As a very expressive instrument, Erhu can play not only melancholy tunes, but also joyful melodies.

Besides, it can imitate many natural sounds, such as bird and horse. The tone of Erhu resembles a human voice. The erhu's range spans over three octaves and the tune shares some features with violin, although it produces a more nasal tone, which is gentle but firm. The erhu is played by moving the bow horizontally over the two vertical strings. An erhu player usually sits with the instrument on his or her left upper thigh in front of the left hip. Traditionally the two strings are made of silk, but metallic strings are also used.

The erhu bow is placed between its two strings namely the inner and outer strings. This resonator is covered with a piece of stretched python skin that produces a unique ‘whining' tone. There is a vertical post with a fingerboard crosses the sides of a resonator at its base. Capable of making expressive and haunting sound, Erhu is extremely popular in China today as a medium for both traditional and contemporary music as well as plays an important role in both solo and orchestral performances.Īlthough hailed as a Chinese violin, Erhu is quite different from its western counterpart. As one of the most popular Chinese string instruments the two-stringed vertical fiddle has a long history of more than 1,000 years. Erhu, a kind of bowed instrument, is the most representative one in the Chinese traditional folk musical instrument.

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