Newbie Q's

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Hello!

Newbie here. After a few years of wanting one I finally bought an Erhu. I haven't got it yet, Chinese holiday has kept it in Xaimen for now. But I wanted to know what a good easy peice would be to start with, and where to find the music for it. I have heard the "horse racing" is a good one to start with but it seems really fast. and I can't find any sheet music to it.
Also what are some obvious (and not so obvious) mistakes to watch out for when first starting.

Thank you all!

[davidmdahl]

Hello notmadeinzhongguo,

Welcome to our forum, and to the erhu! I would say that starting with Sai Ma (Racing Horses) is a little like a child skipping the training wheels on a bicycle and going straight to a motorcycle. When starting out on erhu, or any instrument, it is necessary to begin by learning the fundamentals. If you have access to an erhu teacher even for a few lessons, it will be a big advantage for you, and will save you a lot of trouble. You will need some sort of method book to work from with exercises and simple tunes.

Please read through the erhu-related threads on this forum, since you will find posts that may be helpful to you. We can suppliment your studies with a teacher, and will do our best to answer your questions, but we cannot adequately replace live instruction.

Best wishes,

David

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Unfortunately I live in a tiny little town in the south, the Chinese population here is about 0.001% So chances of getting a teacher are slim to none. but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask at the Chinese restaurants. One of my friends plays Violin, she's going to show me how to put rosin on but that's about all she can help me with.
I've been reading this forum all day today and all last night, I've found it to be very helpful! What book would you recommend for a person with no prior musical experience? I am studying Chinese (teaching myself, I can only read a around 150+ characters so far) so one in English would be awesome, but do they even make those

[calden]

I've got a book that's written in Chinese/English that's adequate. It also came with a CD demonstrating all the exercises and tunes. Very good for a self-teacher, but there are still things that one needs to show you. No comment on your ability to learn - there are just some things that you'd never guess intuitively from trying things by looking at a video or listening to a CD.

There is only one place I know of to buy this book, in Taipei, but I've got one and another forum member has one. Let me know if you're interested and I'll try and get you one via my Taipei connection.

Carlos

[notmadeinzhongguo]

calden said:

There is only one place I know of to buy this book, in Taipei, but I've got one and another forum member has one. Let me know if you're interested and I'll try and get you one via my Taipei connection.

Carlos

Thank you very much! How much is the book (USD)? I just spent the last of my money on the Erhu itself, but if it's not too much I might be able to get my parents to spring for the cost.

[calden]

My memory tells me it's about $25. I'll check and see.

There is also another book I have that is very, very good. It comes with an optional VCD (playable in any DVD player and most computers) but it's in Chinese. It's available at Clarion Music in San Francisco:

www.clarionmusic.com/index.php?action=item&id=344&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=0

I can't recommend this book highly enough. My original teacher in Taipei sold me the first book I told you about, then gave this book to me, saying the exercises were better. It's very good and has specific exercises for bow control, bow length usage, left hand fingering, left hand position changing, etc. etc., and a whole bunch of tunes at all levels. I imagine if you got the accompanying VCD (total =$35) you'd be able to slog through the Chinese enough to figure out what's going on with the pictures. Call the company and ask them if the VCD exactly follows the book - if so, this would be a great resource.

Carlos

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Thank you again! this one looks pretty good and the price is nice also, I'll have to see if they will get it for me. I don't see any VCDs on the site tho. Only some 12GirlsBand concerts and the like.
If I can't get it now I'm sure once the sound of dieing cats starts coming from my room hours everyday they will get it for me. Either that or kick me out of the house. lol The 2nd is most likly, but the house is safe for a little while, my erhu ships in two days.

Thank you again for your help!

[calden]

If you go back to that book at Clarion, then navigate back to the Clarion Home site, then back again to Asian instruments then to instructional materials (or something like that) you'll see the VCD next to the book. I'm going to get the VCD myself to show my erhu student a REAL player's technique.

Let us know how you do. Keep at it - the first few months can be, er, trying. Then one day you put bow to string and it sounds like someone singing, and makes it all worthwhile. Like any instrument there are times of plateau and times of sudden progress. But this one can have an especially steep learning curve.

Carlos

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Ah, I see it now. My mom gave me some extra work to do around the house, I should have enough by next saturday at latest. ;D Yeah! lol

Thank you so much, calden (or do you like Carlos better?) You have been a huge help!

[sanmenxia]

I take it that you're having your erhu sent to you from China, and although it might be too late now, could they include some learning materials (books, VCDs) with your erhu?

[notmadeinzhongguo]

sanmenxia said:

I take it that you're having your erhu sent to you from China, and although it might be too late now, could they include some learning materials (books, VCDs) with your erhu?

Yes, Xaimen(sp?) China I think. I got it off e-bay, but the seller I bought from wasn't selling any materials and the one I got didn't come with any. It did come with some rosin and a case tho. but I've heard that the rosin that most e-bay erhus come with are not much good so I may buy some violin rosin. Or would that be worse?

[karl]

Most erhu book will have horse racing score. Here it is on the internet.
www.huain.com/musicbook/here/erhu/qupu_erhu_saima_01.gif
www.huain.com/musicbook/here/erhu/qupu_erhu_saima_02.gif
www.huain.com/musicbook/here/erhu/qupu_erhu_saima_03.gif
www.huain.com/musicbook/here/erhu/qupu_erhu_saima_04.gif
www.huain.com/musicbook/here/erhu/qupu_erhu_saima_05.gif

If you want to 'see' it played. I have posted it on youtube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKSyL8A7Ak

It's not for beginners but you can print it out and use it for inspiration. ;D

[calden]

Notmadeinzhongguo:

It occured to me that you might have trouble with that book I suggested - I don't think 150 characters is sufficient to figure things out, plus you've got a whole new bunch of musical terms specific to the erhu, plus you've got the jianpu numeric notation, etc. etc.

But get it anyway - it's a great book - and ask here for help - there are a lot of resources and we have even from time to time met each other in person. I'm also sure that if you really felt stuck you could always give someone a phone call.

By the way, it also has Sai Ma.

Carlos

[notmadeinzhongguo]

calden said:

Notmadeinzhongguo:

It occured to me that you might have trouble with that book I suggested - I don't think 150 characters is sufficient to figure things out, plus you've got a whole new bunch of musical terms specific to the erhu, plus you've got the jianpu numeric notation, etc. etc.

Oh, I know 150 are nowhere near enough. I have a Chinese/English dictionary that has characters as well as pinyin so I will be able to translate some of the book. It will take a while, yes, and I'm sure a lot of it won't make sense but I think if I try hard enough and ask up here for the really hard stuff I'll make it through. I'm hoping the VCD has pinyin subs, that will make things easier. I'm going to call the store like you suggested and make sure it goes along with the book. At the moment I've printed out a pic of an erhu and labeled different parts of in Chinese characters and pinyin to get familiar with that.

[YouLanFengChune]

Haiz...

Calden, the software department in Fantasia ais working on a brand new English-Chjinese Erhu Syllabus.... maybe yopu guys may like to send me what you guys wanna know!!!

[calden]

Yinhao:

That would be a welcome addition for us Laowaimen!! Rather than try and suggest what I'd like to see, though, it would be easier for me to see an outline of what you're thinking of putting in - then I could comment on that.

carlos

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Another quick question: How should you store your erhu when not in use? In the case or out, upright or on it's side, ect?

[calden]

Put it in the case. Don't rest it against a chair. It's okay to put it on the floor face up, but there's always a chance of stepping on it....

Also put a pencil or other dowel-like object under the strings at the top of the head. You have to push the strings up a bit, but this is why you do it - it relieves pressure on the bridge a little bit which keeps the bridge from eventually putting a permanent dent in the skin head. Make sure the pencil spans the width of the head so both ends overlap the edge of the head a little. Somewhere on this forum is a picture...

Carlos

[YouLanFengChune]

hang it up on the wall, or in a case..

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Ok, that makes sense, Mr. Carlos.

YouLanFengChune, how would you mount it on the wall? I'd be to scared that it would fall to do it, but I'm curious as to how it's done without damaging the instrument.

Also, the erhu I bought comes with a black horse hair bow, I've heard that black hair doesn't work as well. Why is that?

[Charlie Huang]

notmadeinzhongguo said:

YouLanFengChune, how would you mount it on the wall? I'd be to scared that it would fall to do it, but I'm curious as to how it's done without damaging the instrument.

I have begun hanging my qin on the wall. I use a thick twisted nylon cord and tied loops on the two ends to go over the goose feet, then hung it on a nail in the wall.

[karl]

admin said:

I have begun hanging my qin on the wall. I use a thick twisted nylon cord and tied loops on the two ends to go over the goose feet, then hung it on a nail in the wall.

Is there anyway you can post a picture of that? I'll like to see how that can be done. I'm imagining that since the wall will either rub on the qin damaging it (or the wall get damaged but my guess is that wall is harder)

I was thinking of mounting a horizontal bar towel rack and the qin can hang from that by the pegs (like I have seen in stores) but I'm hesitant to proceed because I'm afraid of it falling off.

[davidmdahl]

My erhu is in the case only when being transported. I confess that when not being played it is usually leaning up against a book case in my study. When I want to get it out-of-the-way, I hang it on the wall from a jute loop on a nail.

I have heard that a black-haired bow is not suitable for an erhu, but do not know why. I think that they okay with jinghu. (Is that right, Carlos?) A high-qualilty white horse hair bow costs in the neighborhood of $20 (plus shipping), so a good bow is not out-of-reach. I know from experience how frustrating it is to try to play with a poor bow, so I highly recommend getting a good one.

Best wishes,

David

[Charlie Huang]

Don't have my digital camera with me right now (sister's still has it for some unknown reason )...

It won't rub on the wall unless you rock it! The only thing that touches the wall is the goose feet and the tuning peg ends (which makes the qin's bottom board parrallel with the wall).

You could do the towel rack, though it obviously must be made of wood, and must be away from the wall enough for the head to lean on. The qin should be store with the end pointing upwards (you should also have the legs tied on a nail so that it doesn't fall off). You really shouldn't use the pegs as a 'hook' on a pole (it might detune the strings). If you look at the pic in Gong Yi's book, that's the correct way to hang the qin. Also, Jim Binkley's site has stuff about qin hooks.

EDIT: web.cecs.pdx.edu/~jrb/chin/v318/v318.htm

I think my method of tying the goosefeet is easier, but it might de-tune the instrument. I might try out the bamboo nail method...

[notmadeinzhongguo]

Another question: Umm... you know that little piece of rolled up cloth or sponge thingy that goes under the bridge? (Don't know what it’s called) What seems to work best with that? I read that, like the bridge, different things will have a different effect on the sound. What makes the best sound for beginner exercises and music?

_N