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| Moderated by: Richard Hefner | Page: 1 2   |
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| How many hour(s) do you spend your time with your Erhu? - Erhu - Other Instruments - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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thunderbird Approved 
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I spend roughly an hour per day. You may ask..."Doing what?"...well, skills don't come with only time passing...skills have to be developed and maintained through practice!...true in all field! You say "Hey, that's common sense! So what do you practise?"...well,I guess I will hang on to the answer for a while. I really don't like talking to myself...if the future conversation goes well...may talk more...if not...let someone else carries on...fine with me...one way or the other!  
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Clyde Approved 
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God Bless Last edited on Thu Jul 10th, 2008 07:29 am by Clyde |
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tansungwah Approved 
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For a period a 2 years about 15 years ago, i played 4-5 hours a day, five days a week, working on practise passages. Now I only play when I am setting up my Erhus - the same old riffs over and over again.
____________________ Chinese Music Instruments Online store: http://www.eason.com.sg Chinese Music Instruments Blog: http://TanSungWah.blogspot.com Online Erhu Course: http://LearnErhu.wordpress.com |
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thunderbird Approved
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Clyde wrote:Hi Thunderbird Clyde...well spoken...I agree with you that we live in a fast-food era and people are so busy making a living that they usually don't have time to nurish their emotional and spiritual needs. I look at playing Erhu as an emotional and spiritual growth...a process that would enhance my life journey...it has great power of healing too...it can be a treatment tool for many people! Erhu is easy to learn but difficult to master!...it has a mass appeal...Hahahahaha....for some people it is called the sex appeal...It is a freedom instruement...to me they are my girlfriends...singing with me, crying with me and laughing with me!...don't get me wrong, I am not a sexist...they are my girlfriends because I can only have one legal wife under the Canadian laws!   You are absolutely correct...bow movement and finger movement are two very important building blocks for playing Erhu...many people (beginners) want to take the fast-food approach...jump right into playing "Horse racing" or other wonderful Erhu pieces....can it be done?...yes, for a few...when people put their minds and hearts to do something...miracle can happen...however, the process of the fast-food appraoch can be frustrating and discouraging to say the least...some people pick up the Erhu with a racing heart beats (from playing the "Horse Racing") and a few months down the road...frustration sets in...hot heart turns into cold heart...and cold heart turns into dead heart!It is important to practise bow movement and finger movement through various scales over and over...somtimes it can be very boring doing it repeately...people can make the process fun and interesting by changing the tempo, the sequence, the pace, the mood, etc...making the process as interesting as possible...don't forget fingers are like any part of the body...need to be strengthen, to be stretched, toned and maintained in order to do a good job (playing the favorite piece on Erhu)! Yes, the art of finger movement and placement takes time to be seasoned...so the fast-food appraoch...in my opinion...is only good for a few exceptional individuals...and maybe it is good for the first few lessons...Erhu is easy to learn because anyone can make some kind of noises by moving the bow across...besides even if you drop the bow for some reasons...the bow would still be staying in between the strings hahahaha...unlike a violin bow...if you drop a violin bow...hahahaha...you have to bend down to look for it!Your story about the 15-year-old girl reminds me of my childhood... I would spend 2 hours on the paino every day...at first it was fun...as I was getting older...I was attracted to other more "important" things in life...it was killing me socially. Now I have the love for Erhu but certainly would not repeat what I had experienced when I was a kid...I could easily spend 2 hours with my girlfriends every day...well, one thing... my real-life schedule would not allow me to do that anyway...my wife would certainly object to that...personally my intellectual brian was telling me not to listen to my emotional brain...afterall, I want to live a balanced life...I don't want to be a professional Erhu player...I don't make my living from playing Erhu...so one hour a day is max for me...well, as you know life is never be that black and white...so the truth is... one hour plus and minus 15 minutes! So, members of the forum...if you are spending 6 hours a day playing your Erhu...fine with me...nothing wrong...every person is built differently...I am just speaking for myself...and along the way, expressed a few personal opinions! Happy sharing!
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thunderbird Approved
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tansungwah wrote:For a period a 2 years about 15 years ago, i played 4-5 hours a day, five days a week, working on practise passages. With your busy schedule...I don't expect that you would have too much "free" time to play Erhu...I watched your videos...I assume that's you playing the Erhu for demonstration purpose?...am I correct?...if that was you in the videos...well, I like the way you played! I also went to your blog...very interesting pictures from the Shanghai trip...thank you for sharing!
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davidmdahl Approved
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I am taking weekly lessons on two different instruments, erhu and dan bau, so finding enough practice time can be a challenge. The only real unbroken time I have is late in the evening when my family has gone to bed. Other times, I will grab 15 minutes here and there to focus on something. This works really well for memorizing. I have not found the erhu easy to learn. In fact it has been one of the more challenging instruments I have studied, although very rewarding. With the erhu, every aspect of the sound is at the control of the player including tuning, tone and dynamics. I find that there is a lot to watch out for lest bad habits become ingrained. I am working particularly hard to get control over my vibrato so that I can play it slow or fast depending on the situation. There is also a lot to learn about bowing. My hat is off to anyone who finds playing the erhu easy! Best wishes, David
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Clyde Approved
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God Bless Last edited on Thu Jul 10th, 2008 07:30 am by Clyde |
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Bayun Approved 
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Same as David, a 15 minutes here, another there. As much as the toddler lets me. Maybe an hour, mostly in the evening when I start flying my Black Butterfly mute. The only difference is, there is none I could find to learn from here. I find the Erhu rewarding in a sense that you can make it sound nice after a few hours if you had previous stringed instrument experience. I played the cello in my childhood, have picked the banjo for a few years and also have been playing the dobro for quite a while in a Bluegrass band, and after those the Erhu doesn't seem like a tough challenge to make it sound decent. Intonation and emphasis. They all need time. As for practice passages, I have no nerve for that. I rather play a tune several hundred times (hoping it is getting better all the way) than playing a passage twenty times. I have a guitarist friend who says a tune starts to sound well when it has already been played decently 400 times and the player already hates every single note of it. If this is true, then I still have a long way to go... Of course, I agree, that mastering the thing should take decades. Probably that is the difference we are all after. To make it sound the way that it shakes the soul. I am probably too old to nurture such goals. It satisfies me for for now if my wife says it is pleasing to listen to me dragging the bow. Having played better than a neighboring kid on the violin is already an achievement. Probably the second worst thing after a violinist playing out of tune is an Erhu player who cannot intonate. Anyway, having played other instruments I still believe that the Erhu is different from other axes. The difference is usually drafted by scholars stating that this probably is the instrument that is closer to human voice than anything else. Dunno. I mostly love it in Chinese tunes and I wonder if I will ever want to play other kind of stuff on it. One thing for sure, the Erhu is addictive and a must for the soul. I recall it when I first heard the Erhu (Wang Guotong playing Erquan Yin Yue) and just wondered about how I could have lived without that thing in my life before... Last edited on Mon Nov 19th, 2007 07:49 pm by Bayun |
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tansungwah Approved
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Yes, that headless man in the video is me and thanks for reading my blog. Wow, very interesting stories. I always tell people that my overseas customers, albeit non-Chinese, are more apprecitive of Chinese Music. Perhaps because Chinese Music is very music accessible to us Chinese that we take things for granted. Sung Wah
____________________ Chinese Music Instruments Online store: http://www.eason.com.sg Chinese Music Instruments Blog: http://TanSungWah.blogspot.com Online Erhu Course: http://LearnErhu.wordpress.com |
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thunderbird Approved
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davidmdahl wrote:I am taking weekly lessons on two different instruments, erhu and dan bau, so finding enough practice time can be a challenge. The only real unbroken time I have is late in the evening when my family has gone to bed. Other times, I will grab 15 minutes here and there to focus on something. This works really well for memorizing. Dave...I was just making a general statement about how easy it is to learn Erhu...I hope I don't come across to you as a "black-and-white" person (thinker)...some people do find it harder to learn Erhu relative to other instruements...I would probably find learning dan bau difficult compared to paino or guitar...I heard some people find learning and playing paino hard...well I guess everyone is built differently (from the genetic endowment perspective). I used to take the same time-management approach that you apply...15 minutes here and there...it is supposed to be better than doing it for 5 hours continuously in one day and rest for the next 5 days...just an extreme example to illustrate my point...currently I can afford to do it 45 minutes plus and minus in a stretch...in the near future, I might have to return to the "guerrilla warfare" tactics...20 minutes here and 10 minutes there! Thank you for sharing your experiences! Happy sharing!
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thunderbird Approved
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Clyde wrote:
Hahahahha...my wife knows about my "affairs" with all my girl friends...she is not the possessive type...so I have no worry ...besides she is an Erhu palyer too...I never questioned her about her "boyfriend"! I believe it is important to reach out...reach out to our neighbours...our friends...our immediate community...our city...put the skill into good use...participate in various fund-raising events i.e. Cancer research, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Autistic kid Foundation....etc. ...play for a good cause! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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thunderbird Approved
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Bayun wrote:Same as David, a 15 minutes here, another there. As much as the toddler lets me. Maybe an hour, mostly in the evening when I start flying my Black Butterfly mute. The only difference is, there is none I could find to learn from here. Budapest is a very nice city...I wouldn't know how nice it is now (haven't been there for a long time)...but when I visited Budapest...it was very nice...unfortunately during my visit, I didn't use to the food there, and I got an upset stomach so I went to Szolnok (a small city by Canadian standards) to rest up a bit...I stayed in hotel Pelikan...fine dinning in the hotel formal dining room with a five-man band playing wonderful Hungarian music...I met a diplomate/staff there and we kept each other company for the entire meal...I am still not sure if he was a diplomate or staff working for a diplomate...he had a chauffeur to take him around! At the Szolnok train platform, I met Dr. Kiss (medical Doctor)...and his kids...wonderful people! They were from Szeged...I have a few pictures handy I took at the time of my visit to Budapest and Szeged...well, actually I have lots of pictures I took...just don't have time to dig them out!  I bought those stamps from Szeged!Hahhahaha...speaking of playing the same piece over and over...I develope a love-hate relationship with playing the same piece...on one hand, I can see making small improvement (really tiny...sometimes I think I am just fooling myself in order to keep myself going)...on the other hand, it is really boring if I am not into it...other factors also affect my enjoyment...like my energy level, stress level, concentration level, job and domestic issues, etc...luckily I have a very strong will power, it might take me longer to claim down or focus to the level of enjoyable play...but most of the time I can do it without too much problems! Yes, I agree with you that Erhu is a soul Instruement...somtimes I can feel that literally my soul fuses with the Erhu....it is like getting into a hypnotic trance...I forgot where I was...my body didn't exist!...just the sound of music from the Erhu!...speaking of some spiritual experiences!  Sorry, I don't have Budapest nor Dr. Kiss pictures handy...and I don't have time to look for them! when I have a chance I will share more! Attachment: Dscn2010 copy.jpg (Downloaded 47 times)
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thunderbird Approved
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Attachment: Dscn2011 copy.jpg (Downloaded 47 times)
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thunderbird Approved
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Attachment: Dscn2012 copy.jpg (Downloaded 47 times)
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thunderbird Approved
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I had two cameras...one had color film and the other had Black and White...these are two of Dr. Kiss children! Attachment: Dscn2013 copy.jpg (Downloaded 47 times)
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Bayun Approved
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I bet it wasn't yesterday. Kiss Jr. to the left was having a bad hair day back then. Judged from his hairdo and the atmosphere of the background, it looks like late 60's or rather the early 70's.
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thunderbird Approved
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Bayun wrote:I bet it wasn't yesterday. Kiss Jr. to the left was having a bad hair day back then. Judged from his hairdo and the atmosphere of the background, it looks like late 60's or rather the early 70's. Late 70's is more accurate...I was surprised that people have names like "Kiss". Is "Kiss" a common family name in Hungary?...well, in Canada, we have last names like Skunk, Low, etc...you might find that interesting too! Are you a native Hungarian or an American living in Hungary?...you seem to know a lots about Hungary in the early 70's and late 60's!  I found more pictures...I am sure there must be more related pictures hiding somewhere in my house...I still can see them clearly in my mind! Attachment: Dscn2083 copy.jpg (Downloaded 34 times)
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thunderbird Approved
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I believe that is a water tower (the tall structure) shown in the background! Attachment: Dscn2086 copy.jpg (Downloaded 35 times)
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thunderbird Approved
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Attachment: Dscn2085 copy.jpg (Downloaded 34 times)
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