Erhu for Composers

13.02.15 11:40info for composers | Lan Tung

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info for composersThis manual is written for composers interested in writing for the erhu. It is not completed yet.

Lan Tung, May 10, 2012

Tuning & Range

The strings are tuned to D4 (lower, next to the middle C) and A4 (one 5th higher). The D string is called the inside stringbecause it is closer to the player. The A string is called the outside string.

On the A string, the best notes go for about 1.5 octaves, reach the high E. I can play notes higherthan the high E (up to around G or A), but its harder to play as accurately because the notesbecome very close in distance on the strings. Melodic phrases above the E wont be good, but it canbe used as sound eect .

On the D string, it is generally good for one octave. The notes above one octave does not speakwell.

Fingering

Composers do not need to write out the ngerings. However, it is good to understand how it works, and to keep in mind how a passage may be played with what kindof ngering because awkward ngering makes it a lot more dicult to play.

The erhu player uses 4 ngers of the left hand to play the notes, just like the violinist. The ngers are numbered as 1 (fore nger), 2 (middle nger), 3, and 4 (pinky).Always keep in mind that I keep my ngers on both of the strings at the same time. Generally, without changing positions, between the lowest notes on the D string(played by #1 nger) and the highest notes on the A string (played by #4 nger) is an octave. In the higher registers, I can reach more than an octave. But the octave isthe basic, and the reference for spacing.

The notes between the low D and G# can only be played on the D string. However, the notes of A and above may be played on either strings. The choice of whichstring to play is based on the convenience of the ngering, and also the tone colours. Playing notes of the same phrase on the same string will produce more uniedtone than switching between strings.

Positions

The erhu has three basic positions:

1) First Position the rst octave from Dopen string to the E above (played by #4nger on the A string).

2) Second Position from the G on D string (played by #1 nger) to the A one octave above it (played by nger #4).

3) Third Position usually only the A string is played. The notes on the D strings do not speak well. The highest note of this position is the high E on the A string.

4) Forth Position only the A string is played, starting from the high D, and may go up to G or A. But notes above the E are rarely used and hard to be in tune. Becausethe notes are very close in distance on the string, the best way is to not play all the notes of the scale consecutively.

5) Moving Positions I can place my #1 nger on any pitch to create new positions in between these positions. In non-traditional music, this is used more often thanthe traditional positions.

The erhu players always move between dierent positions.



Fast jumps between notes wider than an octave apart are played in dierent positions. This can be dicult, depending on the ngering and the choices and orderingof notes. Obviously, whenever the open strings are played, its easier and gives me extra time to change between positions.

Tone Colour and Volume

The erhu sounds the best in the rst two octaves. The A string is brighter. The tone of the D string canbe described as warmer or darker.

The erhu is not as loud as the violin, but it does have a good range of volume. It is good to perform inacoustic space without microphones. However, to play with loud percussion and wind instruments can

be dicult. This has to be taken into consideration when composing loud passages in ensembles with these instruments. In larger ensembles, the erhu is oftenamplied with a microphone, unless there are multiple erhu to make up a string session.

In general, for the same volume on the same note, the erhu player needs to change the bow more often than the violinist. The higher the pitch, the softer the volumeit is on the erhu. This makes it dicult for the intensity and volume often required for passages in the higher register. To achieve that, I need faster bowing speed thanthe lower register. Therefore, I need to change my bowing a lot more frequently, and the notes are either shorter or played with more than one bow.

Keys

Theoretically, the erhu can be played in any key because there is no ngerboard. But very rarely, I play in keys of more than 3 sharps or ats. The open strings, and the5th and octaves above the open strings, are important reference points for intonation. Keys (such as Ab or Eb) that do not use the open strings are more dicult. Thengering is awkward, and the instrument does not resonate well neither.

For accidentals, I read sharps quicker than ats.

Traditional Techniques

1) Right Hand Techniques:

The bow is held with an underhand grip. The bow hair is adjusted so it is slightly loose. The ngers of the right hand are used to push the hairs away from the stick inorder to create tension in the hairs. The bow hair is placed in between the two strings and both sides of the bow hair are used to produce sound, the player pushesthe bow away from the body when bowing the A string (the outside string ), and pulls it inwards when bowing the inside D string .

Most of the following techniques are also used on the violin. For the ease of understanding, the violin terms are used here.

Bowing

The erhu bow is attached in the middle of the two strings. Therefore, starting a phrase from silence usually is with a down bow(moving from left to right away from the body ). This technique is indicated by a symbol resembling a small bracket overthe note.

To play a long sustained note, an up bow (moving from right to left toward the body ) is easier, especially if crescendo is required.

Of course, this is not always possible. The bow going the other directions is also playable. I just need to work it out. These are the most ideal bowings for thesesituations, but not the only options.

The erhu bow sits right on top of the sound box. The player uses the weight of the bow and moves in a direction perpendicular to the strings. Unlike the violin, youcan not change the tone colour by changing the distance between the contact point of the bow hair on the strings and the bridge.

Dtach

Dtach on the erhu is not as clean as the violin because the bow is in the middle of the two strings, but it is still used very often.

Jet

Also known as ricochet bowing, this consists of throwing the bow on the string in the upper third of the bow on a down bow, so that it bounces and produces two



rapid notes. This is usually used to depict horses galloping.

Tremolo

This consists of moving the bow back and forth in very short strokes extremely rapidly, not in measured rhythm.

Double Stops

The only way to play both strings at the same time is to use the bow stick to play the A string and the bow hair to play the D string. Therefore, thetone is not the same for the A string, and the only interval can be played is the 5 . The tone is more aggressive and cannot be played in softervolume.

Col legno

Knocking the bow stick on the sound box. This is to create percussive sound.

2) Left Hand Techniques:

Vibrato

By waving the ngers up and down, it changes slightly the length of the string, and therefore the pitches. The erhu player often varies the speed of the vibrato oneach note, and will also play some notes without vibrato.

Slides

It is natural to slide between notes on the erhu. It happens most often between minor 3rd, but it can be played between anynotes. The erhu player often vary the speed of the slides, moving in dierent speed as the ngers sliding through dierentintervals.

Glissando

Slide over bigger intervals in various speed. It can also be combined with tremolo. It is possible to specify the starting and ending pitches of theglissando, but usually no specic pitches are assigned.

Pressing

The other way to vary the pitch is by changing the pressure of the strings. Without the ngerboard, the erhu player can press hard on the strings to raise the pitchslightly. It is the most expressive quality of the erhu. The erhu player will vary the pressure on the string to change the tone colour.

Most of the time, the erhu player uses a combination of vibrato and pressing on the strings.

Harmonics

1) Natural harmonics are produced by lightly touching (but not depressing) the string with the nger at certain places, and then bowingthe string.. The most often used ones 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 of the strings. For example, the halfway point of the string will produce a harmonicthat is one octave above the unngered (open) string. The natural harmonics on the A string: #C, A, E; on the D string: #F, D, A.

2) Articial (touch fourth) harmonics: depresses the string fully with rst nger while touching the same string lightly with the fourth nger. This produces a sound twooctaves above the stopped note by the rst nger.

Pizzicato

The erhu pizzicato is a lot more limited than the violin because the bow is always in the middle of the two strings. The bow will alwaysneed to touch one of the strings, leaving only the other string to resonate when it is plucked.

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1) A string pizzicato

This is plucked with the left hand (pull o or left hand pizzicato). The rst nger presses on the strings to fret the note, while the third nger pulls the A string. Thepitch of the plucked note is where the rst nger is. This is used to pluck only a single note at a time, and it can be any note on the A string. The sound is very dry,especially in the higher registers.

However, the open string can be easily plucked by any of the rst three ngers any time and resonates more. Although not used very often, by alternating rapidlybetween the rst three ngers, it can create a rolling eect on the open note of the A string.

2) D string pizzicato

There are two movements involved: 1) put down the bow on the lap and keep it touching the A string. 2) pluck the string with the right hand.

Most erhu pizzicato are done this way. The sound is dark, but you can play some fast passages. The range is limited to about one octave from the open string. At theend of the plucked phrase, it takes a moment to pick up the bow again to play.

3) Pluck and play at the same time

You can pluck the A string with the left hand and play the D string with the bow at the same time. The only interval can be played is the 5 . This technique works bestto play the open strings. However, it is possible to press any note with the rst nger and pluck the A string with the 3rd nger, while bowing the D string. The pitchesfor both strings are where the rst nger is. The higher the pitch, the more dicult it is to do. I cannot play fast consecutive notes in this manner, unless it is to repeatthe same note.

Extended techniques

Textures and eects created with unusual bowing techniques

To produce the best tone on the erhu, it requires the balance between the bow pressure and speed, and moving in straight angel. However, I sometimes deliberatelycreate an imbalance by pressing the bow very hard or moving the bow in the wrong angles to create dierent textures.

1) Scratch Tone Bowing with high pressure on the strings

A scratch tone is produced by bowing the instrument in normal playing position, but applying very hard pressure to the bow. This produces a grating sound, whichcan be played with either short bowing (rhythmic/percussive sounds) or long sustained tones. By changing the speed of the bow movement, it can be played withdierent volumes. I often move the bow in extremely slow motion to produce quiet but very intense long tones.

2) Bowing with the bow lifted above the sound box

Unlike the violin, the erhu bow usually stays on the sound box. It is important to relax the bowing hand and use the gravity to play the bow. Lifting the bow upproduces weak tone. Beginner players often do this. However, I use it for special eects.

Extended techniques without the bow

Unlike the western string instruments, knocking on the wood surface of the erhu does not produce much sound. The sound box is made of thick and heavy woodwith high density. the neck/stick of the erhu is made of a solid piece of wood, which do not resonante.

1) Robbing or tapping the skin

Robbing or tapping gently on the snake skin of the sound box can produce some percussive sound. However, the sound is soft. It is more eective with amplication.

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