Erhu

Learn the Erhu with a teacher who plays it. Most people are playing a tune they recognise in about 8 weeks, at 20 minutes a day.

D3-G6 · about 3.4 octaves

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Erhu teachers

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How a Erhu makes sound

Hover to watch it, tap to hear it

A Erhu sounds because a bow drags across a string, and the string keeps catching and slipping on the rosin hundreds of times a second. That is why it can hold a note for as long as your arm lasts, and why the first weeks go on learning to make the catch-and-slip smooth.

A Erhu note lasts as long as you keep feeding it. You control the middle of every note, not only its beginning.

Overtones you can hear: 8
Loudest overtone: ×2
Speaks in: 85 ms

What learning the Erhu actually looks like

At 20 minutes a day. Short and daily beats long and occasional. That is not encouragement, it is one of the most replicated findings in how people learn physical skills.

Week one
You make a sound on purpose. It will not be a good sound. Everyone’s first one is bad, including your teacher’s.
About 8 weeks in
You play something another person can recognise. This is the moment most people say it stopped feeling like homework.
Around six months
You choose the next piece yourself, and you can hear what needs work without being told. The plateau usually lands somewhere near here. It is normal, it passes, and it is why having a teacher matters more now than it did in month one.
A year
You play with other people. That is the point of the whole thing, and it arrives sooner than almost anyone expects.

The honest specification

Getting started: ●●●●●; The first month
The messy middle: ●●●●●; Months three to nine, roughly
How far it goes: ●●●●●; If you keep at it for years
Can start from: age 6
Chords: One note at a time
Portable: Fits on a bus
Tuning: You tune it before you play
Practice volume: 80 dB; About as loud as conversation in a busy room.
Recommended practice: 20 minutes a day