koudi
The koudi (also spelled kou di) is a very small Chinese flute made from bamboo. It is the smallest flute in the Chinese flute family. Its original shape derives from prehistorical instruments made with animal bone, but the modern koudi is made with wood, bamboo or PVC. It was invented in 1971 by dizi master Yu Xunfa (俞逊发, 1946–2006).
koudi
Badagnani (talk) · Badagnani at English Wikipedia · Own work (Original text: I created this work entirely by myself.) · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Koudi
- Field
- aerophone
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Documentary summary
The koudi (also spelled kou di) is a very small Chinese flute made from bamboo. It is the smallest flute in the Chinese flute family. Its original shape derives from prehistorical instruments made with animal bone, but the modern koudi is made with wood, bamboo or PVC. It was invented in 1971 by dizi master Yu Xunfa (俞逊发, 1946–2006).
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wikidata · Q930949 · wikipedia · Koudi
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Koudi • Background — Koudi • Classification — Aerophone • Hornbostel Sachs Desc — Flute • Inventors — Yu Xunfa
Overview
Overview
In 1971, the Chinese Flute player Yu Xunfa, who was inspired by original prehistorical instrument, made the first Koudi. This instrument contains one octave, and two years later this instrument went to public by playing the recomposed Romanian folk song Ciocârlia (云雀). After that, to expand the range, Xu made the five-hole Koudi, and Bai Chengren (白诚仁) composed Morning of A Miao Village 苗岭的早晨 (MaoLing de ZaoChen). The instrument comes in two sizes. The smaller size, called gaoyin koudi, which is only 5–6 cm in length, has only the holes on the sides, where the thumbs can control the full range of pitch by incrementally opening the holes. The larger size, referred to as zhongyin koudi, is 8–9 cm long and has an additional 2–4 holes on the front (played with the fingers, these holes give slightly more precision to pitch changes). The gaoyin koudi is pitched an octave above the xiao di, whereas the zhongyin koudi is pitched an octave above the bang di. The range of the koudi is about a ninth or tenth, and it can bend notes over the entire range of the instrument. A related instrument in Hunnan province called the tuliang is also center-blown and open-ended but is much larger (about the size of the qudi).
Basic skills
Basic skills
Basically, a Koudi has two octaves.
Notable players
Notable players
Notable gaohu players include: • Yu Xunfa (俞逊发) (1946–2006), in China • Zhan Yongming (詹永明) (1957-), in China
Video
Video
• Koudi video: Ciocârlia by Zhan Yongming
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hu, Liang. The Scale of Koudi. Instrument. 7. 78–80. 2004.
- 2.Wang, Lisheng. Introduction to Koudi. 2007.
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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