, and then you have to see whether you're making sweet-and-sour pork or West Lake-style fish. And then you have to look at--

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