Bowed Strings | Introduction
Introduction to the Instruments
Erhu (二胡)
The erhu is probably one of the more well-known instruments in the Chinese orchestra. Prior to the 20th century, it was used in many traditional instrumental folk ensembles around China. Erhu became one of the core instruments in the development of the Chinese orchestra. With its large expressive potential, much music has been written for it, both solo and ensemble pieces. Since the 1950s, metal strings often replace the traditional silk strings. Design changes were also made to the instrument’s body to improve the quality and volume of sound produced.
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Gaohu （高胡）
In the 1920s, Lu Wencheng developed the Guangdong gaohu, for use in Cantonese instrumental folk music. It is similar in construction to the erhu, but it does not have a base plate or the piece of fabric below the bridge that the erhu has. Instead, it is held between a performer’s thighs and the angle and pressure that the thighs exert on the instrument allows for control of the tone quality. The gaohu was later imported into the modern Chinese orchestra. Orchestral versions of this instrument usually do have a baseplate and fabric under the bridge just like the erhu and zhonghu, and rest on the performer’s left thigh and body during performance.
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Zhonghu （中胡）
The zhonghu was developed in the 1950s to supplement the bowed string section of the newly developed Chinese orchestra. Many pieces of music have since been written for the solo zhonghu, in addition to the numerous orchestral and ensemble pieces of music.
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