All about the musical instrument erhu

Erhu is the name of one of the varieties of the Chinese violin. The features of its structure and sound, as well as the history of this musical instrument, will be discussed in the article.

Erhu is an ancient Chinese violin that belongs to the family of stringed bowed musical instruments. It is considered a kind of Chinese instrument huqin.

It is difficult to call such a musical instrument a full-fledged traditional violin, to which many are accustomed. It has a range of 3 octaves and only 2 strings, which are made of silk and are pulled by the musician while playing with the fingers. Its main parts include, in addition to strings, a soundboard, a resonator made of wood, which can be hexagonal or cylindrical, as well as a snake skin membrane.

In addition, this includes the neck of the instrument. Previously, the entire instrument, including the neck, was about 60 centimeters long. However, now it has slightly increased in size, since the length of the neck began to reach almost a whole meter, namely: 80 centimeters. It is with the neck that the strings are connected using a metal bracket.

The body of the instrument is predominantly made of dense wood, such as pink or ebony.

The instrument comes with a curved bow made from a bamboo stem. With its help, the melody is played. The bow itself also has its own string, which is made of horsehair. Usually it is fixed between the two main strings so that it forms one whole with the erhu.

For playing this bow is specially rubbed with rosin in order to increase friction. Musicians pay special attention to this stage.

China has many traditional musical instruments, which, compared to the erhu, can indeed be called ancient. Erhu is quite young, she is about a thousand years old.

It will be difficult to sort through each of the stages of the formation of this musical instrument. For a long time it was considered an instrument of nomads, accordingly, very often it changed its location along with nomadic groups of people.

For the first time, erhu declared itself in the northern regions of China. Due to its origin, the instrument was considered barbaric.

However, the peasants liked it. They performed their folk chants on it, in which they described their usual everyday life, it was said there about such ordinary things as fishing and grazing livestock.

Erhu became truly in demand only during the period when the Tang dynasty ruled in China, that is, in the 7th-10th centuries AD.

Over the course of a certain time, this musical instrument was increasingly used in various ensembles and even in the Peking Opera Orchestra. It has become very widespread throughout China, both in rural and urban areas.

It was appreciated only thanks to such a musician as Liu Tianhua. It was thanks to him that the erhu received the status of a full-fledged solo musical instrument. One of his most famous works is the melody called "The second spring reflects the moon", now it is a classic.

Erhu gained even more popularity among the people after the show in 2004 on TV of the New Tang Dynasty gala concert, which was dedicated to the New Year in China.

Quite a vivid performance, including music and a variety of dances, in which the real culture of the Chinese was presented, made a great positive impression on the people.

So, in 2006, such concerts were organized in many major cities almost all over the world. In 2008, concerts were held again, and the number of cities in which they were organized increased, as, in fact, the number of people who attended the events.

It was the Erhu violin that caused particular delight among the audience of the concerts. The famous musician Ms. Qi Xiaochun, who was taught to play the erhu by her father, performed musical compositions on the instrument. This girl is one of the most famous erhu performers.

Except her, The popularization of the instrument was also promoted by such a master of playing the erhu as George Gao.

Nowadays, you can hear the sound of the erhu not only at concerts of this kind, but also in Chinese opera and theater, namely, in dramatic performances. Besides, erhu is actively used by various musical groups.

The sound of the erhu is quite delicate, as if it were silky. That is why this instrument is most often used when performing smooth musical compositions. This tool can easily simulate crying and sighing, as well as convey the atmosphere of personal conversations. In the hands of a master, she can imitate the sounds of nature, birdsong, horse snoring, spring drops, windy howls and roars, and other sounds.

In the Celestial Empire, learning to play such a musical instrument as the erhu could only be started from the age of 4.

During the game, the erhu is positioned vertically, while resting its leg on its knee. In this case, the bow should be in the performer's right hand, with the fingers of the other hand he should press the strings.

The most common technique for playing the erhu is "transverse vibrato". Its principle is that during the performance the musician presses down on the strings, which somewhat changes the sound of the instrument.

You can hear the sound of erhu in the video below.