Qiao Ge — Song of the Woodcutter — has long been considered the greatest of the four masterworks of the Guangling school, alongside Yu Ge (Fisherman's Song), Mo Zi Bei Si (Mozi's Lament), and Pei Lan (Orchid at the Belt). Among these four, Qiao Ge stands first.
The piece was composed by Mao Minzhong of the Southern Song dynasty, set in the shang mode, in thirteen sections. When Yuan forces entered Lin'an, Mao Minzhong chose to withdraw — composing this song to call like-minded men into the mountains, to live beyond the reach of the world.
The Difficulty Is Not in the Fingers
When I first began transcribing Qiao Ge, I followed the score faithfully and found that I could produce something technically correct. But it felt hollow. The notes were there. The mountain was not.
What the score calls for is not loudness. It is 势 — force, tendency, the shape of energy moving through space.
Open Strings and Gliding Tones
The open string is the pine grove, steady and resonant; the gliding tone is the wind passing through it. Together, they create the sensation of air moving through trees. The valley does not echo a sound; it echoes a disturbance.
What Mei Yueqiang Understood
If you follow only the fret positions, you lose this. The score gives you the skeleton. The wind is something you have to bring yourself.
The Hermit's Heart
I spent half a year with this piece. By the end, I was not sure I had transcribed it so much as been transcribed by it.
Written in the summer of 2022, in the United States. — William Xu
Listen to Mei Yueqiang perform Qiao Ge:
The following is the original Chinese text, for reference.
《樵歌》打谱心得
《樵歌》为宋毛敏仲所作，隐于山林、寄志于樵，全曲十一（或十三）段，起于散音，归于旷远。打谱此曲，最难在山林气象、风势之变，非仅指法之准，更在气韵之合。
初打谱时，多拘于谱字，散起、走手、撮、拨剌皆按谱而行，却总觉少了山林之魂。及至反复揣摩"醉舞下山"一段，忽悟前人所谓"山风怒号"，非单指音高与力度，而是弦上之"势"。
全曲多处散音与走手连用，如"斧斤入林""振衣仞岗"，散音如松涛阵阵，走手如林风穿谷；而"长啸谷答""咏郑公风"数段，更需以大幅度猱、撞、荡，摹写山林怒号之态——风过林梢，枝摇叶动，谷应山鸣，非强作大声，而是音随势走，气随弦转。
广陵派刘少椿、梅曰强诸先生于此曲尤重"风势"。梅老曾言，《蕉庵》本中某段走手，自二弦九徽上至七七徽进猱，他改作直抛近六徽再荡回，正是为了"山风怒号"的张力——弦音一放一收，如长风振林，势不可遏。打谱时若只守徽位，便失了这股山野之气。
打谱《樵歌》，当以"隐者之心"观曲：时而斧丁丁、风萧萧，时而长啸空谷、醉舞长林；时而静听松风，时而感怀世事。山林怒号是曲之骨，山风怒号是曲之气，二者相融，方得毛敏仲"遁世无闷、傲睨物表"之本意。
余打此谱，历时半载，数易其稿。每至"醉舞下山"，必放慢节奏，以指力控弦，让散音沉厚、走手跌宕，力求弦音之中，有山、有风、有樵者之影，亦有隐者之心。
二〇二二年夏 william写于美国
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