Change Log

(Last updated Jan 2024)

Guzheng Alive is a living project. Sections are modified frequently with new sections added every month based on information availability, community requests, and author interest. Feel free to request topics! My biggest hurdle, currently, is how to showcase all of this information. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Project Backlog

  • Level tests and the grading system (early discussion on Repertoire page)

  • Guzheng history outside of Shanghai / Northern locations (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.)

  • China Music trade show

  • Building one's own and Luthier support

  • Video interviews, personal stories

  • Guzheng in popular culture

  • Mobile-friendly tuning diagrams, charts.

  • Improved Key Chart, Key Chart explanations

  • Music Theory Part 2

  • Finger Technique sequence diagrams (In progress!)

  • Brands of Guzheng (Ongoing, gradual.)

  • *secret* Acoustics project (ongoing, long term)

  • Custom tunings in certain songs (Many collected. Next step: Notation Diagrams)

  • Detailed rules for writing cypher notation (waiting on writing time)

  • Shipping box construction blueprints (Blueprints complete; waiting on demand)

  • Guzheng hacks and tips (waiting on writing time. I need to find a link to that picture I bookmarked…)

  • Finger Technique revamp (next step: move techniques into blog posts; decide on teaser image and blog post format)

  • Humidification/Drying project (data collected, waiting on analysis time)

  • High Fidelity Room/house Humidity tracking (waiting on sensors from H/D project to be available)

  • Builder’s Showcase Expansion (waiting on editing/design time; deprioritized)

  • Scientific vs Helmholtz notation reference (waiting on writing time; deprioritized)

  • Dan Tranh reference page (waiting on writing time; deprioritized)

  • Accessory: Nail fastener options (waiting on research time, need to order samples; deprioritized)

  • Bridge Designs, Physics, and Musical impacts (need to research; deprioritized)

  • Bridge Sizing (waiting on writing time, some research; deprioritized)

Past

Jan 2024

  • Added score header information to Read Sheet Music

October 2023

  • Fixed typo on Guzheng Styles - size page.

  • Removed contact form, pages, and hiatus notice. I can’t reliably respond to emails at this time, sorry :(

July-Sep 2023

  • :(

June 2023

  • Switched forum link to Discord link on Main page

  • Updated contact page

  • Reactivated contact form site wide

  • Added Singapore 2024 banner

  • Updated About Author and Affiliation sections of About page.

May 2023

  • Added Austin Guzheng to Stores and Teachers lists.

  • Added Kulturecho ad Guzheng World to stores list.

  • Added Sinobeats to Stores page.

  • Added Toronto Music Pro to Pricing Tiers.

Feb-Apr 2023

  • :(

Jan 2023

  • Launched Guzheng Photography page!

  • Added two international stores to Stores page

  • Updated Stores map.

Dec 2022

  • Updated Hiatus notice to We’re Back!

  • Fixed broken link in “Special Techniques” section of Techniques page.

  • Fixed typo on shipping page.

  • Fixed typo on on “About Guzheng Alive” page.

  • Added basic financial disclosure on “About Guzheng Alive”

  • Renamed “People” in navigation to “Community”

  • Added Music Writer Xu to “Write Music”

  • Updated content on Teacher’s page.

  • Removed defunct website guzhengclub, added Superprof to teachers page.

  • Added Background collapsing section and Add Teachers button to Teachers page.

  • Created Financial Disclosure page.

  • Added Tuo, mo, gou, da, da cuo and xiaocuo videos to Techniques page and subpages.

  • Linked Financial disclosure to About Guzheng Alive page.

  • Fixed color bug of footer links.

  • Swapped footer message from hiatus to “returned”.

  • Updated button styling on Teacher, brand, and (-secret-) pages

July 2022

  • Fixed broken links in Vibrato section of Techniques page.

  • Spot checked prices (SOC) and saw an additional ~7.5% price increase on some models.

  • Moved all projects on Change Log page from “Future” and “Current” to “Project Backlog”.

Mar-June 2022

  • :(

Feb 2022

  • Site placed on Hiatus effective March 1st.

  • Hiatus Notice page added.

  • Contact form removed from all pages.

  • Updated Contact page.

  • Removed Donation pages.

Dec 2021

  • Fixed typos, word errors on the Accessories -> stands page.

  • Updated price range on stores page.

  • Updated grade pricing on Pricing Tiers page, updated header. Actual Tiers update still pending.

  • New “Shipping Costs Explained” page.

  • Updated tier structure on Pricing Tiers page; recorded the 4 reference models used.

  • Created Tier 7 for $100k+ guzheng.

  • Updated Buying Guide - New with 2021 prices.

  • Updated Buying Guide - Used with 2021 prices.

  • Updated Contact form post-submit message with urging to check spam folder for missing replies.

Nov 2021

  • Removed guzhengforum.com link. Site has been down for a while.

October 2021

  • Added Eight Tones, Singapore to Stores page.

  • Created Historic Pricing Tiers page due to significant increase in shipping and instrument costs in 2021.

  • Added Artino to brands page.

September 2021

  • Moved Virtual Instruments from Accessories to Buy.

  • Added alert banner for a recovered guzheng.

August 2021

  • Added two more English language sources to the “Koto” page.

  • Light terminology updates and typo fixes to “Parts and terms” page.

  • Added section on Frame terminology to the arts and Terms page thanks to a reader’s tip!

  • Minor typo fixes in Timelines: Modern - 1963.

  • Added string type explanations to the Strings page.

  • Moved rope core strings to own section on Strings page.

  • Added Bei Bei’s 80 Minute course to Learning Materials page

  • Moved Video section first, rearranged video section content, added Jump To coding to Learning Materials page.

  • Technique page conversion! This is big - both the addition of video clips AND a change in organizational structure that allows further expansion which necessitated a complete rebuild of the single largest page in the entire site.

  • Additional tools added to Research Tools.

  • Changed fonts, from Libre Baskerville to Georgia and from Open Sans to Montserrat. Reason: when a letter had a diacritic (accent mark) both O.S. and L.B. shrank the letter such that letter+diacritic = normal letter height. Their replacements keep letters the same height, just adding diacritics on top of them.

  • Changed text size, spacing, and weight to improve readability with new fonts.

July 2021

  • Updated donation page. (Thank you everyone!)

  • Updated Bio for Dr. Daniel Lee Ferguson.

  • Moved Maintenance page from “Buy” to “Learn”.

  • New Page: Learning Materials.

  • Added Learning Materials link to “Getting Started: 10 steps”.

June 2021

  • Nothing to report :-(

May 2021

  • Added battery longevity note to Govee hygrometer.

Apr 2021

  • Nothing to report :-(

March 2021

  • Updated email submission form.

  • Added 2 brands to Brands page.

Feb 2021

  • Updated donation page.

  • Continued work on current projects, but nothing publishable yet.

Jan 2021

  • New Artist feature: Vi an MUSIC

  • Added line about 16, 18-string guzheng and link to How To Tune Guzheng page.

  • Added new photo to Community Builds page.

December 2020

  • Adjusted site colors for greater contrast, accessibility.

  • Replaced Green site search box with underlines entry point.

  • Standardized headings to serif fonts; reduced the character spacings.

  • Shortened main navigation labels, as well as Techniques page.

  • Added Eason Music’s Jiayue bag demo to Cases page.

  • Added Dr. Mei Han’s Emergence mentorship video to Experts page.

  • Added Toronto Music Pro to Stores page, Pricing Tiers page, and map.

  • Arranged links (mostly) alphabetically.

  • Removed “Stores” from “People and Stores” in Navigation.

  • Added Text Music entry and Musescore icon to Write Sheet Music page.

  • Renamed “Mailing Guzheng” to “Shipping Guzheng”

  • New Page: 10 Steps to Learning Guzheng!

November 2020

  • Added time zone information to stores outside North America on Stores page

  • Added Thomann prices on stores page, formatted Honorable Mentions

  • Added link to soundboard wood article on Woods page

  • Moved November updates from October list to November list on Change Log.

  • Updated Humidification and Temperature sections in the Care and Maintenance page

  • Added several new humidity-related sources to the Bibliography page

  • New imagery and additional links to Research Tools page

  • Simplified language and added disclaimer to Change Log page

  • Added Deepl and scrcpy to Research tools page

October 2020

  • Added “Community Builds” page

  • Fixed typo on Key Chart, A Major String #21.

  • Added Donation status to Donation page

  • Added future donation targets to Donation page

  • Added PayPal as payment method to Donation Page

  • Some (exciting!) behind the scenes work.

  • Updated the “Dream List” on the Change Log page. (We actually completed some of them!!)

  • Added “Current Projects” to Change Log page, with project status.

September 2020

  • Added new Store category - resellers and honorable mentions

  • Added new teachers in Canada and Australia

  • Removed outdated link from homepage.

August 2020

  • Added example crate providers to How to Ship Guzheng.

  • Added Xuanguang attribution for most expensive guzheng in Tier 6 of Pricing Tiers , correcting error that attributed it to Dunhuang.

  • Updated The Guzheng Shop’s listing on Stores

  • Updated The Guzheng Shop’s quality terminology on Pricing Tiers

  • Added one-of-a-kind Tier 6 to Pricing Tiers

  • Added Travel/Full distinction and updated all other stores on Pricing Tiers

  • Added shipping costs to Pricing Tiers

  • Updated all price ranges on Stores

  • Refreshed Guzheng Keys Chart on Change Keys page with sharper colors, cleaner lines.

  • New Page: Dunhuang Brand information!

  • Reorganized Dunhuang Brand Information page

July 2020

  • Updated contact form finish message

  • New Page: GDPR Privacy Policy

  • New Page: Donate

  • Added Donate link to Navigation

  • Moved contents of ‘Music” link in navigation to “Playing” and “History”

  • Reordered navigation inks

June 2020

  • New Page: Cases!

  • Added pictures and styling to Cases page.

  • Photo and styling updates on:

    • Build Keys

    • Change Keys

    • Cost of Ownership

    • Finger Picks

    • Guzheng Buying Guide - Used

    • Guzheng History

    • Guzheng Styles

    • How to Make

    • Identify Turtle Shell

    • Koto

    • Mother Tunes and Music Theory

    • Parts and Terms

    • Soundboards Stands

    • Timelines

    • Tune Butterfly, Multitonic

    • Wood Drying

    • Write Sheet Music

  • Typos on "Guzheng in 90 seconds"

  • Change title of Stores page

May 2020

  • Added Korean Ajaeng, more info, reorganized “Similar Instruments” page

  • Added Korean Ongnyugum to “Similar Instruments” page

  • Added banner imagery to Guzheng Buying Guide New and Used pages.

  • Added social imagery to most pages.

  • Updated About page biographical information.

  • Added institution table to Teachers page.

  • Added English/Japanese video for Koto to Similar instruments page.

  • New Page: “Koto”

  • New Page: “Stands”

  • New Artist: Jett Kwong!

  • Fixed various typos, simplified language in Buying Guide - Used.

April 2020

  • New Page: “Soundboards”

  • Cost of Ownership “Strings” section updated with feedback from The Bamboo Grove.

  • Navigation rearranged.

  • Guzheng Pricing Tiers updated with additional store, added GZA pricing tiers from elsewhere.

  • Stores page added with price lists; added stores outside North America

  • Key Change page layout updated.

  • Added link to Reddit community.

  • Added 8 teachers to Teachers page.

February - March 2019

  • :-(

January 2020

  • Added Simplified finger technique reference table!

October - December 2019

  • :-(

September 2019

  • Behind the scenes work for future updates. (I promise these will be visible!! Eventually!)

August 2019

  • Behind the scenes work for future updates.

July 2019

  • Updated Project Reach with 6 month update.

  • New Page: “String Tension” added.

  • Behind the scenes work for future updates.

  • Impact of tension on timbre added to “Tuning 21”

June 2019

  • Behind the scenes work for future updates.

  • New Page: “How to Build Keys”.

May 2019

  • Simplified the manual tuning method instructions on the How to Tune page, added chart.

  • Behind the scenes work for future updates.

  • Added current hard case prices and sellers to “Cost of Ownership”

  • Updated sheet music templates

  • Created templates for jianpu/cypher notation, available on “ Write Sheet Music”.

  • Split information about working with sheet music into two pages. “Digitizing Sheet Music” focuses on using scanners and software to improve existing copies. “Write Sheet Music” contains links to software and templates for hand-writing music in cypher notation. Moved “Digitizing” to “References” and “Write Sheet Music” to “How To”.

  • Updated text on “Legal Issues”

  • Updated links to books on “Sheet Music Sources”.

  • New Page: New Album Releases

April 2019

  • Added characters to “Mother Tunes and Music Theory”

  • Changed navigation to “References” from “Sources”

  • Minor text updates in “Cost of Ownership”

  • New Page: Mother Tunes and Music Theory

  • Updated text on “Tune 21 String” and “Change Keys”

  • Updated text on “Guzheng Schools and Styles”

  • New page: What is a Guzheng School?

  • New Page: Guzheng Schools and Styles

March 2019

  • Updated text on “Pick Material” page.

  • Added imagery to “Sheet Music Sources”, “How to Read Sheet Music”, and “Pick Material” pages.

  • Fixed bug where clicking on the folder links in the top nav sometimes led to an error page.

  • “Techniques” updated with symbols / notation, new categories, and ~50 more techniques.

  • Made tables on “Glossary”, “Woods Used”, and “Repertoire” mobile-friendly(er).

  • Added bridge movement diagrams to “How To Change Keys”.

  • Added “Tune Diatonic”.

  • Added Diagrams to “Tuning 21 String”, reorganized page.

  • Added several teachers to “Teachers” map. Applied color legend.

  • Added standard bridge heights to “How to Make”.

  • Added table of Keys to “Change Keys”.

  • Updated language on “Change Keys”, added key of B and fixed missing sharp in key of E.

February 2019

  • Added Tuning and setup video from SOC to “Tune 21 String”.

  • Added suggestion to shift bridges left to “Tune 21 String”.

  • Maps adjusted to function better on mobile devices, including “Stores”, “Bands”, and “Teachers”.

  • Added map to “Project Reach”

  • Added "Burn It” to “Identify Turtle Shell”.

  • Added “Buy New” page.

  • Added additional entry to “Virtual instruments”.

  • Rearranged and condensed content in “Woods Used”.

  • Site restructured to verb-based navigation. Pages renamed.

  • Added “Buying Used Guzheng”.

  • Added “Virtual Instruments and Sound Libraries”.

  • Search added to “Glossary” table.

  • Added direct links to English-Language books on the “Sheet Music” page.

  • Updated styles on tables.

  • Added search capabilities to tables on “Woods Used” and “Repertoire”.

  • Added 40+ songs to “Repertoire”.

January 2019

  • Added Review of “Sound of China Guzheng Basic Tutorial”.

  • Added review of “Teaching Foreigners to play Guzheng”.

  • Added three new Reviews: a wired tuner/metronome and two finger tapes.

  • Updated “Project Reach” with latest numbers. 7 new countries!

  • Added titles of English-language books to “Sheet Music” page.

  • Reorganized and renamed “Woods Used” page to improve readability.

  • Updated links to plant and genus listings due to eflora.cn moving to iplant.cn

  • Added Representative H1 headers to most pages.

  • Fixed bug preventing map of Guzheng Teachers from displaying.

  • Updated “Sheet Music Sources” with “People” section, reduced text.

  • Updated text of “Cost of Ownership” to reduce wordiness and remove excessive line breaks.

  • Updated Stand section of “Cost of Ownership” thanks to community feedback.

  • Updated Airline Travel section of “Shipping Guzheng” thanks to community feedback.

  • Added “Tuning Butterfly and Multitonic Guzheng”.

  • Updated intro to “Finger Techniques”.

  • Found and fixed bug preventing informational blinds from expanding. First affected visitors in late December.

  • “Teachers” expanded to cover Europe and Australia.

  • Site-wide SEO changes to take advantage of SS’s December update.

  • Switched “Ensembles”, “Retailers”, and “Teachers” to new maps due to Google Fusion Table’s planned shutdown.

  • Added link to full list of teachers maintained by ChineseZither.net to “Teachers” page.

December 2018

  • “Fun with Names” added to “Guzheng in 90 Seconds”.

  • Text updates to “Guzheng Story”.

  • “Blogs and Projects” added, “List of Figures” and “Home” updated.

  • 'Jump To' sectional navigation added to "Care and Maintenance", "Cost of Ownership", "Finger Techniques", "Key Changes", "Shipping Guzheng", "How to Tune", "The Guzheng Story", "Timelines", "Guzheng Varieties", "Other Zithers", "How it's Made", "Import Issues, CITES", "Wood Drying", "Wood Selection", "Cypher Notation", "Sheet Music Score", "Nail Materials", "Nail Shapes", "Nail Material Identification", "Parts and Terms", "Strings", "Guzheng Alive", "Research Tools", "Bibliography", "Descriptions", "Further Reading", "Minor Mentions", "Review"

  • Stylistic Changes to various header image attributions.

  • “Sheet Music Sources” added.

  • “Nail Material Identification” added.

  • Added Discord server to “Home” and “Contact”.

  • “Project Reach” 2018-totals through mid December added.

  • “List of Figures” text updated, museum archive information moved to “Descriptions”

  • Shipping Guzheng” text updated.

  • Site-wide imagery audit and compression finished.

  • “Tuning 16, 18, 23, and 26-String Guzheng” split off from “Tuning Guzheng”.

  • “Development” split into “Change Log” and “Sitemap”.

  • “Strings” text update.

  • “Import Issues, CITES” broken off from “Wood Selection”, text updated.

  • “Cost of Ownership” nail section rolled into “Nail Materials”.

  • “Figures” updated with identifiers, GZA-produced images added.

  • “Nail Materials” header image added.

  • “Guzheng Varieties” layout adjusted.

  • Site-wide imagery audit and compression started.

  • “Home” image, text update.

  • Various pages restructured for mobile viewing.

  • “3D Model” direct link added.

  • “Nail Materials” added.

  • “Bibliography” updated.

  • “Parts and Accessories” category added, pages rearranged.

  • “Luthiery” category added, pages rearranged.

November 2018

  • “Nail Shapes” added.

  • “Shipping” added.

  • “Glossary” added.

  • “Research Tools” updated.

October 2018

  • “Repertoire” expanded by 200 songs.

September 2018

  • “Cypher Notation” added.

  • “Project reach” added.

August 2018

  • “Cost of Ownership” added.

  • “Teachers” added.

July 2018

  • “Care and Maintenance” added.

  • “Reviews” added.

June 2018

Changes not tracked.

May 2018

  • “Special Thanks” added.

  • “How to Tune” added.

  • “Key Changes” added.

  • “Strings” added.

November 2017-April 2018

Changes not tracked.

October 2017

Site launch, starting with pages on history, instrument examples, parts, and other pages.