If you enter the intermediate stage of erhu learning, you will definitely encounter some special fingerings. Once these fingerings are mastered, the melody of the music will be more beautiful. To practice this type of fingering on the real piano, sometimes due to the relationship between the hand shape and finger position, this type of fingering has a certain degree of difficulty, especially the interval is difficult to control. Practice can ensure the relative correctness of intervals and intonation.

For autodidacts, some special fingerings may take a long time to master. The following examples are analyzed and practiced with the help of a sound bar. When transferring to practice on a real piano (for example, as shown in the middle picture below), it will not be too difficult to control the correct interval. These examples are described in more detail on the relevant pages in the left column.

1. Fingering practice

The wrist, thumb and fingers that are not involved in the sound should be relaxed, and the fingers should be brisk and flexible when they rise and fall, and the pressure should be moderate.

2. Kneading fingering exercises

When practicing, rely on the swing of the wrist to make the middle finger produce a "rolling" action. It is the basis of the "tumbling" action.

3. Finger movement exercises

The following two "finger shifting" techniques are commonly used:

1. The movement of the index finger of the external string of F major upwards "moves the finger", moving the major second degree.

When practicing, you should use the practice method of retaining the fingers, such as retaining the middle and ring fingers. Those with small hands can keep only the middle finger for practice.

Note: After you have a sense of distance (sense of interval) after practicing on the sound bar, practice on the real piano. If there is portamento on the real piano, it is mostly due to the unbalanced "finger-moving" movement and the finger-lifting movement to analyze.

2. The "finger shift" or "drag" action of the ring finger (minor third). The figure below right takes the key of D as an example to practice.

When practicing, generally keep the index finger and move the ring finger. Sometimes the tiger's mouth is only fixed, and the index finger moves slightly downward.

The exercise is divided into  parts in the left column:

The first part is mainly to practice the "finger-moving" movement of the fingers. "Finger-shifting" is different from "finger-sliding". "Finger-shifting" is to avoid glissando as far as possible in real piano performance. The technique of "finger-shifting" is adopted in the process of changing the bars, which can avoid the appearance of portamento in changing bars. In addition, the finger-shifting exercise here is to practice the movement of fingers "shifting", which is different from the focus in the "Frequent Pressing Exercise" column. The exercises related to "slide finger" can be found in the "Portamento exercise" column, and the exercises related to "string pressing" can be found in the "string pressing exercise" column.

The second part is about the fingerings of various hits. The training of hitting is mainly to enhance the ability to swing by the knuckles.

The relevant fingerings in the third part are some basic finger movements and some more difficult "living finger" exercises.

.. "Split finger movement" exercise is a basic "living finger" exercise.

.."Lifting the finger" and "pressing the finger" are two opposite movements. It is very important whether the finger is agile and powerful, and the finger-raising should be strengthened.

.."Finger movement drill" is the basis of left hand pressing, kneading, and changing the handle. For the exercise of kneading, please refer to the "Erhu Kneading Exercise" page.

.."Finger pushing and dragging" is the basis of portamento and left-hand handle changing. For the practice of changing handles, please refer to the "Erhu Handle Changing Practice" column.

.. The practice of "fingers sliding and trembling" is a technique of gliding and trembling, which can minimize the accumulated interval error during practice.

Through these special exercises, the independence, flexibility, sensitivity, elasticity and balance of the force of each finger can be obviously enhanced; such exercises can further promote the stability of the correct hand shape of the left hand and standardize the left hand. type. Practicing these special fingerings should try to practice with reserved fingers. In-depth practice can be carried out patiently on the real piano.

There are many special fingerings for erhu, only the more common and practical ones are listed here. I will talk about more specific fingering exercises for each key later.