20 pieces for Erhu Ensemble Practice (⑵)

Author: Zhang Feilong, Zhang Jianguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: This book continues to be structured around three parts: "Reed Technique Practice," "Melodious Reed Sounds," and "Songs of the Times and Life." Adhering to the principle of balancing popularization and improvement, it adapts and arranges some well-known Chinese and foreign songs that the masses enjoy. By playing familiar melodies, it aims to enhance the practitioner's overall control over musical phrasing, including pitch, rhythm, and melodic techniques, as well as deepen their understanding and expression of music, thereby increasing interest in learning the erhu. In terms of the relationship between etudes and pieces, while they have differences, they are inseparable. The two open strings of the erhu hold endless musical ideas. The long bow played slowly resembles echoes in a hollow valley, or the wandering thoughts of the mind; the short bow's sharp, rapid strokes are like the beating of war drums or the hurried steps of marching soldiers. Therefore, a large number of erhu etudes that have been melodicized inevitably express specific musical ideas under the regulation of certain speeds. From this perspective, etudes can also be titled and become pieces. The teacher Min Huifen's "Long Bow Etude," later renamed "Remembrance of Jiangnan," is a typical example.