How to Grasp Erhu Works and Playing Style

China is a multi-ethnic country. For thousands of years, due to a series of changes such as the passage of time, geographical division and the development of the times, a large number of erhu works with different styles have been formed. The so-called musical style refers to the main ideological and artistic features of musical works. Knowing this, we can make a deeper analysis of the works and show the music more vividly. So how to master erhu works with different characteristics and knock on the door of style, I think we should start from the following aspects:

First, understand the work.

From the viewpoint of universal connection in philosophy, nothing in the world exists in isolation, but an organic whole with universal connection. Erhu works are no exception. When we shoot a work, we must first know something about it, and we can't blindly play music. The "understanding" here is not only the strength and expression terms ... More importantly, it is its background, including the time when the work was produced, the composer's life experience, artistic path, creative personality and creative intention of the work. These are the "roots" of the works. In addition, we should also understand the "duality" of the works, that is, the unity of regionality and times. Regionality refers to music with local characteristics formed in different regions, different living habits and different geographical environments. There are many ethnic groups in our country, and each ethnic group has its own dialect, folk songs and local operas. "One person is nurtured by the soil and water", which also provides a variety of local music materials for the creation of Erhu works. For example, Jiangnan has a soft timbre and beautiful natural environment, and the music formed has the characteristics of delicacy and softness; Compared with the south, the northern music, because the language of the northerners is rough and bold, is not as beautiful and elegant as the south of the Yangtze River, but has the snowy scenery in the north, forming a strong and bold northern music style. The so-called epochal nature refers to the outstanding epochal significance of different music in different periods and social backgrounds. For example, some accuse the inequality of the dark old society and look forward to a better future; Others praise the great rivers and mountains of the motherland and inspire people to move forward forever. It reflects the pulse and spirit of the times.

As far as duality is concerned, any work has its local style, which is inseparable from the combination of the times; On the other hand, any contemporary work presents its regional style characteristics, so the two are complementary and inseparable. Therefore, when we understand the works, we must pay attention to the combination of regionality and times, while ignoring that neither party can fully express the connotation of music. Taking "Two Springs Reflecting the Moon" as an example, from the title, it tells the beautiful scenery of Er Quan, Jiangsu Province, which feels quiet and beautiful, but the author is "the meaning of drunkenness is not in the wine", with rich feelings and mixed scenes; Entertain emotions in fun and express your ambitions with music. Showed us the vicissitudes of his life. Geographically, the author Hua is from Wuxi, Jiangsu. This piece of music has a strong flavor of Jiangnan, and the phrases also show the color and delicate playing skills of Jiangnan minor. From the perspective of the times, A Bing is in a period of war in which warlords scuffle and Japanese invaders invade, and the political situation is corrupt and the people are in poverty. As a folk artist at the lowest level of society, his life is miserable and desolate, but in this case, he shows a strong character of perseverance and complains about the dark society. He is the representative of the spirit of resistance under class oppression and national oppression. This work is tall and straight in desolation, tall and straight in calmness, containing simple atmospheric beauty and a strong sense of the times. Therefore, when studying this work, we should not only grasp the author's psychology, but also pay attention to the unique style of Jiangnan area, which is extremely important to express the integrity of the work.

Second, grasp the characteristics.

On the premise of understanding the work, we should further analyze it to see what local skills, distinctive intonation and distinctive melody lines it has, which are all important components of regional characteristics. To master this point, the author thinks that the most effective and scientific method is to listen and sing more. Playing erhu should be like talking and singing, with breath, timbre and expression. Whether it is lively, cheerful and euphemistic music, it shows certain content. Even the simplest voice is alive, some are firm and powerful, and some are light and jumping, so it must be vividly and colorful. Only by "harmony of heart" can we master the ups and downs of music and melody in the works, so as to obtain the most beautiful "sound"

Erhu works are mostly related to Chinese folk music. Some folk songs come from a certain area; Some come from traditional Chinese opera or local opera; Others are related to folk rap. Therefore, listening to and singing related music materials can not only help us find the source of music, but also enrich our brains, which is beneficial for us to master the musical characteristics of various regions and play with singing. Take "Spring in Jiangnan" as an example. This is a Jiangnan music with full charm, which shows us the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan. Influenced by the style of local folk songs, its melody lines still cannot escape the softness and delicacy of Jiangnan music. In addition, its unique moist style makes the music unique and refreshing. I suggest you listen to and sing more Jiangnan folk songs, such as Jasmine, Scenery of Wuxi and Scenery of Gusu. It will make you more confident to express the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, which is also formed by the unified regional style. Another example is "You Yu Xiang" and "Henan Xiaoqu", both of which have strong charm in Zhongzhou. Among them, learning Hu's large-scale hanging-wrist skating requires fast skating speed, large amplitude, loud voice, continuous unrelenting, rough and bold, and shows the bold character of Henan people. In addition, its melody is playful, humorous and smooth. To master this type of music, we should listen to some Henan music materials, sing more Henan pendant and aria in Henan opera, and understand the vocabulary of its music. For example, Mulan, Mu's fragments and so on. It is easy for us to master the characteristics of personalized music in Henan by imitating their vocals to hold concerts. In a large number of erhu works, it is not uncommon to adapt them from fragments in traditional Chinese opera. For example, the theme tone of "Capriccio of Red Plum" comes from the "Red Plum Praise" in the opera "Jiang Jie". This work has a strong local color and local flavor, mainly based on the tone of Sichuan folk songs. It was created on the basis of widely absorbing various styles of words such as Sichuan Opera, Wu Opera, Yue Opera, Sichuan Yin Qing and Beijing Opera. Strong sense of drama, beautiful and smooth singing, retaining the musical style of the original opera. Another example is "The Desire of Honghu People", which originated from the opera "Watching all the working people in the world be liberated" in "Honghu Red Guards". It also retains the style of the original opera, which is an attempt to musicalize vocal music in music creation. Music melody is closer to singing, and it is more necessary to sing and understand the style of Hubei music. In addition, there is Inner Mongolia-style music, which uses Ma Touqin's third vibrato for reference to express the unique flavor of grassland. "Horse racing" and "Mercedes-Benz in Springfield" are the representatives of its characteristics; There are also Shaanxi-style pad fingers in the Shaanxi opera area, such as sliding and wandering sounds ... A wide understanding of these characteristics is conducive to our analysis of different styles of works and better performance of music. This is true for domestic works, and so should works transplanted from foreign music. For example, Fantasia on Carmen is an aria from the opera Carmen. To treat such works, we should listen and sing more and find out the style characteristics of western music, which will benefit us a lot.

It can be seen that listening and singing more is not bad for us to master different styles of works. Copland said: "Listening to different kinds of music widely can not only enhance the hobby and interest in music, but also improve the ability of music appreciation from the comparison and identification of music works." This can also train us to identify the unique styles and expressions in many works, and find out the individuality from the commonness. From this, we can also draw a rule: the works produced in different times show different musical styles while showing social life in different historical periods; Musical works produced in the same or similar period often have the same or similar musical features. Therefore, to master the erhu music with various styles, we must cultivate our listening and singing abilities, learn to discover its characteristics and laws, and make the music more "tasteful".

Third, cultivate emotions.

Music art is the art of emotion, and it is the condensation of people's emotions. In playing erhu, skill is of course very important. Playing without skill is like a bird without wings and a car without wheels. But with excellent skills, but lack of emotional input, music is also pale and powerless. Therefore, any work should start with artistic conception and take emotion as the entrance, which conforms to the law of artistic aesthetic activities. Two more important characteristics of music: one is "sound", that is, sound; The other is "emotion", that is, "emotion", and both are indispensable. In the preface to Mao's poems in the Han Dynasty, it was written: "Love begins with sound, and sound is written as sound." It can be seen that emotion plays an important role in music.

To cultivate emotion, we must first create a situation for ourselves, which is the basis and premise of "emotionalization". This requires us to accumulate all kinds of materials and make full preparations for the interpretation of emotions. There are many ways to accumulate materials, such as watching movies, dramas, dancing ... to accumulate various rich images, to feel the music in the plot, to understand the customs of various regions, the joys and sorrows in life, and to combine these things and images with your emotions, which is the first step to cultivate emotions. Secondly, we should cultivate our imagination. Every work has its own specific emotions and specific images. By creating situations, let us blend in with things and feelings, resonate in association and resonate in feelings. Imagining all sensible factors is an extremely important aspect of expressing works. For example, "Birds in the Empty Mountain" is a tune with outstanding skills, focusing on the picture and artistic conception. Showed people the picture of "empty birds fly away, thousands of paths have no footprints". The empty mountain and the crisp birdsong are the perfect combination of motion and static. If you play this music in your imagination, you will find that it has a unique flavor. Taking grape ripening as an example, the harvest scene of Xinjiang vineyards was described. A string of lovely grapes tells the hard work of the people in Xinjiang, and a busy scene shows the joy of another year's harvest. With the rhythm of dancing, imagining the joy of harvest will mobilize every rhythmic cell of you and let you express the beauty of that harvest in a relaxed and happy way. This shows the importance of imagination. Without imagination, there would be no "Mozart's works are eternal sunshine", "Beethoven is a towering mountain" and "Bach is a stream and the sea". Playing and understanding on the wings of imagination will make our hearts poetic, and the music flowing at the fingertips will be full of the aura of life.

More importantly, cultivate emotions. The reason why a small tree will grow into a towering tree one day is that the root system is not only deep, but also wide. In addition to the situation and imagination, we should constantly improve our cultural and artistic accomplishments and let ourselves have a strong national cultural heritage, which is the core and key to strengthening our artistic path.

In a word, emotion is a flying boat that we cross the water and a ladder that climbs the sky. But rich emotions can't be formed in a day, and we need to accumulate them from our study and life. "If you don't accumulate steps, there will be no miles; If there is no small stream, there will be no river. " Only by accumulating over time can feelings become rich and delicate and mature enough to reflect their own beauty and style. From this, we can also explore the rich connotation of the sound outside the sound and the scenery outside the scene. With the pace of emotion, you will find the charm of erhu music.

There are many ways to master the style of erhu works. The author thinks that the three aspects mentioned above, that is, understanding the works, grasping the characteristics and cultivating emotions, are the keys for us to knock on the door of style, which will help us to seriously think about music, learn to understand music, enter music and play music, and gain the greatest interest in erhu music from good works. Personalization of regional style is a particularly prominent feature of erhu works, and rich personalization comes from rich music content. Deduct music with our great enthusiasm for music, love and deeply study national traditional music culture with a high sense of historical responsibility, make new creations in the deep soil of national cultural traditions, and use the erhu in our hands to feel, express and create beauty!