Music is an art of sound, and this sound should be a beautiful sound, so when we sing or play an instrument, we all hope to sing or play a beautiful sound. So, what kind of sound is beautiful and beautiful? How can we sing or play a beautiful and beautiful sound? This is the concern of every singer and instrumentalist.

People know that singing should pay attention to pronunciation, and naturally, playing a musical instrument and playing the erhu should also pay attention to pronunciation. If the singer does not have the correct vocal method, and the erhu player does not have the correct performance (pronunciation) method, it is impossible to sing or play beautiful and pure music.

1. Music and noise

The sound produced by the incorrect playing method on the erhu can only be a non-penetrating, inelastic, woody, dead sound that is piled up by a small amount of musical tones and a lot of noise. In a sense, it does not meet the requirements of music art and music aesthetics. Because this kind of sound is not beautiful, it makes people (musical trained people) feel uncomfortable hearing. Phenomenally, this kind of sound sounds unpleasant. From the point of view of physical acoustics, this kind of sound is caused by the insufficient vibration of the strings and the inconcentration and dispersion of the energy that makes the strings vibrate to produce the sound. When a vibrating body is vibrated by an external force and emits sound, a sound wave is generated, which includes the fundamental wave and many high-order harmonics. When the energy that makes the vibrating body vibrate to produce sound is dispersed on the sound waves of various frequencies, the sound emitted by the vibrating body is divergent, non-penetrating, inelastic, woody, and dead, that is to say is unpleasant. When the energy that makes the vibrating body vibrate to produce sound is concentrated on the fundamental wave and a small amount of higher harmonics, the sound emitted by the vibrating body is concentrated, penetrating, elastic, and energetic. This kind of sound is beautiful and pleasant, which is what every erhu player wants to pursue. Many acoustic experts have tested and analyzed the sounds sung and played by a large number of excellent singers and instrumentalists with scientific instruments, and found that the energy that produces the beautiful and beautiful sound is concentrated in the fundamental wave and a small amount of high-order harmonics. on the wave.

2. Make the strings vibrate fully and freely

So, how can we play this kind of beautiful sound that conforms to the scientific vibration principle on the erhu? This requires us to adopt a scientific playing method that can fully and freely vibrate the strings. Every erhu player is in pursuit of the most beautiful sound, so that the connotation of music can be fully reflected through the beautiful and beautiful sound. Because everyone knows that without a good sound, no matter how good the music is, it will be dull and lacking in vitality.

The pronunciation of the erhu is achieved by the friction between the bow hair and the strings, causing the strings to vibrate, and then through the resonance of the barrel. The quality of the sound is mainly determined by the vibration of the strings. The sound produced by the regular and sufficient free vibration of the strings is good, and the sound produced by the irregular, insufficient and hindered vibration of the strings is not good. To make the strings of the erhu vibrate regularly and freely, and emit a beautiful and pure sound, it is directly related to the player's playing posture, holding method, string pressing method, bow holding method, bowing technique, etc. Among them, bowing plays a decisive role. Regardless of the playing method, one of the important principles is that the simpler, more natural, and less effortful the playing method, the better.

In erhu performance, any tense, unnatural and laborious playing method will hinder the acquisition of beautiful and pure sound. Psychological and physiological naturalness and relaxation in Erhu performance are the keys to obtaining a relaxed, pure and beautiful sound on Erhu. Any physical tension in the erhu performance is asking for trouble and thankless. This kind of physiological tension will cause the low quality of erhu pronunciation.

Every erhu player knows the importance of physical and psychological relaxation in erhu performance, because natural and relaxed performance is the key to obtaining a beautiful and beautiful sound, that is to say, natural and relaxed performance is to make the strings regular , the key to full and free vibration. How to be natural, relaxed and play a beautiful and beautiful sound in performance is a topic that every erhu player must spend a lifetime of research and practice on. There are two main reasons for some erhu players who have been pursuing for a lifetime but cannot find a correct way of playing. One is that they have not mastered a good and scientific method of playing; The concept of erhu playing timbre means that a good inner hearing has not been established. Of course there are other reasons. Therefore, scientific erhu playing methods and good inner hearing are the most critical factors to play a beautiful and beautiful sound on the erhu.

Good playing is always inseparable from good pronunciation. Effortlessly playing a pure and beautiful sound on the erhu is the main goal pursued by every erhu player. The requirement of erhu pronunciation is mainly to obtain a beautiful voice rather than the pursuit of a loud voice. Of course, due to the needs of musical performance, sometimes we also need to play some strong and loud sounds on the erhu, but such strong and loud sounds must be based on pure pronunciation and beautiful timbre. When we play the erhu, we have a better voice than anyone else, not a louder voice than anyone else. Loud but not beautiful voice is not what we want to pursue. For example, if the instrument is played louder than anyone else, then we shouldn't have anyone play the guqin or the erhu. So effortlessly playing a relaxed sound on the erhu is the main goal that we erhu players pursue.

Sound can be divided into musical tones and noise. Noise is the result of a series of irregular vibrations of the articulator, while tones are the result of a series of regular vibrations of the articulator. Tones have three salient characteristics: intensity, pitch, and quality. The intensity is determined by the amplitude of the vibration of the sounding body, the pitch is determined by the vibration frequency of the sounding body, and the sound quality or timbre is the characteristic of the musical sound, which is determined by the effect of the overtone produced by the sound and the method of sounding. , the material of the sounding body, the surrounding environment when it is pronounced and the sound is transmitted. We can distinguish the sound and vocals of various instruments by their timbre.

Tones are made up of the fundamental and its overtones (higher harmonics). When the strings vibrate and produce sound under the action of external force, in addition to the vibration of the full length of the strings, each segment of the strings is also vibrating. The vibration of the full length of the string produces the fundamental tone, and the segmental vibration of the string produces a series of different overtones. The timbre is actually the sound effect produced by the simultaneous fusion of the fundamental and its overtones when the instrument is pronounced. Each sound produced by the musical instrument is actually a compound sound that is mixed with many sounds such as octaves, fifths, and thirds.

Timbre is the timbre, which is the basic element of musical sound. People can not only create a variety of musical instruments with good timbre, but also through scientific performance methods, they can play a continuous, penetrating, elastic and beautiful sound on the musical instrument. Therefore, from the perspective of musical instruments, timbres can be divided into two types. One is the sound of the instrument, and the other is the sound of the instrument. Instrument timbres are the timbres inherent to the instrument. For example, different musical instruments have different timbres, which is determined by the inherent nature of musical instruments. The erhu has the timbre of the erhu, the flute has the timbre of the flute, and the piano has the timbre of the piano. People can easily distinguish the timbre of different instruments. Just because the same musical instrument is made of different materials, production techniques and production methods, there are also differences in timbre. There is obviously a difference in the timbre of a professional playing piano and an ordinary practice piano. The timbre of the erhu made of mahogany is always Better sound than erhu made of white wood. Of course, to distinguish the difference in timbre of the same musical instrument due to its different production quality requires a higher discrimination ability. Higher discrimination power is required. The inherent timbre of the erhu itself is not the subject of our erhu performers, but the subject of the erhu makers of the musical instrument factory. Of course, every erhu player wants to get one or more erhus with excellent sound quality. The timbre of erhu playing is the subject that our erhu performers need to study. Due to the different playing methods, that is, the playing posture, the method of holding the piano, the method of pressing the strings, the method of holding the bow, and the technique of carrying the bow, the sound produced when playing the erhu will have different timbres. This timbre is what we call The sound of the erhu.

3. How to play the correct erhu pronunciation

How can I play a beautiful and pure sound on the erhu?

First of all, the erhu player is required to master a correct playing method skillfully;

The second is to require the player to establish a clear concept of timbre, that is to say, to establish a good inner hearing;

Another point is that players are required to be physically and psychologically natural and relaxed during the performance. Of course, there are other factors to play a beautiful and pure sound on the erhu, but the main ones are the above three.

The correct erhu playing method mainly includes the correct playing posture, the method of holding the qin, the method of pressing the strings, the method of holding the bow, the technique of carrying the bow, and so on. The author believes that no matter what kind of playing method we use, as long as we use a natural, relaxed and effortless playing method when playing the erhu, and can play a pure and beautiful sound that conforms to the principle of scientific vibration, This is a scientific, correct and good way of playing. As for the postures and movements of the left and right hands when playing erhu, we should not and cannot force every performer to be the same. Because the size of each hand is different and the proportions of the limbs are also different, it is impossible to have a unified left and right hand playing posture and playing action. Gary Karr, the double bass soloist, once said of bowing and bowing: "I don't use a certain arbitrary bowing method, in order to obtain 100% control of the bow (which is actually You have to be able to move the bow in various ways and hold it in various ways. Heifetz can pull the same sound where he puts his little finger on his middle finger.” University of Wisconsin, USA When discussing violin playing with renowned violinist Tossy Spivakovsky, professor Richard Church asked about his particular bow-holding position. Kowski turned the bow around, held the tip casually, and continued to deliver a brilliant, full, and sonorous sound. Of course, he would not have adopted such a method of holding the bow as the norm, but this incident illustrates the fact that once the player has a nuanced, indescribable sense of the perfect relationship between the bow hair and the strings, whether it is No matter how you hold the bow, you can play a nice sound. Therefore, what kind of bow-holding posture to use and how to get the most convenient bow are different from person to person. In the following chapters, the author will discuss and analyze the above-mentioned various performance methods in detail based on his own learning experience and performance practice over the years.

Good inner hearing means that the player must have a clear concept of beautiful and pure sound in his heart, that is to say, the player must have an unambiguous ability to distinguish between different timbres, including different timbres emitted by the same instrument. . So, how do you get this ability to discern the nuances of different timbres? It's important here to regularly appreciate the performances and recordings of all kinds of excellent instrumentalists and singers, or their recordings, and It is necessary to constantly analyze and compare the sounds played and sung by these excellent instrumentalists and singers, so as to continuously improve their appreciation and analysis ability, and establish a good inner hearing. At the same time, it is also very important that we do not listen to music played and sung with poor pronunciation. Everyone should know the truth of "the one who is close to Zhu is red, and the one who is close to ink is black". Only in this way can we regularly appreciate, analyze and compare the music played and sung by various excellent instrumentalists and singers, can we slowly establish a good inner hearing. Without a good inner hearing, we cannot play a truly beautiful sound on the erhu.

To overcome any physical and psychological tension in playing, we must adopt a scientific playing method and training method, and after thousands of conscious physical and psychological natural and relaxing training, then it is possible to finally Achieve physical and psychological subconscious relaxation.

Some people think that to play a moving, beautiful and pure sound on the erhu requires the performer to have considerable talent, inspiration and other qualities. In fact, this view is not entirely correct. As individuals, some erhu players do not have much artistic talent and their artistic accomplishment is not very high. However, they have adopted a set of correct erhu playing methods, but they can play a charming sound on the erhu. Attracting people, there are some people who have good artistic ability and artistic accomplishment, but because they adopt inappropriate erhu playing methods, although they can train very hard, but they can't play the beautiful sound on the erhu . This fact shows that there is no necessary and fundamental connection with the performer's personality, artistic temperament and artistic accomplishment to play a beautiful and pleasant sound on the erhu. To play a beautiful sound on the erhu, hard practice is not enough. Only when the player adopts a correct playing method, and after long-term hard thinking, research and training, can they play a beautiful and pure sound on the erhu.

It is the main goal that every erhu player pursues to be able to play a beautiful sound on the erhu effortlessly. We all know that it is enviable to play fast bow, dang bow, skip bow, glissando and other technical music on the erhu, but it is the most difficult thing to play one after another on the erhu. did it. The sound is usually produced through the instrument, so people often blame the poor quality of the instrument for the reason why the sound they play is not good. Of course, the quality of the instrument will make a certain difference in the sound produced. However, using the wrong method of playing on a good erhu will never produce a pure and beautiful sound. If played correctly, even a very ordinary practice erhu can produce unexpectedly beautiful and seductive sounds. Because the musical instrument is not the musical instrument itself that makes the sound, but the player's performance makes the musical instrument make the sound, and the sound on the musical instrument is the result of the interaction between the player and the musical instrument.

There is a big difference in the sound produced by the same erhu in the hands of different players. It is self-evident that a good quality erhu will not sound good in the hands of a crappy player; but a good erhu player can play on an inexpensive erhu. Beautiful sound with amazing results.

When we are discussing the timbre of the erhu, that is, the pronunciation of the erhu, what we are asking for is to emit a pure and beautiful tone on the erhu, that is, its pitch is determined by its fundamental tone, with an appropriate number of overtones and their relative intensities. to determine its tone. It is important to realize that the quality of a sound is determined by the number, frequency and relative intensities of its fundamental and overtone components, and any variation in the state of the overtone energy distribution will inevitably lead to an impact on the purity of pronunciation. Therefore, the quality of a sound depends on the distribution state of the overtones of that sound. continuous and penetrating, elastic, beautiful and beautiful sound, the energy required to make the strings vibrate must be concentrated in two or three frequencies, otherwise the energy must be widely dispersed. From the point of view of energy concentration, it is possible to explain why some good singers and instrumentalists can transmit the sound they sing or play even at a lower volume to the farthest corners of the concert hall, while some poor singers and instrumentalists The sound sung or played by the performer does not travel far due to the dispersion of energy.

So, how can we play a pure and beautiful sound on the erhu that concentrates the energy on the sound waves of two or three frequencies? Only by adopting a scientific playing method when playing, the strings can produce a regular and fully free sound. Vibration, then the sound produced on the erhu will be pure and beautiful, and its energy will be concentrated on the fundamental tone and the overtones of the second and third frequencies. Therefore, the performer must adopt a strict scientific training method, and after long-term hard thinking and practice, can play a pure and beautiful sound on the erhu.