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Post by anjinsan on Oct 16, 2006 20:42:36 GMT
hello. I'm on the verge of buying a Erhu, but I'm concerned about the lack of Instruction books and videos in English ( i.e NONE! ) I live in a rural town in England with no access to a teacher. Everything seems stacked against me. So, a blunt question I suppose: Is there any point, as much as I want to learn to play this beautiful instrument, in buying one? I was almost resigned to not buying one until I found this Forum. Any honest and useful answers would be welcome.
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Post by calden on Oct 16, 2006 21:32:35 GMT
anjinsan: Don't be discouraged. There are lots of materials. Go to George Gao's website: www.georgegao.com/to buy some English-instruction materials. Also check out Jie Bing Chen's excellent beginner video: www.jiebingchen.com/erhu/video.shtmlHowever, living in England, you are not that terribly far from a number of major cities with at least some erhu instruction potential. I lived in Brighton when I was a teenager and was amazed at how easy it is to get around. Go to Edinburgh for the weekend? Why not? Everything is within a few hours of everything else. I live in the Northwestern United States, and have friends in Montana who think nothing of driving four hours - each way - to see a band in a bar, and that's a casual night out. Living in England you've got no excuse. Take a day trip to get an initial erhu lesson for an hour or two and it will get you started on the right track. Take lots of notes, some pictures, and maybe a video if the instructor will allow it. Good luck, and welcome to the forum! Carlos (a good American name for someone of German and Scot descent who plays Chinese music) |
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Post by Charlie Huang on Oct 16, 2006 23:05:33 GMT
Where do you live exactly? There may be teacher's lurking in a major city that you're not aware of (Chinese musician's in the UK tend to be shy).
You can perfectly learn erhu without a teacher, but you have to get a few lessons from one to show you the ropes. Thankfully, we have an annual Chinese music summer school in London every last week in July and you can learn erhu from Hu Bin (erhu learners are up this year) which you should go to. Until then, you come here to this forum for advice and there is plenty of it from us experienced folk.
Another option is to visit London a few times as most of the erhu teachers lurk there. You can contact Cheng Yu and she will get you in contact with an erhu player who will teach you.
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Post by davidmdahl on Oct 17, 2006 1:06:49 GMT
Well, I think that learning erhu without a teacher will be a challenge, but you can still have fun. As CCC wrote, it would be well worth getting a lesson here and there as you can manage a trip to a larger city. At least one lesson or two to get you started will make a big difference. Playing the erhu is not very intuitive for a beginner. It does help if you have some musical experience. If nothing else, there are VCDs learning sets available. There is usually a lot of talking in Chinese that will not do you much good, but keep your eyes pealed for the demonstrations.
Look through the erhu threads. There are a number of links with erhu videos that at free are a very good price. <g> I especially like the Jiebing Chen site that Carlos mentioned.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by jetz320 on Oct 17, 2006 3:08:33 GMT
How far is your home from the next major city? There's got to be an erhu teacher somewhere even if it's an hour or two away.
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Post by nuba on Nov 25, 2006 11:23:42 GMT
Me too! No Erhu teacher nearby Rio de Janeiro/Brasil. I think I'll research a bit about local chinese communities (if any) and try to dig up someone who knows how to play it, but I think trying to teach it myself by ear, with online reference material, boards, etc. will be easier. I have a classical guitar and music theory background that helps.
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Nov 25, 2006 14:39:03 GMT
I am in the process of making an instructional VCD with English Subtitlkes....
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Post by Si on Nov 25, 2006 16:28:18 GMT
if your making one yourself you could also record an english audio track so people can select which one they want- like on dvds.
while your at it make one for qu qin too - you will be the only one on this planet doing it!!!!
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Post by jetz320 on Nov 25, 2006 16:30:25 GMT
Self taught erhu is very chalenging. If you just continue to play without any instructions, there is a good chance that you are doing many things wrong. You need a good player to point out those things to you.
Some very common mistakes are not using your wrist while you play, you hand's angle, the angle of your arm, fingering positions etc. It's not very easy.
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Post by calden on Nov 25, 2006 16:44:11 GMT
It's great you're producing an English language erhu video. However, I really agree with jetz. There are some things that can't be taught unless you see it being done and explained before your eyes, and someone can position your fingers and hand.
It's not a bad start, though, and I admire and support any and all efforts to learn music, especially at a folk-music level. But it's' going to be tough to get beyond a certain level, and tough to sound better, unless one can sit down with a good player. As a banjo player who plays a very specific technique (Appalachian clawhammer style) I can promise you that it is nearly impossible to figure out how to do this style with any facility by just watching tapes. However, if I can sit down with someone for 15 minutes they'll wind up saying "oh - NOW I see what you're doing!"
Carlos
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Post by Si on Nov 25, 2006 17:45:25 GMT
Even with a teacher can still have problems - my new guqin teacher is recorrecting some of my techniques
worst thing tough is ols and new teacher are from different schools....
YOU MUST MAKE A PILGRAMAGE TO THIS FABLED CITY THAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED - otherwise talk to people in the local chinese supermarket / or chinatown if you have one / or plan a holiday to the far east.......
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 26, 2006 11:48:06 GMT
if your making one yourself you could also record an english audio track so people can select which one they want- like on dvds. while your at it make one for qu qin too - you will be the only one on this planet doing it!!!! Actually, I'd rather the existing VCDs by LXT, GY, etc get English subs than create a fully English one, coz there are only a handful of people qualified to do so. |
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Post by dsouthwood on Nov 26, 2006 15:26:07 GMT
This is the last place I'd expect to run into an old-timey banjoist! My big brother also plays that style (he learned from Fleming Brown). Most people don't know how pretty frailing can be.
Dennis
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Post by maaltan on Nov 28, 2006 1:20:14 GMT
hey i live where that was created (according to the name at least  ) It doesn't matter. I only learned that there was more than one way of playing banjo after i got into the erhu. |
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Nov 28, 2006 2:00:09 GMT
Hmm... all reviews will be sought after. We're making one in collabotation with Sun Huang, www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-LnlIx2fsw. I am looking into the possibility of having audio in english |
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Post by maaltan on Nov 28, 2006 3:31:13 GMT
On the technical side of things, does singapore use PAL or NTSC (or SECAM even)? More to the point, will you be offering an NTSC format of these vcd's ? Pal just doesn't work in North america (and japan i think) unless you play them from you computer. A hint, if you are going to master your own disks, CD-RWs and/or DVD-RWs are your friend. |
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Post by gubaba on Nov 28, 2006 3:59:49 GMT
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Post by Si on Nov 28, 2006 5:08:42 GMT
I would not bother with making VCD's. Just go straight to DVD - i think its easy these days with the right software.
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Nov 28, 2006 6:02:41 GMT
Erm, that VCD was given FOC with any dunhuang erhu sold.
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Post by maaltan on Nov 28, 2006 11:31:14 GMT
I would not bother with making VCD's. Just go straight to DVD - i think its easy these days with the right software. Im not sure (i dont think anyone is, i get a different answer everytime) but i think commercialized DVDs have to be region encoded. Which means it wont play in other countries. Therefore it will need to be encoded for North america, asia, europe, africa, etc. I think you have to pay licesing fees each time you encode a region which would drive up the costs horribly. I do know that there are some retailers that will not handle region free dvds because of fears that they MIGHT be pirated. Vcds are also much more popular (for some reason) in asia. Probably because of the lack of various laws and "protections" that make distribution complicated. |
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Post by Si on Nov 28, 2006 13:21:03 GMT
Yeah I had never heard of vcd till came to asia - they never bothered with them in Europe.
for dvd regions i dont know anyone that has not either got a regionless dvd player or at least they know how to make it regionless ( i know its the norm in singapore)
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Post by sanmenxia on Nov 28, 2006 15:32:21 GMT
There are region 0 DVDs, which will play in any DVD player in the world.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 28, 2006 15:48:14 GMT
VCDs are easier to pirate..
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Post by Si on Nov 28, 2006 15:57:10 GMT
no, you can buy 0 region dvd players - i have one from sinagpore and the one in my place in shanghai is 0 region, otherwise how does and english man like myself enjoy british comedies overseas (the thought does not bare thinking about!!!!!!)
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Post by calden on Nov 28, 2006 16:11:04 GMT
Syburn:
Let me guess: Reruns of "Are You Being Served" and "Benny Hill", right? Or maybe "Red Dwarf"? I bet your dirty little secret is "Coronation Street."
Carlos
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) It doesn't matter. I only learned that there was more than one way of playing banjo after i got into the erhu.