The Erhu and its Beginnings
· “Ji
qin” appeared during the Tang dynasty, around 618 – 907 A.D. Ji qin is the early beginnings of the more
specific music of the “huqin” (bostonerhu.com).
· “Huqin” is first mentioned during the Song
dynasty, around 960 – 1279 A.D (bostonerhu.com).
· Evolution
from solely plucking to bowing, using pieces of bamboo during the Yuan dynasty
closely resembles today’s erhu (wesleyan.edu).
· Composer
and artist Liu Tianhua popularizes the term erhu and reinvents pipa music in
the 1920s (wesleyan.edu).
The erhu has an interesting past that leads us to an
interesting present, one in which the violin plays a role in reminding us of
its horsehair-strung beginnings. The
erhu of China began as a “barbaric” musical instrument from the northern
regions (Dabczynski). The erhu’s strings
are made of horsehair, and is looped into two strings that are typically tuned
to D and A (philmultic.com). On the other hand, the violin has four
strings and is typically tuned to perfect fifths (wikipedia.org). An erhu’s soundbox is covered by stretched
snakeskin (Dabczynski) whereas the violin in its entirety is made of wood
(stradivarius.org).
Works Cited
Dabczynski, Andrew, Richard Meyer, and Bob Phillips. "String
Explorer, Bk 1:." Google Books. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=Ur_WOYO6Dx4C>.
"Erhu - Chinese Violin / Fiddle with Two Strings." Erhu
- Chinese Violin / Fiddle with Two Strings - and Erhu Music (audio & Video
Demo). Web. 2012. <http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/erhu.html>.
"History of Ehru, Chinese Violin, Fiddle, Huqin, Xiqin,
Gaohu, Zhantao Lin." History of Ehru, Chinese Violin, Fiddle,
Huqin, Xiqin, Gaohu, Zhantao Lin. Boston Erhu Ensemble. Web. 2012. <http://www.bostonerhu.com/history.htm>.
"Violin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,
29 May 2012. Web. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin>.
Zheng, Su. "Erhu." Wesleyan.edu. 2003. Web.
2012. <http://www.wesleyan.edu/vim/cgi-bin/print.cgi?&id=19>.
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