In search of the elusive 3 stringed er hu

[Pengyou]

Before I came to China I attended a concert of traditional Chinese music in which I was introduced to a three string erhu - played with a bow, NOT plucked. After I came to China I started looking for one and was told that it does not exist. I have asked musicians and in yinyue xue yuan's and they say it does not exist. Last weekend when I went to Beijing I found two blind people playing this kind of instrument. They told me that it was Hunan. There accent was very strong so I was not very able to understand all of what they said. Is there someone out there who can help me find the name of this instrument and give me an idea of where to buy one? It is NOT the matouqi!!

Thanks

[liuzhou]

Unsurprisingly, it is called a san hu 三胡 .

See here.

[studentyoung]

Before I came to China I attended a concert of traditional Chinese music in which I was introduced to a three string erhu - played with a bow, NOT plucked.

Is there someone out there who can help me find the name of this instrument and give me an idea of where to buy one? It is NOT the matouqi!!

Hi, pengyou. According to your description, it seems that you are looking for 三弦二胡(san1 xian2 er4 hu2). Please check the link below which are two pictures of 三弦二胡 on Baidu.

http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0&tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%C8%FD%CF%D2%B6%FE%BA%FA&in=2&cl=2&cm=1&sc=0&lm=-1&pn=1&rn=1

http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0&tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%C8%FD%CF%D2%B6%FE%BA%FA&in=9&cl=2&cm=1&sc=0&lm=-1&pn=8&rn=1

If you want to buy one and know more on 三弦二胡, please check the link below. http://www.zengxianyong.com/zpjs.asp

(Please kindly note that Mr.曾宪勇is the one who improved 二胡 and then made 三弦二胡.He has got a pantent for 三弦二胡. -> http://www.zengxianyong.com/ztd.htm)

Thanks!

[liuzhou]

Here is a picture of the traditional Yi minority version of the 三胡， with explanation.

　三胡

　　用一节圆木镂空而成，前端蒙扎羊皮，后端镂空散音，琴杆长约80厘米，用椿木或金竹制作。有三个耳子，三根弦索。弓弦用马尾制作，分两股空于三根弦索之间。演奏时，第拉弓弦必动中弦，形成和声，发出的声音具有两把二胡的音响效果。三胡有中音和低音两种，两者之间的音高相差八充。中胡和低胡演奏方法完全一样，但表现出来的情感效果却大有不同。然而，它们有一个共同特点，就是三胡能使彝族音乐彝语化，因而常被男女青年当作谈情说爱的代言工具三胡不仅可以独奏、伴奏、合奏，还可以边舞边奏。