Last night on the NewsHour (PBS), they had a segment about the Chinese pipa artist, Wu Man. (The pipa is a 4-stringed lute-like instrument.) She is a virtuoso on the instrument, having been forced to start playing this very traditional classical Chinese instrument as a child. Now in her 40s, she is having a great time crossing into many genres of eastern and western music, including having discovered her own country's folk music.

It was a fun segment -- including a bawdy Chinese folk song, and it and more is available online at the NewsHour site, here.

The question of the hour from me and some other commenter on the story is what kind of fingerpicks she uses... the instrument is played with the backs of the nails, like clawhammer banjo. During the segment it said false nails are used, but we're wondering if the interviewer was wrong?

~ Becky in Long Beach