Hello everyone, today I would like to tell you a few suggestions for Hu You, who is self-taught erhu. Of course, it is really difficult to learn erhu by yourself. First of all, the basic music theory, basic skills and skills of erhu are obtained from WeChat groups or online erhu teachers, and then imitated. Each teacher's teaching method is different. Some Hu You listen to this teacher a little, the other teacher listens a little, and eventually they all learn miscellaneous, and some Hu You even threw a watermelon to pick up sesame seeds.

Of course, I don't really recommend self-learning of musical instruments. If you can succeed in self-learning, why do you need a teacher? I have also told many Hu friends that it is easy to go wrong with this kind of practice. In the end, the habits cannot be changed, and some people even give up and continue to study.

However, there are indeed no erhu teachers in some places, so what should be the correct way of learning?

Erhu performance is a skill, including singing is actually a skill to play your vocal cords. As long as it is a skill, if you want to learn it by yourself, it is basically a difficult behavior. However, some people may not be able to afford the cost of classes financially, or the erhu you want to learn cannot be found at all. That means you may have to explore this erhu by yourself, but how do you learn the erhu by yourself?

01. Prepare your own Erhu

When you decide that you want to practice erhu well, the first step is to prepare a good erhu. The so-called easy-to-use erhu is that only its structure is normal and you don’t need to put too much effort in playing it, and the tone is at least satisfactory to you. Don’t be misled by your own layman’s thoughts, even if you choose other instruments for budget problems, then You also have to give yourself this "irreplaceable" concept. 

02. Prepare an enlightenment textbook

When you have Erhu, the second step is to start looking for your enlightenment textbooks. Congratulations on your choice of Erhu, you can find a good beginner's enlightenment teaching material on the Internet or in the musical instrument store. Don't be discouraged if you choose other unpopular instruments, you can find some information on playing techniques on the Internet. No matter how you prepare yourself a basic skill information or song that you can practice next, after all, playing around without a goal will only make you give up the instrument quickly.

Two books are recommended: one is "Practical Music Theory" edited by Yang Xiao and Liu Xiaoming from "Into the Music World Series", which is concise and suitable for beginners; the other is "Erhu Self-study Introduction" edited by Zhao Hanyang. From the posture to the position to the basics to the exercises to the skills, there are very detailed illustrations (Blue Sky Press).

03. Get your tuner, metronome, and a full-length mirror ready

These three things can be said to be the magic weapon of practicing the piano. Suppose you have never been exposed to Erhu, or have any musical training. Then you can't have a stable sense of pitch and rhythm, so you will need a tuner and a metronome to train your sense of pitch and rhythm for your beginners. The full-length mirror allows you to watch yourself practice, and you need to help yourself adjust to make you look like a master in the learning of playing movements, especially the detailed movements of your hands.

04. Schedule your "daily practice sessions" and "practice goals"

Once you have the piano and teaching materials, the next step is to start practicing. Since you are starting out on your own, it is important to note that you must take responsibility for your own practice. You may know nothing at first and then rank a goal that you can't reach. It's okay, it's normal, you can modify him anytime. For the evaluation of self-practice, two key points should be paid attention to: fluency and timbre. You can slow down your playing to ensure that your tone is stable, but the point here is to get a "clean" tone and adjust your intonation. The fluency means that no matter what action you are performing, there should be no delay when you perform it, because playing erhu is like all music rhythm games on the market.

05. Go for a song you like, no matter how difficult it is

Practicing a song well is like you can imagine building a house, and every action must be done before the house can be built. This is also the basis for you to plan your own practice courses. Some people will think, "Can't I practice the technique first and then choose the song?" If you don't have a goal at the beginning, you may want to give up learning erhu while you are still practicing the basic skills. You can also think about it from another angle, if it wasn't a song that moved your heart to practice erhu, then why did you practice erhu?

06. Listen to a lot of music and study music theory

The biggest hurdle of self-learning erhu is that you don't have enough information. When you don't understand the basics of music, it's easy to not know what you want to practice next. So you have to spend some time studying the so-called music theory, which allows you to gradually know what you are pulling, and even allows you to generalize the music you hear. Although erhu is a skill that needs practice, music needs to be learned in order to understand it deeply.

07. Meet friends who like Erhu as much as you

Self-study does not mean that you have to do it all by yourself. It is also important to meet a like-minded friend. Everyone has their own blind spots, and sometimes it is necessary to find someone to discuss with each other about exercises or to share new things. And fighting each other for each other will also allow you to survive the initial practice time.

08. Join an orchestra, or arrange a solo performance for yourself

When you get to a point where you always want to try your hand at it, join an orchestra or just arrange a solo performance for yourself! If you join a band, it means you are starting to have an orchestral practice schedule, which allows you to Will be lazy to practice. Or start a solo performance for yourself, or maybe get a few friends and family to help you check the results. After the performance is scheduled, it means that you are under pressure of progress. Under this pressure, you will find that you are more motivated when practicing. All in all, you need to get used to the practice with progress pressure.

09. Self-study = endless mistakes

When you decide to learn by yourself, you have to constantly try all the methods and possibilities of playing. The most fearful thing is that you have misunderstood about erhu playing or you have the idea of positioning yourself as "it's good". You have to keep practicing and revising your playing habits, and keep finding your little mistakes when you play. Usually the standard position is the position that represents the most efficient performance, and you have to keep thinking about how to make a better sound.

10. When you can't play an instrument like this at all? Find a teacher!

If you find that you can't break through no matter how you practice, find a teacher! Find a teacher to help you review your practice progress or correct your wrong playing posture. After all, the fastest way to learn a technique is to follow a teacher Experienced masters are the fastest. If you find that you can't find a suitable teacher near your home, you can try to find a good-looking player on the Internet and write an email to ask him, if the email does not solve your problem, then Arrange a tour for a study trip!