How do you bow an erhu?
The erhu should have a bow between the two strings….Your fingers should be hanging downwards parallel to the strings.
- Make sure you don’t grip the erhu tightly.
- Hold your erhu at around a 45 degree angle to you.
- Make sure your palm isn’t touching the neck of the instrument.
What is a Chinese erhu?
Erhu, Wade-Giles romanization erh-hu, bowed, two-stringed Chinese vertical fiddle, the most popular of this class of instruments. The strings of the erhu, commonly tuned a fifth apart, are stretched over a wooden drumlike resonator covered by a snakeskin membrane. Like the banhu, the erhu has no fingerboard.
What material is the resonator of the erhu made out of?
The erhu is usually made of ebony, sandalwood or rosewood, with a snakeskin resonator. In recent years, synthetic skin has been developed. But most players still prefer the sound of the snakeskin.
How are the strings of the erhu played?
While the erhu has been called the “Chinese violin,” it differs from the western instrument in many ways. First, it is played vertically, often resting on the musician’s lap. It has no fingerboard, so the player’s fingers must hold and vibrate the strings by pressing only against the strings themselves.
How do you rosin an erhu bow?
You can easily rosin your erhu bow. To do this first take the cake of rosin and rub it back and forth on the one part of the bow until you get rosin powder on the hair of the bow. Now go the next part of the bow and do the same and keep doing it until you’ve done the outer part of the bow and then move on to inner bow.
Is erhu a Chordophone?
The erhu is a bowed spike-lute chordophone of the Han Chinese (‘er’ means two; ‘hu’ originally meant ‘barbarian,’ but now ‘fiddle’).
Is the erhu a Chinese instrument?
Erhu is a traditional Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments played in China.
How do I clean my erhu bow?
The first way is to use a cloth. Before you keep the Erhu bow, put the cloth over the strings this way and keep the bow. This way, the bow hair does not touch the strings. You can also use the cloth to clean the strings and erhu after playing.
What’s the difference between an erhu and a violin?
The python skin is stretched out like a flat surface, unlike the curved plate of a violin. Also, erhu have the hairs of the bow strung between the two strings, in which both sides of bow hair is used. The violin has the bow hair played on top of the strings. The erhu has only two strings while violin has four.
Where do the strings go on an erhu?
The strings should be twined / bunched at the tip of the pegs. The inner strings should be looped in an anticlockwise direction and the outer string in a clockwise direction. The strings go all the way to the end bottom of the Erhu where there are 2 pins for you to hook the end of the string to.
What do I need to know about my Erhu?
So here are some of the major things you need to take note of: The first thing you need to check is if the strings are in order. Sometimes the strings might have gotten loose during shipping so you need to twine them back. There is an inner string and an outer string.
Where is the bridge on an erhu resonator?
If the strings and qianjin is in order, you can now slide in the bridge. Pull up the strings and carefully slide in the erhu bridge so that you do not damage the scales. The bridge should be in the centre of the resonator. After the bridge is in place, you can then put the damper underneath the bridge.