Erhu

The erhu (Chinese: 二胡; pinyin: èrhú; [aɻ˥˩xu˧˥]) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a southern fiddle, and is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.

Classification

Bowed string instrument

It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz.^[1]

Its characteristic sound is produced through the vibration of the skin by bowing.

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There is no fingerboard; the player stops the strings by pressing their fingertips onto the strings without the strings touching the neck.

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

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 inside string (nearest to player) is generally tuned to D4 and the outside string to A4, a fifth higher. 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 usual playing range is about two and a half octaves.

Comparisons to Western instruments[edit]

Violin[edit]

The erhu is often described as a Chinese fiddle. However, when compared to a western fiddle (violin), it has several key differences:

Dan nhi

Dotara

Ektara

Haegeum

family of traditional Chinese spike fiddles.

Huqin

Khuuchir

Morin khuur

Kokyū

Music of China

Rebab

Lanna salo

String instruments

Traditional Chinese musical instruments

Stephen Jones (1995). Folk Music of China. Oxford: Clarendon Press OUP.

Terence Michael Liu (1988). "Development of the Chinese Two-stringed Bowed Lute Erhu Following the New Culture Movement (c. 1915–1985)". Ph.D. dissertation. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University.

Jonathan Stock. "A Historical Account of the Chinese Two-Stringed Fiddle Erhu". Galpin Society Journal, v. 46 (March 1993), pp. 83–113.

Jonathan Stock (1996). Musical Creativity in Twentieth-Century China: Abing, His Music, and Its Changing Meanings. Eastman Studies in Music. Rochester, New York: Rochester University Press.

Yongde Wang (1995). Qing shao nian xue er hu (Young person's erhu study). Shanghai Music Publishing House.