The pipa is a plucked Chinese string instrument. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body. It has been played for nearly 2,000 in China.

The name "pipa" is made up of two Chinese syllables. These are the two most common ways of playing this instrument. "Pí" is to push the fingers of the right hand from right to left, thus more than one finger can be used at a time, striking multiple notes, and "Pá" is to pull the thumb of the right hand from left to right, in the opposite direction. The strings were originally played using a large plectrum in the Tang Dynasty, and then gradually replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. The softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails. False nails are now used, constructed of celluloid, and affixed to the fingertips with the player''s choice of elastic tape.

Prototypes of the pipa already existed in China in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC). The modern pipa is closer to the instrument which originated in Persia/Middle-East (where it was called barbat) and was introduced into China beginning in the late Jin Dynasty (265-420 A.D.).

By the Tang era, the pipa had become popular in the imperial court. It had a crooked neck, four or five silk strings, and five or six frets, and was played with a plectrum in a horizontal position. By the late Tang Dynasty, The crooked neck was replaced by a straight one, the plectrum was replaced by fingernails, and the horizontal playing position was replaced by the vertical position. The number of frets increased to between 14 or 16.

Today's instrument consists of 24 frets and six ledges arranged as stops and its four strings are tuned respectively to A - D - E - A (La - Re- Mi - La). It is based on the 12-tone equal temperament scale, with all the intervals being semitones. The pipa's many left and right hand fingering techniques, rich tonal qualities and resonant timbre give its music expressiveness and beauty that are lasting and endearing.