The word "Pi" meant "to play forward" and "Pa" meant "to play backward". The pipa had a half pear shaped sound box, a crooked neck, and normally 4 or 5 strings. The Pipa arrived in China in the 4th century AD from Central Asia. The history of pipa dates back more than 2000 years. Tang poet Bai Juyi described the Pipa in his "Song of the Pipa" as "large pearls, small pears tumbling onto a plate of jade", shown the great popularity in the Tang and Song period.
The number of frets (bridges) has gradually been increased over the years, up to 23, 25 even 30 frets in the modern type. This has expanded the instrument range chromatically. The range is over three and a half octaves. The modern Pipa also use steel strings with or without nylon coiling rounded instead of silk. The musician tapes picks (fake fingernails or small plectra attached) to all right hand fingers on the hand except for the thumb, although all five are used. The pipa is clear, bright and mellow in tone and has a variable volume.
The Pipa occupies a very important role among the plucked strings because it has a magnificent tone and can produce very expressive sound, from gentle and pleasing music, to dramatic sound effects of horses galloping and battlefield scenes. Today the playing techniques are even more sophisticated. The pipa is often used for solos and in ensembles or in modern Chinese orchestras.
