The cucurbit flute, also known as the cucurbit flute, is a wind instrument commonly used by ethnic minorities in my country, especially the Achang and Dai people in the southwest.

Hulusi has a long history and can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. Although it has undergone some changes in later use, it still retains the characteristics of ancient similar instruments in structure.

The shape and structure of the gourd flute is unique, it is made of a complete gourd, plus three bamboo tubes and three metal reeds. At the handle end of the gourd, a bamboo pipe is inserted as a mouthpiece, and the gourd is used as a resonance box; three bamboo pipes with different thicknesses are inserted into the bottom of the gourd, each bamboo pipe is inlaid with a copper or silver reed, and the middle The main pipe is the thickest, with seven sound holes on it, which can blow out the melody, and the auxiliary pipes on both sides can only produce harmonics that resonate with the main pipe.

Like other flute instruments, the calabash flute has a relatively low volume, but the sound of its main pipe is soft and delicate, and under the background of the continuous sound of the two auxiliary pipes, it gives a subtle and hazy beauty. Because the vibrato it blows is as elegant and soft as shaking silk, some people also call it "Hulusi".

How to develop a sense of inner rhythm

How to cultivate and grasp one's sense of rhythm for musical instruments is one of the prerequisites for playing music well. Many people are naturally sensitive to the rhythm of music and can easily grasp the change between rhythms, but most people cannot To do this, you can only rely on your own continuous hard practice to cultivate your grasp of the rhythm of music. Therefore, when we learn cucurbit flute from the beginning, we must consciously perceive the rhythm and cultivate our own sense of rhythm.

It is even more necessary to fully understand the duration of various notes, not only to have a perceptual understanding of it, but also to analyze it rationally. Simple etudes are generally the first to give a general introduction to the most basic notes and rhythms, allowing beginners to play while counting the beats in their minds, recognizing the timing of various notes, and gaining a perceptual understanding of simple beats. Then add various symbols and signs and mix them. Players should earnestly abide by the requirements of each etude, solidly train each etude, achieve the purpose of practice, solve all difficulties, and keep in mind the time value ratio of various notes. It can be said that the sense of inner rhythm is actually the sensitivity of the inner heart to the timing of various notes. To put it bluntly, it is to know how long each note should be played. The music we play is only accurate if we have the right inner sense of rhythm.

The vocal range usually refers to the range between the lowest note and the highest note that a human voice or an instrument can produce. The total range refers to the total range of the tone sequence, that is, the distance from its lowest to highest tones. The range of individual vocals or instruments refers to the part that can be reached in the whole range, such as the range of piano is A2-C5. The sound area is a part of the sound range, and there are three kinds of high-pitched area, middle-frequency area and low-frequency area. In the whole vocal range, the small character group, the big character one combination and the small character two group belong to the middle tone area.

The three groups of small characters, the four groups of small characters and the five groups of small characters belong to the high-pitched area. Large-character group, large-character group 1 and large-character group 2 belong to the lower range. The division of various vocals and various musical instruments is not the same. For example, the treble region of the bass is the bass region of the alto, etc. The characteristic timbre of each sound region plays an important role in music performance. The treble area generally has the characteristics of crisp, loud and sharp; while the bass area often gives people a strong and heavy feeling. Having said so much, hehe :) Let me give an example: Saint-Saëns used this theme in the "Carnival of Animals" suite (I forgot the specific chapters), the difference is that the piano is used to play at a slow speed. It is played slowly in the bass area, turning the original lively and pleasant taste into a dull and slow gait. It can be seen that the timbre and the sound area have played a great role in the performance of the musical image! (Commonly used transfer fingering table)

The so-called native tune is the fingering arrangement in the general sense in the performance of the cucurbit flute. Generally, the fingering arrangement is based on the absolute pitch of the third hole as 1 (Do) sound. Down is 7 (Si), 6 (La), 5 (Sol), 3 (Mi), up is 2 (Re), 3 (Mi), 5 (Sol), 6 (La), no matter what tone If the third hole is pronounced as G, the instrument is the cucurbit in the key of G. Similarly, the cucurbit in the key of F also refers to the third hole and is pronounced as F (here refers to the cucurbit flute). The three holes are not simply opening the third hole but opening the first, second and third holes, that is, closing the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes). What is the original tune of cucurbit silk? How is the fingering arranged?

How should the Hulusi Bass Overtone Mi (3) be played?

The bass overtone Mi has no pressing holes, and the fingering used is the fingering of the drum tone Sol, that is, the full pressing, and the method of using the breath is different. For the drum tone Sol, use super blowing (quick blowing), for the bass Mi use flat blowing (slow blowing), that is, close all the finger holes, and gently exhale with very little breath (no afterburner) (breath, the whole body is relaxed at this time), The bass Mi can be issued. The sounding principle of the bass Mi is slightly different from that of the barrel sound Sol. The barrel sound is the lowest sound produced by the vibration of the reed root (understanding in the traditional sense), and the overtone Mi is realized by increasing the pipe length under the barrel sound (if the Plus key, you can add more overtones). The timbre and volume of overtones are slightly different from the effective vibrating articulation of reeds, and the volume is relatively weak.