Mastering The Skills

After few weeks of practice..
I have handled the basic skills of ERHU..
I tried to play the ensemble songs
so that can attend the combined practice with all the seniors..

Throughout the practices..
I just realised if we wanted to learn something,
we have to be more patient..
we should not rush to do anything without any planning..
For example,
If we rush in the progress,we will not learn the correct ways on the bowing skills..
Patient is a necessity in learning instruments..

Beside this,
I tried my best to attend all the practices..
this can act as a training for my discipline..
I will not absent the practice without any proper excuses..
It also trained to be on time for any occasion..

With my skills of playing ERHU,
I will taking part for the coming July's concert that wil held at Esplanade Concert Hall..
That is a great new for me because I am getting closer to my goal
that I have set in the beginning of my
Personal Development Plan..

Learning ERHU

After i entered my school chinese orchestra
the committees have allocate me in ERHU group..

At the first lesson,
my instructor tought the knowledges about ERHU..
he showed us some basic skills to play ERHU..
he said that the force must be balance in our both hand
so that we can play the notes in smoothly condition..

After his explanations,
he asked us to try to hold the ERHU..
firstly,we need to break our fingers movement into 2 parts:
move up and move down..
seconly,he tought us about bowing on the ERHU..
thirdly,we need to do synchroning on the previous 2 steps in once..

these above was the basic skill we need master well..

so that we can play well in the future..

the above video teach us how to do bowing..



the above show to play erhu..

Method To Play ERHU

• Tuning

The erhu is almost always tuned to the interval of a fifth. The inside string (nearest to player) is generally tuned to D4 and the outside string to A4. This is the same as the two middle strings of the violin.

• Position

The erhu is played sitting down placed on the top of the left thigh.

• Right hand

The bow is held with an underhand grip. The bow hair is adjusted so it is slightly loose, tension is provided by the fingers of the right hand. Bowing techniques include la gong (pull bow, equivalent to the "down bow" technique used on western bowed string instruments), tui gong (push bow, equivalent to the "up bow" technique). The bow hair is placed in between the two strings and both sides of the bow hair are used to produce sound, the player pushes the bow away from the body when bowing the A string (the outside string), and pulls it inwards when bowing the "inside" D string.

Aside from the usual bowing technique used for most pieces, the erhu can also be plucked, usually using the second finger of the right hand. This produces a dry, muted tone (if either of the open strings are plucked, the sound is somewhat more resonant) which is sometimes desired in contemporary pieces.

• Left hand

Techniques include hua yin (slides), rou xian (vibrato), huan ba (changing positions), etc.

for more information..

http://home.pacific.net.sg/~ak109/erhu.htm

Part Of Erhu

The parts of the erhu:
Qín tong (琴筒) - sound box or resonator body; it is hexagonal

(liu jiao, southern), octagonal (ba jiao, northern), or, less

commonly, round.

Qín pí/She pí (琴皮/蛇皮) - skin, made from python. The python

skin gives the erhu its characteristic sound.

Qín gan (琴杆) - neck.

Qín tou (琴头) - top or tip of neck, usually a simple curve with a

piece of bone or plastic on top, but is sometimes elaborately

carved with a dragon's head.

Qín zhou (琴轴) - tuning pegs, traditional wooden, or metal machine

gear pegs.

Qiān jin (千斤) - nut, made from string, or, less commonly, a metal

hook.

Nèi xián (内弦) - inside or inner string, usually tuned to D4, nearest

to player.

Wai xián (外弦) - outside or outer string, usually tuned to A4.

Qín ma (琴码) - bridge, made from wood.

Gong (弓) - bow, has screw device to vary bow hair tension.

Gong gan (弓杆) - bow stick, made from bamboo.

Gong máo (弓毛) - bow hair, usually white horsehair.

Qín diàn (琴垫) - pad, a piece of sponge, felt, or cloth placed between

the strings and skin below the bridge to improve its sound.

Qín tuō (琴托) - base, a piece of wood attached to the bottom of the

qín tong to provide a smooth surface on which to rest on the leg

History Of Er-hu

Erhu is a type of violin (fiddle) with two strings, which, together with zhonghu, gaohu, sihu, etc, belongs to the huqin family. The origin of the erhu, originally called an xiqin, is believed to date back to the mid-8th century and has been associated with Xi people, a Mongolian tribe from Northern China. During the Dynasties of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911), the erhu gained popularity and became a featured solo instrument at imperial banquets and ceremonies.
After the foundation of People's Republic of China (1949), the manufacture of the erhu, the playing techniques, the repertoire as well as the musical education of this instrument underwent unprecedented development, growing rapidly in the genres of solo and ensemble, as well as concerti with symphony orchestra. Thanks to two famous artists Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) and Liu Tianhua (1895-1932), both of which made exceptional contributions to the improvement of the erhu, the erhu has become one of the most popular instruments in China.

The erhu is a simple looking instrument consisting of a long, round wooden neck with two tuning pegs, inserted into a hexagonal hardwood sound body (box) that acts a resonator. The wooden components of the erhu are usually made of ebony or sandalwood. The front opening is covered with python snakeskin, while the back is left open. The two strings (tuned to a D and A) used to be made of silk or nylon, but most strings used now are made of steel. Trapped between the strings, is a horsehair bow, similar to that used by violinists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhu

http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/erhu.html