Lesson 147 Music Ⅲ

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way in only five minutes a day.  Welcome to Chinese Studio, wo shi Yajie.

Cam:  And wo shi Cam.  Yajie, we just heard the opening song to our program, which uses some different instruments.

Yajie: Really, like what?

Cam: like… drum!

Yajie: Yeah, right. Cam, you do have an ear for music!

Cam: haha, I think so. But what’s the Chinese for drum?

Yajie:  You’ll find out in today’s show.  Listen up!

Key Words of the Day

violin小提琴  cello, 大提琴， piano 钢琴  guitar吉它,  drums 鼓, play the drum打鼓 Can you play the piano? 你会弹钢琴吗？All in today’s Chinese studio.

YJ: I used to play violin, and my father was my coach then.

Cam: Good for you Yajie. What’ s the Chinese for violin?

YJ: it’s 小提琴.xiao3 ti2 qin2.

Cam: xiao3 ti2 qin2.

YJ: xiao3 means small.

Cam: xiao3. 

YJ: xiao3 ti2 qin2. violin.

Cam: xiao3 ti2 qin2. then what’s the Chinese for viola?

YJ: It’s zhong1 ti2 qin2. 

Cam: zhong1 ti2 qin2. what does zhong1 mean, Yajie?

YJ: it means middle-sized in Chinese. So I guess because zhong1 ti2 qin2, viola is bigger than violin and smaller than cello.

Cam: I guess so. zhong1 ti2 qin2, viola

YJ: Cam, can you guess what cello is in Chinese?

Cam: I see your point Yajie. Since the cello is a bigger one, and big in Chinese is da4, so cello must be da4 ti2 qin2, right?

YJ: Very good! da4 ti2 qin2, Cello   

Conversation1:

（1）A：你会拉小提琴吗？

B：当然会了，我已经学了八年了。

（2）A：你知道马友友吗？

B：知道啊，他是著名的大提琴演奏家。

Cam: Yajie, I’d like to know how to say piano in Chinese?

YJ: ok. Piano is 钢琴 gang1 qin2.

Cam: gang1 qin2.

YJ: gang1 means steel

Cam: gang1.  I guess it’s because the piano produces sound by striking steel wire strings.

YJ: could be. gang1 qin2 piano.

Cam: gang1 qin2. Then what’s the Chinese for guitar? Since I plan to attend a guitar class.

YJ: guitar in Chinese is ji2ta. It’s similar with the English pronunciation.

Cam: Right. ji2ta.

Conversation2:

（1）A: 你们这有钢琴吗？

B: 对不起，我们这儿只卖吉它。

（2）A：现在本店促销，买一送一。

B：怎么个促销法？

A：买一架钢琴，送一把吉它。

Cam: Now you can tell me the Chinese for drum, Yajie. You need a strong sense of rhythm to play the drums.
YJ: There are different kinds of drums, and the general term is 鼓gu3, the third tone.

Cam: only one word? 鼓 gu3 . that’s easy. 

YJ: But Cam, Do you know how to say “play the drum”?

Cam: Why don’t you tell me.

YJ: Ok, it’s da3 gu3

Cam: da3 gu3.

YJ: da3 means to hit…

Cam: da3

YJ: da3 gu3, play the drum. 

Cam: da3 gu3. then I guess playing the piano would be “da3 gang1 qin2”, right?

YJ: No, it’s not. It’s another verb if you want to say “play the piano” it should be “tan2 gang1 qin2”

Cam: tan2 gang1 qin2 .Got. Yajie, Can you play the piano? What’s the Chinese for this sentence?

YJ: it’s ni3 hui4 tan2 gang1 qin2 ma?

Cam:  ni3 hui4 tan2 gang1 qin2 ma?

YJ: ni3 is you.

Cam: ni3

YJ: hui4 , be able to.

Cam: hui4

YJ:  tan2 gang1 qin2, play the piano,

Cam:  tan2 gang1 qin2

YJ: ni3 hui4 tan2 gang1 qin2 ma?

Cam: ni3 hui4 tan2 gang1 qin2 ma? Can you play the piano?  

Conversation3:

A: 你会弹钢琴吗？

B: 不会，我会拉小提琴。

Key Words Reminder

violin小提琴  cello, 大提琴， piano 钢琴  guitar吉它   drums 鼓 play the drum打鼓 Can you play the piano? 你会弹钢琴吗？All in today’s Chinese studio.

Cam:  What a week… I’ve certainly learned a lot about one of my favorite topics – music.

Yajie:  Well, we’ve run out of time again, so let’s get to our question of the day.  How do you say “piano” in Chinese?