Chinese fiddle

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The great majority of instruments are played not solo but as part of ensembles, not on the concert platform but as part of social life. Bowed strings mainly accompany vocal music—the ritual genres that I study in north China are dominated by wind and percussion ensembles the playlist in the sidebar, with commentary here , making a useful introduction. One guide, mainly useful for historical sources on early fiddles huqin , xiqin , and so on , is the book. For illustrated introductions, see e. For folk practice in modern times one should look to field reports on local traditions, setting forth from the Anthology of folk music of the Chinese peoples for leads, see my book Folk music of China. On a journey south, passing the tiqin of Kunqu and Daoist groups of south Jiangsu, regional traditions along the southeast coast have several types.

Chinese fiddle

It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz. The erhu can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. An alternate explanation states that it comes from the fact that it is the second-highest huqin in pitch to the gaohu in the modern Chinese orchestra. The name huqin literally means 'instrument of the Hu peoples ', suggesting that the instrument may have originated from regions to the north or west of China generally inhabited by nomadic people on the extremities of past Chinese kingdoms. For most of history, the erhu was mostly a folk instrument used in southern China, whereas the sihu was preferred among northern musicians. However, in the s, Liu Tianhua introduced the erhu to Beijing , and since, it has become the most popular of the huqin. Historic bowed zithers of China, including the xiqin , yazheng , and wenzhenqin , and also the Korean ajaeng , were originally played by bowing with a rosined stick, which created friction against the strings. As soon as the horsehair bow was invented, it spread very widely. The erhu consists of a long vertical stick-like neck , at the top of which are two big tuning pegs , and at the bottom is a small resonator body sound box which is covered with python skin on the front playing end. The erhu has some unusual features:. Various dense and heavy hardwoods are used in making the erhu.

The erhu is used in the music of the Cirque du Soleil show O and in solo performances in select Shen Yun tours.

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Erhu is a medium-high ranged Chinese two-stringed fiddle. The structure of the modern erhu was regularized in the s by Liu Tianhua , the pioneering musician and composer in modern Chinese erhu and pipa music. Erhu consists of a body qin tong , a shaft qin gan , two tuning pegs xuan zhou , a tight loop of string qian jin , and a tiny bridge xuan ma. Its shape is usually hexagonal, with round or octagonal regional variations. Its front 8. The shaft 78 cm long is made of the same wood as the body. Two tuning pegs are set in the upper section of the shaft, while the lower end of the shaft is fixed onto the body.

Chinese fiddle

It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz. The erhu can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. An alternate explanation states that it comes from the fact that it is the second-highest huqin in pitch to the gaohu in the modern Chinese orchestra. The name huqin literally means 'instrument of the Hu peoples ', suggesting that the instrument may have originated from regions to the north or west of China generally inhabited by nomadic people on the extremities of past Chinese kingdoms.

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It has commonly been added to ensembles accompanying regional vocal genres since around the s, but remains subsidiary see also Song of suffering. Pingback: The corpse walker Stephen Jones: a blog. Email Required Name Required Website. Many of these professional players have settled outside China, where they can find greater commercial opportunities and a wider musical horizon. Some erhu are made of recycled products. In addition to the solo repertoire, the erhu is one of the main instruments in regional music ensembles such as Jiangnan sizhu , Chinese opera ensembles, and the modern large Chinese orchestra. She was the undisputed master of erhu for 50 years. However, in the s, Liu Tianhua introduced the erhu to Beijing , and since, it has become the most popular of the huqin. Even fusion progressive rock groups like The Hsu-nami have incorporated the erhu into their music and it is their lead instrument. For folk practice in modern times one should look to field reports on local traditions, setting forth from the Anthology of folk music of the Chinese peoples for leads, see my book Folk music of China. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from May All articles needing additional references Articles containing Chinese-language text Pages with Mandarin IPA All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February Wikipedia articles needing clarification from June Articles with unsourced statements from February Commons link from Wikidata Articles with GND identifiers Articles with NDL identifiers Articles with MusicBrainz instrument identifiers. Pingback: South Jiangsu: beyond silk-and-bamboo Stephen Jones: a blog.

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Bowed strings mainly accompany vocal music—the ritual genres that I study in north China are dominated by wind and percussion ensembles the playlist in the sidebar, with commentary here , making a useful introduction. Xu Ke was forced to learn when his parents decided that, to keep him safe from the revolutionary violence outside he was virtually locked up at home; they gave him an erhu to keep him busy. Germany Japan. The pipa and xiao are focal to the group, but the erxian is also amazing, demanding extraordinary bow control, full of inflection. It is only in recent years that the erhu itself has become prominent in Chinese music and has been accepted both as an orchestral section instrument including bass, tenor and alto versions and as a featured solo instrument. A slow migration west lead to the first violins in Europe; the route east along the Silk Road gave rise to a family of instruments collectively called the Hu-Qin. Among his many compositions, before his death in , were nocturnal peace , dancing by candlelight , meditation in retirement and song of birds on a distant mountain. Return to Homepage. Many of these professional players have settled outside China, where they can find greater commercial opportunities and a wider musical horizon. Pingback: Blind musicians in China and elsewhere Stephen Jones: a blog.