In the teaching of erhu bowing, people always attach importance to the principle of relaxation. If the students' performance is unclear or the timbre is not beautiful, the teacher encourages the students to relax and not be too nervous. However, in the practice of erhu practice, some students find it difficult to understand the word "relaxation", and even more difficult to achieve. This is mainly due to the inability to grasp the essentials of relaxation. Some people think that relaxation is for tension, to eliminate tension, also to achieve relaxation. However, how to eliminate tension and achieve the purpose of relaxation and strength is worth exploring.

In my opinion, whether the arm is relaxed or not mainly depends on whether the player has mastered the correct method of using the bow force. Usually, when erhu teachers teach beginners to use the bow, they emphasize the pressing, holding, top, and hooking methods of the right finger. Of course, it is very important to master these basic bowing methods, but it is not enough. This is just a finger operation method when carrying a bow. The key to the correct bowing force is the skillful use of gravity, in addition to the correct playing posture, the bowman's style and the "flat, straight and even" bowing.

What is gravity? It refers to the attraction of the center of the earth, or the weight of the object itself, which is common sense that everyone knows. Professor Zhou Guangren, a famous piano educator, emphasizes the use of the self-weight of the arms to play the piano. The famous American female violinist Carroll. Glenn said of how to use pressure on the bow to increase the volume: "We should use the weight on the bow, not the right hand. The weight falls from the shoulder to the upper arm to the wrist, the wrist is like a strong spring, first of all Follow this weight, and then redistribute it to the hands and fingers through the wrist." When we play the erhu, we also need to learn this method to force the bow. The muscle strength is mainly used for pushing and pulling the bow and the force control of the bow, so that the muscles and joints of all parts of the right arm from the shoulder to the fingers are relaxed and flexible, the movements are agile and labor-saving, and the sound quality of the piano is full and beautiful.

This is one of the topics that must be emphasized in the process of erhu teaching. When the bow is moved, the force of the bow hair rubbing the strings is composed of two forces. One is the pressure of the bow hair on the strings, which is called static force. The second is the force used to pull the bow left and right, called power. Here we first discuss the gravity performance of bow hair pressing strings.

1. The performance and application of the natural gravity of the bow

We try to put the bow hair on the outer string, and the bow shaft naturally attaches to the outside of the piano. At this time, the bow hair naturally produces pressure on the outer string, and this pressure is the gravity of the bow. If you push and pull the bow from the right index finger and middle finger to push and pull the bow, the bow hair will rub the outer string to make the erhu make a fine sound. For example, if you hold the bow normally and move the bow from side to side without applying pressure on the arm, the bow will also be able to be moved left and right. Play the above sound. If you pull the inner string, just use your fingers to slightly press the bow hair, and lift the bow shaft away from the violin barrel, so that the bow hair is pressed toward the inner string, which can also show the string pressing effect of the natural gravity of the bow. Simply use the natural gravity of the bow to press the strings, generally used at the start of the slow bow of the playing tone, or when changing the bow and strings, in order to avoid the stress rubbing the strings, or even to completely avoid the sound head (heavy rubbing). At the moment of starting with the bow root, the muscle strength of the fingers is needed to lift the bow slightly to offset part of the gravity of the bow and achieve the effect of smooth attack.

For example, when the famous erhu performer Min Huifen played the first stanza of "Singing in a Sickness", he did this almost every time he played a bow, and he didn't need to lift the bow when he started playing, because the bow is usually drawn from the left. At the beginning of the half-bow, the closer the wiping point is to the tip of the bow, the weaker the force performance of the bow; the closer the wiping point is to the root of the bow, the stronger the gravity performance of the bow. "s reason. This has to do with the position of the bow and the leverage of the bow. Under normal circumstances, in order to exert the gravity of the bow, the fingers should not hold the bow too tightly, so as not to offset the bow's own gravity. When playing slow and weak passages or the end of the whole piece, the gravity of the bow is used to compress the strings. In addition, when the bow is played and the bow is thrown, the gravity of the bow is also used to make the ponytail and the strings bounce off each other. , plus a skill that is performed by the arm muscles and flexible bowing.

2. The performance and use of the natural gravity of the arm

The self-gravity of the right hand in playing the erhu is manifested by the leverage formed by the right fingers, the bow and the strings (the rubbing points). When pulling the outer string, the first section (root section) of the right index finger supports the bow rod (here is the fulcrum of the force); the thumb is pressed down on the bow rod to form a force point, so that the bow hairs hanging on the outer string are on the outer string. The pressure is increased, here is the resistance point. When pulling the inner string, use the first section of the index finger of the right hand and the belly of the thumb to form an angle against the fulcrum of the fish tail, and use the middle finger and ring finger to hook the force of the bow hair. The force of the string should usually come from two aspects, one is from the muscle contraction force of the arm, and the other is the sinking force from the weight of the arm itself, that is, the natural gravity of the arm.

Beginners of erhu do not use the correct force to move the bow and press the string, and often do not use the natural gravity of the arm against the bow, but use more muscle strength. Because the grip is too tight, most of the muscle force of the fingers is used to offset the self-gravity of the bow, and the other part is used to press the string, but due to muscle tension, its strength is difficult to control, resulting in uneven and unrealistic force, and the sound is not beautiful. , while the arm muscles are prone to fatigue and soreness.

How to convert the natural gravity of the arm into the pressure of the bow hair on the strings? To do this, first learn to sink your arms. Let's first experience the feeling of the arm sinking. The first step is to sit upright, put the right side on the right thigh, relax the three joints of the shoulder, elbow and wrist. At this time, the weight of the upper and lower arms and hands should sink on the thigh, the arm should feel sinking, and the thigh should feel pressure. . The second step is to hold the bow by pressing, supporting, topping and hooking the right fingers, relax the shoulders, elbows and wrists, let the self-gravity of the arm sink to the fingers, and support the bow in the form of levers formed by the fingers and the bowstring. In this way, the self-gravity of the arm is naturally converted into the pressure of the bow hair on the strings, and the arm should still feel sinking. The third step is to maintain this state of gravity pressing the string, and push and pull the bow to produce sound. This is to use the gravity of the arm to press the string to move the bow. When using the bow, pay attention to keep the wrists, elbows, shoulders and other parts of the relaxed state and arm sinking feeling.

3. The use of gravity and muscle strength

When we are more proficient in using force to move the bow, we will naturally feel that it is not enough to use only gravity to move the bow, and the effect of muscle strength cannot be stopped for a second. In actual performance, due to the needs of music performance, the change of the intensity of music requires a variety of bowing techniques to be mixed. Gravity and muscle force always work together, and the complex changes are indescribable. Generally speaking, when playing strong notes, it is necessary to appropriately reduce the sinking feeling of the arms. When you experience it carefully, you will feel that the greater the strength of the bow, the easier the arm will feel, and the smaller the strength of the bow, the more difficult the arm will feel, because when the strength is small, the arm must overcome part of the self-gravity of the arm and the bow with muscle strength. Even lift the bow up to reduce the pressure on the string from the bow hair. When the strength increases, that is, the lower weight of the arm increases. At this time, the arm relies on the leverage of the bow and the fingers to be supported. Instead, it gets a relative rest, but the fingers must press the bow with their muscle strength.

Besides, the weight comes from the force of nature, and its use does not harm the body. Muscle strength is the power of human limbs, and its use requires a certain amount of body energy. So people who use gravity skillfully. Although I practice the piano for a long time, I don't feel tired. Instead, it's easier. If you don't use gravity, even if you don't practice for a long time, your arms will feel sore and even more tense. Therefore, if you can use gravity, you should never replace it with muscle strength. In addition, muscle strength and gravity or interval use are also reflected in the lateral force of pushing and pulling the bow, especially when the bow is slow. Run right; when pushing the bow, the upper arm is mainly used to gradually sag by the gravity of the arm itself, retracted to the armpit, and the forearm hand bow is driven to the left; when the bow is pushed to the root of the bow, the upper arm should be completely lowered. .

If the big arm is on and does not hang down, it means that it is still using muscle strength to push the bow. When transporting a fast bow, the lateral force of pulling is mainly reflected in the use of forearm muscle force to swing the hand left and right to drive the bow to run fast, but at this time, the shoulder and wrist joints should be relaxed so that the upper and lower arms still sink to a certain extent. sense. Carefully observe and listen to the performances of contemporary accomplished erhu performers. The sound quality is plump and firm, and the timbre is bright and soft, showing a profound foundation. It is because they can master the gravity bow skill skillfully, and they can use long bow, short bow, slow bow, fast bow, strong bow, weak bow, as well as break, pause, continuous, When splitting, shaking, jumping, throwing, throwing, flying and other bowing skills, the natural gravity and muscle strength of the arms and bows are used ingeniously and flexibly, so that the art of playing can reach a state of ecstasy and touching.