Chinese fiddle

Return to Homepage. One of the most beautiful and haunting sounds in Chinese music comes from a type of fiddle called the erhu pronounced are-who, chinese fiddle. The ancient ancestor of both violin and erhu is thought to have appeared in Persia some 3.

The great majority of instruments are played not solo but as part of ensembles, not on the concert platform but as part of social life. Bowed strings mainly accompany vocal music—the ritual genres that I study in north China are dominated by wind and percussion ensembles the playlist in the sidebar, with commentary here , making a useful introduction. One guide, mainly useful for historical sources on early fiddles huqin , xiqin , and so on , is the book. For illustrated introductions, see e. For folk practice in modern times one should look to field reports on local traditions, setting forth from the Anthology of folk music of the Chinese peoples for leads, see my book Folk music of China.

Chinese fiddle

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. The erhu can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. 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 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. For most of history, the erhu was mostly a folk instrument used in southern China, whereas the sihu was preferred among northern musicians. However, in the s, Liu Tianhua introduced the erhu to Beijing , and since, it has become the most popular of the huqin. 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. As soon as the horsehair bow was invented, it spread very widely. 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. The erhu has some unusual features:.

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Erhu is a medium-high ranged Chinese two-stringed fiddle. The structure of the modern erhu was regularized in the s by Liu Tianhua , the pioneering musician and composer in modern Chinese erhu and pipa music. Erhu consists of a body qin tong , a shaft qin gan , two tuning pegs xuan zhou , a tight loop of string qian jin , and a tiny bridge xuan ma. Its shape is usually hexagonal, with round or octagonal regional variations. Its front 8. The shaft 78 cm long is made of the same wood as the body.

Chinese fiddle

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. The erhu can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. 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 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. For most of history, the erhu was mostly a folk instrument used in southern China, whereas the sihu was preferred among northern musicians. However, in the s, Liu Tianhua introduced the erhu to Beijing , and since, it has become the most popular of the huqin. 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.

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Blind instrument-maker Cai Qiuzong b. She first became known as the winner of the fourth Shanghai Spring Art Festival. What most of these fiddles have in common is a gritty timbre, quite far from the suave polished ideal of the conservatoire erhu. Email Required Name Required Website. This one is a great deal- it comes with a soft case, a bamboo and horsehair bow, string, a bridge, rosin and an instructional DVD. I've got an erhu which was shipped back to me from China by a friend who was doing gigs there. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. The Morin Khuur is Mongolia's national instrument, and much of the music played on it relates to horse riding in some way, particlarly in the galloping rhythms and the whinnying sound that can be produced from the strings. Pingback: The corpse walker Stephen Jones: a blog. Hulusheng Hulusi Sheng Yu. Pingback: Blind musicians in China and elsewhere Stephen Jones: a blog.

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The instrument produces a deep, throaty sound not unlike the striking Tuvan singing style, and also said to be reminiscent of a horse neighing. The erhu has some unusual features:. The exquisite Hokkien tradition of nanyin nanguan of south Fujian and Taiwan uses a core chamber ensemble of pipa and sanxian plucked lutes, xiao end-blown flute, and erxian fiddle—all regionally distinctive versions. The front rows of his audiences are often filled with baffled violinists trying to work out how he can play the Pagganini variations with only two strings. Unlike the erhu, the bow does not pass between the two strings. Portals : Music China. Jiang Jian Hua , born into a family of ten erhu players what were the parents thinking of! Log in now. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz. The erhu banhu , for example, has a wooden top rather than a snakeskin membrane, and the Sihu, from Mongolia, has two pairs of strings and uses a remarkable double bow with two tiers of hair. By the thinner A-string had been replaced by a violin E-string with the thicker D-string remaining silk. From January 1, , new regulations also require erhu to have a certificate from the State Forestry Administration, which certify that the erhu python skin is not made with wild pythons, but from farm-raised pythons. Both strings are fingered simultaneously, but the direction of pressure on the bow allows one or the other string to be sounded. South China Morning Post. Already have a WordPress.