I mentioned in an earlier post that I did some videos on some basic Erhu techniques. I thought I might do a thread and update whenever there are any new videos.
Here are the exisiting videos. Number 3 was just finished today.
Are you facing some problems at the moment? Basically the inner string is tuned D and the outer string A. If you do not have perfect pitch you are tune it by pressing the D and A keys on the piano and tune accordingly.
If you are not very sensitive to changes in pitch the best way is to get a digital tuner to help you.
Very well done on the vibrato video, Sung Wah! If I had that when I was starting, it would have saved me some trouble. I am spending a lot of time now trying to correct my convulsive and tense vibrato into something in better control. The video will help.
My big problem is that I don't have an erhu yet ... Perhaps I import one but our taxes are very hard (about 100%). I like to try to construct one, but I don't have the dimensions. Perhaps I construct an yehu - more ease and if I make a mistake I already ate the coconut Thanks for your videos! You are my teacher (Jiebing Chen too)!!! I plan to learn violin. I know that it is different, but it is seemed than I can find here.
Thanks for the encouragement David. I hope it helps.
Sometimes when you do videos like this you wonder if the result is as what you envisioned. Because it is a one way communication, a lot of things can be misinterpreted.
That's a really helpful exercise for vibrato. Maybe once you have made some more videos you could make your own tutorial cd full of exercises in English. Do you know how well that would sell. I appreciate your time and doing this for free is excellent, especially when you have people like George Gao selling cd's that are over expensive just for one exercise.
Thanks Damien. I'm not too sure if anyone gets better at bowing or learned how to vibrato from those videos. So do let me know if you get better it the Erhu from the videos. Currently, I am enjoying making those videos. Once it gets commercialized, there are a lot of other issues that I need to consider, which might not make it as fun as before.
I need some suggestions on the topics I can do on my next Erhu videos. I have a few in mind but I would like to hear from some Erhu players. Perhaps you can list down some of the problems you usually have or some things you wish to know how to do. eg. How do I......, Why do I always get......?
but please don't ask me how to play technically challenging pieces like Carmen fantasy or Zigeunerweisen cos I can't too.
I am not a professional Erhu player nor a Erhu teacher. But I do have some playing experience and come across Erhu instructors everyday who are willing to share what they know. disclaimer: there is no substitute for a face to face lesson with a Erhu teacher.
Sorry, I'm starting to get a little self-conscious after posting my videos on youtube for the world to see.
OH JEEZ, Song. It's just dog skin! When I lived in China I tried some dog meat. It came from a can with a picture of a German Shepherd on it. Tasted like chicken! No, just kidding, it just tasted like.... some kind of meat. I like different kinds of odd food, but I drew the line at drinking snake blood in the night market in Taiwan.
So, what kind of dog makes the best tone? Poodle? Chihuahua? How about a Pit Bull for a really strong and resonant tone? There are several on my street I'd like to process into something more useful, that's for sure.
Actually, Song, your stereotype is fairly accurate. I don't know about animal rights activists, but most Westerners are horrified at the thought of eating a pet-like creature. But not me! I love my cats dearly, but I don't overidentify with them and grant them "human" rights.
In any case, among the animal kingdom there are certain breeds that would have suitable skin for this or that purpose - calfskin, cowhide, pigskin - and it would make sense that a certain type of dog might just have the kind of hide that would make an erhu sing.
I need some suggestions on the topics I can do on my next Erhu videos. ...
Sung Wah
Hi Sung Wah, First of all, thanks for the very helpful videos. I'm just starting to learn to play the Erhu (learning the D Major scale now), I think it will be very useful for beginners like myself if there are videos showing the left hand positions of the most commonly/popular played scales. Cheers.
I teach erhu and just stumbled on a left-hand-scale-position idea that may work for you (although your idea of a video demonstrating the position is excellent.) I told my student to pick up the guitar in his house (he only plays piano) and pretend it's an erhu. By fingering a major scale and keeping his fingers on the guitar neck, he can instantly see (and feel with his left hand) the proper relative spacing for a scale. The frets kind of guide yoru fingers into the proper places more or less, and for a beginner this seems to be a very good way to introduce the correct positions. I also put tiny pieces of removable tape - dots, really, on the neck just beneath the strings. I don't really like doing this because I want the student to get the positions by his ear and by feel, not sight, but it's a good start for someone who hasn't had experience with a stringed instrument.
By the way, I've been trying to get Song to make a book and video series for English speakers. It would be a big help and potentially lucrative. I think he's just shy :>o