Difficulty note sliding

[d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid]

Whenever I use the note sliding technique, I have trouble moving up and down because the neck of the erhu is too sticky or has too much friction. Am I doing it correctly or is that the neck has too much friction?

[edcat7]

I've not had a problem sliding. Perhaps you are too tense? Maybe once a year I lightly polish my erhus with a carnauba based bees wax, this will make sliding far easier.

I first did this when silly me I cleaned my erhu with an alcohol wipe: it took off some off the (French?) polish.

Ed

[davidmdahl]

Usually when my left hand is sticking to the neck, it is because my hands are sweaty, or I got some rosin on the neck. A good practice is to wash your hands and dry them thoroughly before playing the erhu. Also, wipe down the erhu neck and strings before playing, and also after playing.

Cheaper erhus can have a shiny finish that is stickier, even when dry. I have some Vietnamese fiddles like that. Most of my Chinese erhus have a natural finish or maybe non-finish. I don't know if it is actually natural wood, but that's how it appears to me. Never use furniture polish on a musical instrument! Carnuba wax might be okay. I have used it on a wooden flute, but not on erhu.

When I could not avoid sweaty hands due to the temperature or stress, I have used baby powder with some success. Usually though, just cleaning and drying my hands works well enough.

Best wishes,

David

[edcat7]

Of course when you are applying any type of polish on an erhu try it on a tiny inconspicuous area first.