1-5 is the primary level of erhu performance, level 6 begins to enter the intermediate level of erhu performance, and level 8 begins to enter the advanced stage of erhu performance.
Musicians usually make erhu with wood, such as mahogany, lobular rosewood, ebony, wingwood, blood sandalwood, big leaf rosewood, African safflower pear, African rosewood and so on. Some musicians also use ivory, jade, plastic and other materials to make erhu, because they have considerations other than acoustics. One end of the barrel is wrapped in snakeskin, which is the source of erhu's unique timbre. The advanced erhu is made of python skin.
Whether from wild or captive snakes, the cost of collecting snakeskin is increasing, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora restricts the import and export of snakeskin by its participating groups. In recent years, in order to imitate the timbre of snakeskin, some people have developed alternative materials for snakeskin. Steel strings, nylon strings and silk threads are usually used, and narrow strings are rarely used.
In the Tang dynasty, there was a saying that the western regions and northern nationalities were conference people, which was the general name of musical instruments introduced by the western regions and northern nationalities. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huqin had become a general term for bowstring instruments.
Huqin, also called Hu Xiang, is a national musical instrument. Originated from the northern minorities, the ancient Han people called the northern minorities "Hu", named after Qin from the north. Huqin is a kind of bowstring musical instrument of Mongolian nationality, which was called Hull in ancient times. Huqin's bow is much stronger than other musical instruments.
Because the piano barrel is small and the snake skin is tightly covered, if the bow carrying force is too weak, the snake skin can't fully vibrate, and the piano barrel is incomplete, and the pronunciation is naturally thin and noisy. Because of this structure of the harp, a strong bow pulling force is needed to pull it. Strengthening the bow drawing strength, on the one hand, enhances the wrist strength, on the other hand, accelerates the bow drawing speed, so the Huqin is most suitable for middle or fast bow drawing. Slow bows or long notes are more difficult to play on the huqin.
The production process of Hu Qin is very particular. All the piano makers in the past dynasties used soap trees with excellent wood grain in Changbai Mountain as vibrating plates, bamboo with an inner diameter of 10 cm as the piano barrel, silk as the strings, and thin bamboo poles with ponytails as the bow.