**** HELPFUL ERHU FINGERING CHARTS ****

[paulv]

I have offered up these charts before and several people have requested them and I gladly emailed them out.


Reloaded charts:

Erhu keys w/Open strings




Erhu Technique 1


Erhu Technique 2


See my next post for more


Enjoy.........

Regards,
Paul...

[calden]

Paul:

Nice! Thanks a ton! I've emailed out a few similar things to people - It's great to have everything all in one place.

Carlos

[paulv]

I have offered up these charts before and several people have requested them and I gladly emailed them out.


Reloaded charts:

Erhu Fingering Chart 1


Erhu Fingering Chart 2


Erhu Fingering Chart 2



Regards,

Paul...

[seeyou3]

useful charts! i'll email them to my juniors

[woodstock98]

Is there a way to enlarge the erhu fingering charts? It is a little difficult to see the detail. Thanks

Will

[davidmdahl]

I suppose you could use a graphics program to select the charts for specific keys, and just print them out seperately.

Here are a few charts:

www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/courses/fall/2006/91-1/music/Fingering/index.htm

The erhu chart is for the key of G. You could use the gaohu chart on left (in G) and relabel it for D. The key of G on the gaohu sounds like D on the erhu.

Best wishes,

David

[woodstock98]

David,

I shelved the gaohu. I am now playing with an erhu that I bought from Sung Wah. I will post additional info on charts in the other forum.

Will

[davidmdahl]

Hello Will,

You can use the gaohu fingering chart from the link I posted for your erhu. The chart on the left side of the page is for 1=G, but you can relabel it 1=D and change the "G d" in the header to "d a" and it will work for erhu. The chart on the right side is not very useful since for erhu it is a chart for the key of A.

The rule for the charts is (x=y z), where x is the key, y is the scale degree of the low string in the key of x, and z is the scale degree of the high string in the key of x. So, for an erhu tuned to D/A, a tune or chart that indicates (1 5) is the key of D, since the low string D is scale degree 1 in the key of D and the high string A is scale degree 5 in the key of D. When you see (5. 2), that is the key of G since the low string D is scale degree 5 in the key of G and the high string A is scale degree 2 in the key of G.

Does that help?

Best wishes,

David

[jarrelle]

hey everyone! I am just learning erhu and I dont know how to memorize the notes on the neck.I also play sanshin and it doesnt have any frets but it had little stickers on each note position.I also play guzheng and the notations look very similiar.Is there away I can copy the notes and tape them to the erhu neck?or use stickers? thanks so much! jarrelle

[davidmdahl]

You don't necessarily need any stickers on the erhu to show where to finger notes. Just start with the key of D, and play the scale and tunes until your fingers are familiar with the patterns. Let your ear be your guide. You will have to do this anyway since no markings will be accurate enough. In order to play a tune musically and up-to-speed, your fingers will have to be familiar with the patterns and spacing without you even thinking about it.

Of course, if you want to make some marks, or attach stickers, no one is going to stop you. I hope that you will not make any permanent marks. They will just be confusing as you learn to play in other keys.

I think one of my erhus came with a strip that attaches to the neck. I never used it and don't know where it is. You might contact Sung Wah at Eason to see if they have one for you. Since the positions will be different depending on the qianjin location, I am not sure how such a strip would be useful.

Best wishes,

David

[calden]

jarrelle:

About neck markers: You can put a dot of white-out (easily removable) on the neck, right under the string, where your third finger would land. I've seen erhus with dots at the third finger position, fourth finger, and the octave position.

If you know where to put the third finger the first and second kind of fall into place. You won't need a chart or diagram for each of your fingers, especially if you already play a stringed instrument.

Of course once you get the feel for where things go (as David said) you need to take off all cheaters and helps. It really won't take long for your fingers to go to the right place.

Carlos

[jarrelle]

woah! thanks guys! Erhu is very easy it so far haha!I also play sanshing and it doesnt have any frets either.Im already working on how to memorize the notes so I can play a song....

[kampucheakhmer]

Hi i was wondering if you anybody could repost the fingering chart for me please thanks

[ed]

I have found some much clearer fingering charts here:

softist.com/chinamusic/erhu/erhu.php

Ed

[woodstock98]

David,

I have the same question as I had on my previous post. I recently restrung my regular erhu with Erquan strings and tuned it to G/D. I will double it as zhonghu to learn “On the Grassland”. On the top of the score, it has 1 = C (6 dot on bottom, 3 xian). The question is am I supposed to use the key F of D/A fingering chart? Thanks.

Will

[davidmdahl]

If I have this straight in my own head, the score presumes a tuning of A/E rather than G/D. If you need to play in the key of C with the A/E tuning then the key of F is correct using erhu mapping. If you want to tune the erquan erhu to G/D, then play Grassland as if you are playing a D/A erhu in the key of G.

Have fun!

Best wishes,

David

[sanmenxia]

If you want to tune the erquan erhu to G/D, then play Grassland as if you are playing a D/A erhu in the key of G.

I think it's more important to play with the "correct" fingering than to play to sound a particular pitch. So if you have a instrument tuned to G, D, you should still play with the (6 dot under, 3, pronounced la mi) fingering, but now 1=B flat .

Of course anyone can play which ever way they like, but if you play in a different tuning like sol re, the fingering could get more complicated and what were originally open string notes now would have to be fingered etc.

[davidmdahl]

That is a good point, sanmenxia, though if you need to play with other instruments, then pitch is an important consideration. I agree that playing in a different key than written can make a tune a lot harder. Now that we have a guzheng player, I have to play Purple Bamboo in G on erhu. I don't have it quite at the ripping speed the guzheng player likes. It is easier to just grab a G dizi. <g>

Best wishes,

David

[ed]

Going back to fingering charts - it would be nice to see some charts correctly showing how the notes get closer together as you go higher.

Ed H

[ed]

A conundrum - the stops get closer together when going up the positions, however the fingering patterns shown in these charts repeat themselves until the fingers are almost on top of each other - wouldn't it be easier in the higher positions to use just one finger for all stops?

Ed H

[sanmenxia]

I wouldn't think there's any need to show the notes getting closer. For one thing, it would it less readable because of all the symbols and number crowding together. I think it only has to show the sequence of notes, it's not really a guide to where you put your fingers.

I think the basis of erhu fingering is to use a separate finger for each note in each hand position on the neck. And this also applies in the higher octaves, but of course when the semitones get so close together you can't use two fingers , then you have to slide using one finger.

[edcat7]

I'm going to refresh this page because it's so good and also because I'm practising sliding and the higher octaves. I wish I knew how to scan, since there's a brillant short exercise for beginners sliding.

[edcat7]

I'm bumping this thread again. Paul left just as I joined and have learnt much from the old timers. Welcome back

[paulv]

Mar 1, 2016 14:29:55 GMT edcat7 said:

I'm bumping this thread again. Paul left just as I joined and have learnt much from the old timers. Welcome back

edcat7,

Thanks, it's good to be back. As you can see, I've put my erhu into semi-retirement as I've since fallen in love with the jinghu and Beijing Opera. Actually, last night I talked my wife into singing the words to part of an opera (part of my lessons)I was practicing - it was enjoyable!

Regards,
paul...

[edcat7]

I like Chinese opera both Northern and Southern, but the gaohu is as high as I dare to go.