Position Match-Up Between Strings

[foggy]

Hello everyone, 

I am new here, and hopefully my less-than-happy debut here will be overshadowed by more pleasant posts on progress and interesting topics in the future. I fell in love with the erhu in late high school, and then bought one in university, only to find out during my last semestre (!) that my university's music department had a Chinese Music Ensemble open to non-Chinese musicians to learn to play Chinese instruments. So I hesitantly but excitedly jumped at the opportunity and while I learnt a lot, I feel I've struggled with the same problem during my time with my erhu, and my tutor/instructor (an exchange student) didn't really understand my complaint. Granted, we didn't really have much 1-on-1 time at all, so he never got a chance to play on my instrument for himself. So I'm hoping one of you can help to maybe explain what my problem might be and how to fix this.


Basically, my positions between the D and the A string do not match up. What I mean by this is that the first/second/third finger positions for the A/D string are quite different. I believe the positions for the A string are a bit more high-shifted (the fingers are placed lower on the strings to get a properly tuned note), whereas the D string is more low-frequency shifted (higher up on the strings compared to the A string). I don't know how to shift the placement of these positions so that they will overlap properly, and they make practising anything but pleasant since I have to constantly adjust up-or-down by a half inch or and inch any time I want to switch between the strings. It seems that the effect might become more noticeable the further I go down on the strings (the higher the note). 

Is it possible this is due to my qianjin? I'm really hoping it isn't due to the quality of my erhu. I bought it from Eason since they had a great reputation and although the product was their introductory model (or one of them), it seemed like it was of good enough quality where I wouldn't expect such a drastic problem to arise from a non-variable aspect of the instrument. 

I would love any suggestions. I'm a bit at a loss. I don't play as much as I'd like to. I actually picked up and fiddled (pun intended?) with the erhu a bit for the first time in months today to try to transpose a song, but found the process too frustrating since sharps and flats kept jumping around due to this discrepancy... 

Cheers,
Fog

[dawei]

If I understand correctly the two strings do not play in tune with the same fingerings, you have to adjust positions on each string to be in tune.

It sounds like your erhu needs a good setup, from the qianjin to the bridge, the mute, everything. Eason does a good job, but the instrument may have shifted and need some additional work.

Just a quick comment, though - is your bridge straight and even on both strings? If the bridge is not exactly even and at a 90 degree angle to both strings you may have some issues. Also old strings may no longer play true, so if one or both of your strings are old, they may also cause problems.

I have never had this particular problem, though.

[foggy]

Hmm, I see. Thank you for the (unexpectedly) prompt reply! I think you are understanding the problem correctly.

It could be the strings or the qianjin both. I think I usually keep the bridge relatively close to 90 degrees, but will also toy with that a bit to test it for sensitivity. I'm a bit of a scientist by trade, so cluing in on which variables actually might be at play here is very helpful. I've been hoping to avoid replacing strings and qianjin, but perhaps that's what is necessary... I'll need to eventually buy a new bow so perhaps the next time I have some income I feel comfortable dispensing on music hobbies I'll make a group purchase.

As far as getting work done on my erhu I'm currently away from my old university and any sort of multicultural area, so that might have to wait a bit until I find someone familiar with the instrument. I plan on moving for graduate school, so perhaps I will be able to scope out connections in the new locale.

Thanks again for the ideas to investigate!

Cheers,
Fog

[davidmdahl]

Hello Foggy,

If the open strings are in tune, they should also be in tune for fingered notes. If your erhu is set up properly, with the bridge perpendicular to the strings, the tuning should be okay. I have had trouble at times when the pitch would vary with push and pull of the bow. This is likely be affected by a loose qianjin, or loose strings. The strings should loop off as close as possible to the end of the pegs, and the qianjin should pull the strings to about the width of your thumb away from the neck. If the qianjin is too low (toward the resonator), the strings will be looser than they would be if the qianjin were higher.

Unless the strings are really old, which does not sound likely in this case, changing them is unlikely to help. At least that is not something I would recommend to do first. I see more problems from the qianjin and bridge than from the strings. Often times the bridge is too high. This should not cause your tuning problem though.

If you still have trouble with the strings being in tune with each other over the neck length, I suggest getting a tuner with a graphic display. Maybe the open strings are not quite in tune, and this is not apparent to you until you are playing higher notes.

Best wishes,

David