Erhu tunings

[jetz320]

Hi everyone. I'm new here, I was introduced to this forum by two people in a guzheng forum. I'm curently taking erhu classes. But still new to the instruments tuning and the number music notation. So, I'm confused about what F, A, etc are. I understand that the erhu is tuned to D and A. But what about the tuings higher, and the tunings lower? I tune with the piano to get the corect note, so what are the other tunings in western noation? Anyhelp will be highly appreciated and welcome. ;D

[davidmdahl]

Hello Jetz320,

Welcome to our forum. I hope you find what you want here. I did try to answer your question on chinesezither.net, but apparently did not explain well enough. If you are taking an erhu class, surely the teacher can help you to understand the notation and how you can play the erhu in different keys.

For information on the jianpu notation, there is an excellent tutorial on wikipedia.com.

Good luck!

Best wishes,

David

[song]

Hi Jetz320,

Welcome to the forum. Erhu's tuning is fixed at D(inner string) and A(outer string).

The jianpu is a bit tedious to explain in detail. Like what David mentioned, there's some good info in wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianpu

Thanks,
Sung Wah

[jetz320]

I looked. But is this right? The strings are mostly always tuned to D and A. But if lets say F is one, then the tuning is still D, but instead of 1=D, the F makes it 6 with the dot on the bottom. Is this right? I think I'm getting it now!!!

[davidmdahl]

Yes, it sounds like you have it, Jetz320. It can help to work at a keyboard and figure out what the "6" is in a particular key. Using jianpu is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. When you are learning erhu, just take one key at a time and go on to the next key when you are comfortable. It might take a few months or so with each key, so be patient with yourself.

Best wishes,

David

[maaltan]

I hope this doesn't confuse you but I have found this out.

1=D (1 5 ...) 2/4

means the key is D and the strings are tuned to D and A and the time signature is 2/4.

1=G (.5 2 ...) 4/4

means the key is G and the strings are tuned to 5. and 2 (which are still D and A btw) with time signature of 4/4

Almost every song ive seen simply shifts the numbers in the paranthesis and basically gives you the numbers for D4 and A4.

some songs like Erquan Ying Yue (the copy i have at least) use a more exotic key signature

1=A (1 5 ...) 4/4

means that 1=A and the strings are 1 and 5 (or A3 and E4...i think) therefore you have to retune the strings. A is mostly playable on a standard erhu but the true "Traditional" Erquan songs are played in G. Standard strings become too loose and traditional pegs do not have the tension needed to stick

Dont confuse this with regular key of A

1=A (.4 1)

[jetz320]

Thanks. I get it now.

[karl]

maaltan said:

1=A (1 5 ...)

Dont confuse this with regular key of A

1=A (.4 1)

This is interesting. I've never seen this before. How do you know when to retune your erhu (or get new strings) or just move your hand down (as in F/G).

[sanmenxia]

The numbers in the brackets mean the open string notes in the scale, and the "1=..." gives the pitch eg 1=D (1, 5), so the inside open string (thicker) is do; the first note in the scale and the pitch is D, and the outside open string (thinner) is sol; the fifth note in the scale and the pitch is A.

The standard tuning is D, A, but the actual pitch of do, re, mi... changes for different keys.

For 1=A (.4, 1), the inside open string (thicker) is fa; the fourth note in the scale and the pitch is D, and the outside open string (thinner) is do; the first note in the scale and the pitch is A.

But for 1=A (1, 5), the inside open string (thicker) is do; the first note in the scale and the pitch is A, and the outside open string (thinner) is sol; the fifth note in the scale and the pitch is E. So you would need to retune the erhu down to A and E, but the strings will be quite slack, so thicker "erquan" strings are available for this tuning. Another example is the the common gaohu key and tuning; 1=C (.5, 2); G, D open strings.

Also the numbers in the brackets indicate fingering, eg both 1=D (1, 5) and 1=A (1, 5) have the same fingering patterns.

[karl]

How many unique key signatures are there? How many are actually common (say 90% of all music)?

[sanmenxia]

The common ones are:
1=D (1, 5)
1=G (.5, 2)
1=F (.6, 3)
1=B flat (.3, 7)
1=A (.4, 1)

I suppose in theory there would be 11, but most pieces seem to be in one of the above.

[davidmdahl]

There are also plenty of good erhu tunes in C (.2 6).

Best wishes,

David

[sanmenxia]

haha, i'd forgotten about that one, thanks