Chinese fiddle

The great majority of chinese fiddle 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 herechinese fiddle, making a useful introduction. One guide, chinese fiddle, mainly useful for historical sources on early fiddles huqinxiqinand so onis the book. For illustrated introductions, see e.

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. The ancient ancestor of both violin and erhu is thought to have appeared in Persia some 3. A slow migration west lead to the first violins in Europe; the route east along the Silk Road gave rise to a family of instruments collectively called the Hu-Qin. It is a two-stringed instrument, played sitting down and held vertically, with the body resting on the knee. The strings were originally of silk but are now usually steel. The small 6-sided body has a wooden resonator and a belly of python skin; the hardwood neck is long and narrow, and the hairs of the bow pass horizontally between the two strings, which are usually tuned to D and A.

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:. Various dense and heavy hardwoods are used in making the erhu. Particularly fine erhu are often made from pieces of old furniture. A typical erhu measures 81 cm 32 in from top to bottom, the length of the bow also being 81 cm.

The large repertoire of long slow sustained ballads somewhat resembles the last page of Mahler 9 elevated into a whole genre, chinese fiddle. This produces a dry, muted tone if either of the open strings is plucked, the sound is somewhat more resonant which is sometimes used in contemporary chinese fiddle such as Horse Race.

.

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.

The case study of vanitas

Pingback: South Jiangsu: beyond silk-and-bamboo Stephen Jones: a blog. The Last Emporer The idea of bringing western classical "party pieces" into the repertoire in order to bridge the cultural gap and attract the attention of a wider audience has been taken up by many other players. Sign me up. Like Loading Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Yangqin Zhu. Individuals are allowed to take up to two erhu out of China when traveling; commercial buyers need additional export certificates. Gao is also known for incorporating the erhu into jazz, new age and pop compositions. Download as PDF Printable version. The erhu is played sitting down, with the sound box placed on the top of the left thigh and the neck held vertically, in the similar fashion as that of a cello or double bass player. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz.

.

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. Tools Tools. Authority control databases. Return to Homepage. The parts of the erhu are:. Among his many compositions, before his death in , were nocturnal peace , dancing by candlelight , meditation in retirement and song of birds on a distant mountain. Pingback: South Jiangsu: beyond silk-and-bamboo Stephen Jones: a blog. It would have been cheaper for the erhu, not the wife to get it from Amazon! Gudi Kouxian Lusheng Xun. The inside string nearest to player is generally tuned to D4 and the outside string to A4. The erhu is almost always tuned to the interval of a fifth.