Lesson 147 Music (3) 第一百四十七课 音乐（3）

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way in only five minutes a day.  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!
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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.
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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

Conversation 1:

(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.

Conversation 2:

(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?

Conversation 3:

A: 你会弹钢琴吗?

B: 不会,我会拉小提琴。
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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.
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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? 
Cam: See you tomorrow!
Cam: Ming tian jian.
Yajie: Zai jian!