The python skin gives the erhu its characteristic sound. Qín pí/She pí (琴皮/蛇皮), skin, made from python.Qín tong (琴筒), sound box or resonator body it is hexagonal ( liu jiao, southern), octagonal ( ba jiao, northern), or, less commonly, round.A typical erhu measures 81 cm from top to bottom, the length of the bow also being 81 cm.Įrhu with ba jiao qin tong (eight-sided body) Particularly fine erhus are often made from pieces of old furniture. According to Chinese references the woods include zi tan (紫檀 red sandalwood and other woods of the genus Pterocarpus such as padauk), Lao hong mu (老红木 aged red wood), wu mu (乌木 black wood), and hong mu (红木 red wood). Various dense and heavy hardwoods are used in making the erhu. The usual playing range is about two and a half octaves. The maximum range of the instrument is three and a half octaves, from D4 up to A7, before a stopping finger reaches the part of the string in contact with the bow hair. The inside string (nearest to player) is generally tuned to D4 and the outside string to A4, a fifth higher. Although there are two strings, they are very close to each other and the player's left hand in effect plays as if on one string. The horse hair bow is never separated from the strings (which were formerly of twisted silk but which today are usually made of metal) it passes between them as opposed to over them (the latter being the case with western bowed stringed instruments).Ĥ. There is no fingerboard the player stops the strings by pressing their fingertips onto the strings without the strings touching the neck.ģ. Its characteristic sound is produced through the vibration of the python skin by bowing.Ģ. Two strings are attached from the pegs to the base, and a small loop of string ( Qian Jin) placed around the neck and strings acting as a nut pulls the strings towards the skin, holding a minute wooden bridge in place.ġ. The erhu consists of a long vertical stick-like neck, at the top of which are two big tuning pegs, and at the bottom is a small resonator body ( sound box) which is covered with python skin on the front (playing) end. As soon as the horsehair bow was invented, it spread very widely. Historic bowed zithers of China, including the Xiqin, Yazheng, and Wenzhenqin, and also the Korean Ajaeng, were originally played by bowing with a rosined stick, which created friction against the strings. However, in the 1920s, Liu Tianhua introduced the erhu to Beijing, and since, it has become the most popular of the huqin. The name Huqin literally means "instrument of the Hu peoples", suggesting that the instrument may have originated from regions to the north or west of China generally inhabited by nomadic people on the extremities of past Chinese kingdoms.įor most of history, the erhu was mostly a folk instrument used in southern China, whereas the sihu was preferred among northern musicians. The second character ( 胡, hú) indicates that it is a member of the Huqin family, with Hu commonly meaning barbarians. An alternate explanation states that it comes from the fact that it is the second highest huqin in pitch to the gaohu in the modern Chinese orchestra. The first Chinese character of the name of the instrument ( 二, èr, two) is believed to come from the fact that it has two strings. The xiqin is believed to have originated from the Xi people located in current northeast China. It is believed to have evolved from the Xiqin ( 奚 琴). The erhu can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. Performer with erhu, photographed Singapore February 1969 × July 1971
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