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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 17, 2006 0:59:42 GMT
Thanks everyone! It turns out my thumb was in a wrong position thus making the rest of my hand tense and also in a wrong position. I can bow properly now, it's very relaxed and feels very natural.
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Post by song on May 17, 2006 1:04:15 GMT
yes, relax your bowing hand as much as possible. Other than my middle 2 fingers the rest of the hand is almost limp. Pressure on the string comes from the middle fingers, back and forth motion comes from the forearm. The wrist bending motion was almost automatic (for me at least). Without the erhu or bow in hand, try flopping your arm back and forth slowly with the wrist limp to get a feel for how the wrist should move throughout the stroke. That sounds like a plan too maal. One of the bad habits some ppl have is tensing the shoulders and while playing, the elbow gets higher and higher. I've seen on other posts that Tai Chi might help one to relax. One can try Yoga for relaxation too. Like what my Yoga teacher used to say during class: "Feel your shoulders sink to the ground....relax your arm, your elbow, your hands and your fingers....feel them sink slowly to the ground." Maybe you can close your eyes and get into that relaxed mode before your hold your bow.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 17, 2006 1:10:52 GMT
I don't do yoga or tai chi, although I did at one time do a little tai chi. I find the easiest way to relax is to control your breathing, it doesn't take a lot of brain power so I'm not distracted, just relaxed.
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Post by song on May 17, 2006 1:19:31 GMT
Oh. And another good analogy of the bowing action is the action of a fish swimming in water.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 17, 2006 1:32:46 GMT
Oh. And another good analogy of the bowing action is the action of a fish swimming in water. That's just what I thought of the first time I got it right ;D
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Post by calden on May 17, 2006 1:37:54 GMT
Another description of the bowing hand that worked for me -
I visualize a string attached to my forearm just about an inch up from the wrist. It's this string that pulls the bow, and the hand kind of follows behind it. When I wish to tui instead of la, the string magically changes to the other side and pulls the arm toward the erhu. I like to think of bow la and tui as pulling the bow - that helped me immensely in getting rid of the pushing against the strings feeling I had initially when doing the tui.
Carlos
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 19, 2006 19:12:42 GMT
Question about reading music: Um how do the numbers work? Is it like 1=C 2=D 3=E=4=F 5=G 6=A 7=B? or something like that. At first I thought the number showed what finger to use but it goes past 5 so......
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Post by sanmenxia on May 19, 2006 19:45:35 GMT
1, 2, 3...7 do not refer to a note at a certain pitch, but to notes in a scale; do, re, mi etc. At the top of a sheet of music the key is shown by eg 1=D, meaning 1 is D, and the open string notes are also given, (1,5).
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Post by maaltan on May 19, 2006 20:12:25 GMT
this probably doesn't mean much if you dont have computer/math background.
The western notion (A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 A3 b3, etc) can be thought of an "absolute" notation where each letter/number combination refers to a specific frequency.
jianpu is a "relative" notation where 1 is the first note of the scale and the only note that refers to a specific frequency. The rest of the notes 2-7 are the rest of the notes in whatever scale you are using (whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half step for major scales)
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Post by sanmenxia on May 19, 2006 20:27:01 GMT
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 23, 2006 16:03:44 GMT
I am currently learning "Spring Scenery in the Countryside" at least I think that's the name in English. Anyways, It's pretty easy but I tend to tense up while playing it. I can bow without getting tense and can do the fingering without getting tense but when I try and do them together I tense thus making it sound almost angry. I think I tense up because I'm consentrating so much but if I don't then I don't play it correctly. Will this get easier as the fingering and notes become more natural?
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Post by paulv on May 23, 2006 17:13:29 GMT
The biggest problem most people have when first learning any musical instrument is that they always rush. Take your time and enjoy the learning experience. Don't forget that you have to read the notes, get your left hand working, get you right hand bowing and keep some sort of rhythm. I know when I have a song memorized, my playing is much better.
Regards, Paul....
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Post by calden on May 23, 2006 20:40:38 GMT
Don't forget to breathe!
Carlos
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Post by maaltan on May 24, 2006 1:35:20 GMT
Don't forget to breathe! Carlos Carlos is not being funny(as in "YOU PLAY YOUR ERHU HOW!?"). Most people have the tendency to abbrieviate or otherwise alter breathing when concentrating. Allow your breaths to fall into rythym with the music. i find it works better than a metronome for keeping the speed consistant. (Then again i might just be wierd). I have found the key to music is relaxation. Try playing some when you are dead tired. I find I play better when some of my conscious mind is half asleep. sort of like now I'm still working at mastering that one. I got sort of tired with the rigid exam book plan i was following so I am sort of jumping around some. I am currently trying out liang xiao or beautiful evening. It starts out easier than 田园春色(sorry forgot pinyin and had that in my clipboard) but gets into 2nd and 3rd hand positions with slides and vibrato. I type about 80 words a minute. Everytime I start getting frustrated with the erhu i tell myself that a (typing)keyboard has several hundred thousand letter patterns I have learned to type quickly... the erhu has at best 48 (4 full octaves give or take). If I can type I can play this thing...eventually. Of course I have been typing for over 20 yrs.
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Post by calden on May 24, 2006 1:40:29 GMT
True. I'm not being funny. One of my teachers advocated, in the beginning stages, to breathe in and out with the la and tui bow strokes, while doing them slowly. When you hold your breath out of concentrating, the muscles in your chest, neck, face, and upper arms are all tensed, and take away from the energy you need to be giving to your arms and hands and fingers.
Carlos
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 24, 2006 2:19:11 GMT
80 WPM? wow! Mine is at around 48WPM not bad but not amazing either. Anyways, I've been working on my breathing while playing, turns out I was holding it most of the time. It's getting easier, whenever I tense I stop, drop my shoilders and practing bowing that note alone while breathing normal. Thank you guys for your help!
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Post by sanmenxia on May 24, 2006 7:53:50 GMT
田园春色 ÌïÔ°´ºÉ« is tian2 yuan2 chun1 se4. The odd thing is although it stays in the 1st position and therefore supposed to be "easy" (at least technically), I find it is not as easy as it seems to play it and make it sound good, maybe it's because it has some long notes, and bad intonation and bowing shows up more easily.
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Post by maaltan on May 24, 2006 17:26:25 GMT
ÌïÔ°´ºÉ« is tian2 yuan2 chun1 se4. The odd thing is although it stays in the 1st position and therefore supposed to be "easy" (at least technically), I find it is not as easy as it seems to play it and make it sound good, maybe it's because it has some long notes, and bad intonation and bowing shows up more easily. Really. other than Zi Zhu diao, what beginning songs would you reccomend. and technically my average speed is closer to 50-55. i can do 80 when i am fully concentrating on getting a large block of text placed back into the computer that a co-worked was "nice" enough to print out for me instead of emailing it to me.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 24, 2006 18:33:06 GMT
other than Zi Zhu diao, what beginning songs would you reccomend. Zi Zhu diao? 资助掉? That's a beginner song right? I don't think I've heard it, would you happen to have the sheet music for it? or a link to a site that does.
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Post by maaltan on May 25, 2006 1:28:03 GMT
I have about 3 different versions. its a fast song. I know i should work on it some more but it just doesn't interest me much. I prefer slower songs.
Depending on the copy you get, it can be easy or very hard. it seems to be a folk song in the purest sense of the word. Each new player embellishes it in thier own way. PM me with your email address and i will send you the ones that Carlos sent me (unless he gets to you first which is fine). the simplest one i have i do not have in electronic format. I have it in midi and "noteworthy composer" which will play and print sheet music. It prints in staff format though. If you can read staff, I can probably rig something to print to pdf if your interested.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 27, 2006 18:23:57 GMT
Question about AP Tuner: I finally got it to work but don't know what to tune it too. I know it's suppose to be D A, but on the AP Tuner it has numbers on it aswell. What am I suppose to tune to?
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Post by maaltan on May 28, 2006 0:44:22 GMT
d4 and a4
the number is the octaves on a piano with g0 being the key at far left(i think).
the "cent" is simply the space between half steps (d and d# for example) broken up into 100 pieces. If you are really good at tuning you should be at d4 and 0 cents. if i am in a really picky mood, i can get within 3 cents. I typically practice +-10-15 cents. The human ear typcally can hear a nickel's (5 cents american) worth of deviation. Apparently the person that invented this liked puns.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 28, 2006 0:53:31 GMT
Thanks, Maaltan!
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Post by maaltan on May 28, 2006 1:40:17 GMT
your nick reminds me of something i was wondering about. How did westerners get "china" out of "zhong guo.' I would love to hear that story.
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Post by notmadeinzhongguo on May 28, 2006 13:40:42 GMT
How did westerners get "china" out of "zhong guo.' I would love to hear that story. Seriously. I've wondered about that too.
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