Erhu
The erhu also called nanhu ("southern fiddle"),and sometimes known in the West as the "Chinese violin" or "Chinese two string fiddle," is a twostringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular instrument in the huqin family of Chinese bowed string instruments, together with the zhonghu, gaohu, banhu, jinghu, sihu, and numerous others. Used in both traditional and contemporary pieces, it is a versatile instrument.
Playing technique
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, with the sound box placed on the top of the left thigh and the neck held vertically.
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. 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 is plucked, the sound is somewhat more resonant) which is sometimes desired in contemporary pieces.
Left hand
The left hand alters the tone of the strings by pressing on the string at the normal harmonic points. As the instrument has no frets, the tone is slightly muddled, but resonant. Techniques include hua yin (slides), rou xian (vibrato), huan ba (changing positions), etc.
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Brand:Dunhuang
Model:06A
