Pipa

The pipa first appeared in China about 2,000 years ago. Since its debut, it has been very popular.

As a lute, the pipa (called "biwa" in Japan) is a musical instrument with four strings. It has a long neck and a pear-shaped soundboard. There are four tuning handles, called pegs, near the top of the neck. Musicians use pegs to tighten or loosen the four strings, so they can tune the instrument. The pipa has many frets along its neck and down onto its soundboard. The Chinese have two different names for those frets. Those on the instrument's neck are called "xiang." Those on its soundboard are called "ping." No matter what names they have, frets are used for altering pitches.