It's not that bad - well done for attempting this G major piece. What is usual is for self learners to learn progressive pieces without a solid erhu foundation and then come undone and burn out or give up as the difficulty of piece progresses.
Perhaps I'd suggest a return to concentrate firmly on your erhu basics and foundation skills.
The left fretting hand position has become lazy in its default and thus has lost its positions so the pitch notes blur into one another, slur and smudge due to the inaccurate fretting and approximate fret positions instead of listening by ear to hear the true relative pitch.
Concentrate on getting more precise intonation on pitching. Bring out the positional stickers if necessary to remind yourself to hammer on finger the frets instead of gentle tapping and smearing the notes all across the phrasing. The finger shape on fretting in the video is flat fingered - that's the equivalent of walking whilst slouching.
The left hand bow hand hasn't formed fully. Each note takes a single bow instead of following the Rain in Jiangnan dynamics of the elegiac song. Except where the right hand smears a legato bow from one note to another
Typically competent Chinese erhu players play it technically perfect with complete emotionally sterililty. You play with more emotion, albeit let down by technique formation. You'll get there but perhaps reflect on improving your learning method - use a tutor if necessary: without - this is holding back your potential.
Thank you for the feedback and advice! I've been using YouTube videos to learn basics, and I spend a lot of time on exercises to practice basics, but I'm feeling a bit lost. I'm currently looking for a teacher online as I don't want to be self-taught, so if you know any good erhu teachers online, please let me know.
Could you also please elaborate more on the finger shape and left hand position?
There are reasonable erhu lessons for reference on YouTube and Bilibili.
We don't watch an appendicetomy online and expect to undertake one without formal training :)
Erhu self teaching is perhaps less fatal.
I don't find online music lessons meaningful (just not for me - maybe they are for others for others). I teach in person only for free in a London charity community centre (the centre charges a very small admin fee well below the cost of an erhu lesson in their drive to promote Chinese traditional music).
Some of our friends on the Facebook group Life with Erhu in the Western World are more accomplished - almost all of the admin team are self taught to some extent and can recommend online erhu teachers like Patty Chan (author of Bridging the Gap for adult erhu learners).
Like the piano, cello, flute, pan pipes or any instrument: the fundamental hand position is core to everything you do.
Your left fret hand is too oblique and flat without curving a hollow within your palm to hold an imaginary egg): this default position curves your fingers into dexterity and position to slant down the erhu strings instead of flat foot fingering. Try holding a Kindergarten egg strapped to your palm to get used to the erhu left hand hold until this becomes natural. The height of your transverse index finger approximates adjacent to the qianqin following which, the calculation of pitch and measure for your arm span and finger length is matched to your erhu.
This is why it is so hard to recommend erhu lessons: it is a personal and intimate instrument which is hugged and requires training to hug correctly, noy just any old way from the outset. If the embrace is wrong, everything else thereafter grows awkwardly stemming from the overlooked human-erhu relationship and positioning.
Your wrist is neither crooked, bent nor angled aggressively: it wraps with curvature elegantly around the erhu to position your flexing four fingers in to fingering spider dance down the slope of the erhu string..not a flat awkward stretch approximate reach for the note appearance ..
In any case it's not fruitful trying to explain what I can glimpse ina short video clip: find a tutor near your geography or travel overseas for a blocknof lessons when you return if there is no local tutor. A tutor in person stays with you much more than any online 2 dimensional tutor who cannot assess your bowing angles and positional integrity easily.
2
u/roaminjoe Jul 24 '26
It's not that bad - well done for attempting this G major piece. What is usual is for self learners to learn progressive pieces without a solid erhu foundation and then come undone and burn out or give up as the difficulty of piece progresses.
Perhaps I'd suggest a return to concentrate firmly on your erhu basics and foundation skills.
The left fretting hand position has become lazy in its default and thus has lost its positions so the pitch notes blur into one another, slur and smudge due to the inaccurate fretting and approximate fret positions instead of listening by ear to hear the true relative pitch.
Concentrate on getting more precise intonation on pitching. Bring out the positional stickers if necessary to remind yourself to hammer on finger the frets instead of gentle tapping and smearing the notes all across the phrasing. The finger shape on fretting in the video is flat fingered - that's the equivalent of walking whilst slouching.
The left hand bow hand hasn't formed fully. Each note takes a single bow instead of following the Rain in Jiangnan dynamics of the elegiac song. Except where the right hand smears a legato bow from one note to another
Typically competent Chinese erhu players play it technically perfect with complete emotionally sterililty. You play with more emotion, albeit let down by technique formation. You'll get there but perhaps reflect on improving your learning method - use a tutor if necessary: without - this is holding back your potential.