which chinese musical insturment should i chose?

[wanjunK]

Hi, i am new here . Hope you guys can help .

I want to learn a chinese musical instrument but i don't know which one i should chose to learn. I have a piano background and am currently playing guitar. I am considering learning the erhu (二胡) or guzheng( 古筝) . which one do you guys think is the best or easiest ? i have read some forums and it say guzheng is more suitable for a piano player. But i'm thinking of trying different things. What do you think?

i need some opinions . please n thankyou !

[Scoobyqueen]

Which one do you like the sound of the best?

After all you are going to have to listen to this for hours...

[Meng Lelan]

I am not going to be much help here except if you choose pipa you are going to have some company here in the Chinese Forums.

[anonymoose]

I'm not a musician, but I suspect guzheng is more versatile than erhu.

Erhu can sound nice(ish) if it's played well, but most people don't play well, judging by what one hears on the street in China, and that's pretty terrible.

[xiaocai]

Apparently 筝 is the easiest to learn. On the other hand, the learning curve for any kind of 胡琴 can be quite steep in the beginning.

[imron]

but I suspect guzheng is more versatile than erhu.

The flipside being that the erhu is more portable.

[roddy]

Given that the erhu is a smaller and simpler instrument, I'd imagine you can get a better one for the same amount of money.

[edelweis]

erhu is fretless isn't it? so staying in tune is harder than with pipa. I don't know about guzheng.

I agree that you should select an instrument which sound you like, and in addition you may want to check the repertoire available for that instrument. If it is limited in diversity, you had better like that type of music...

[Hofmann]

If you want easy, it depends on what you've played before. From the piano and guitar, going either erhu or zheng would work, as erhu note spacing is quite straightforward (like a piano) and zheng have nonlinear pitch distances like a guitar (but without string stopping). As I play the violin, the erhu was quite intuitive for me. Others might find intonation difficult at first. Another thing one might consider is that zheng is a more traditional (Han) instrument, while huqin were imported from central Asia. Also consider that to play zheng, you have to wear plectra.

I play the piano, violin, guitar, erhu, and qin. For Chinese instruments, I'm partial to the qin. Yes, I'm probably biased, but among those listed, the qin is most similar to the guitar (as one can stop the strings), and also has the most traditional repertoire. Furthermore, it's more portable than a zheng, and you don't have to wear plectra. Plus people think you're smarter.

[creamyhorror]

Why not forget about portability and play the imported foreign dulcimer-thing, the yangqin? It seems even more suitable for piano and guitar players.

[wanjunK]

Haha..some of you r so funny , in a good way of course..it cheers me up. =) Some of your replies are helping me , i am going to think about it . I think both guzheng n erhu sounds great.

I dont know how to reply to each answer..do i need to tag your names or what..?

Anyway, thanks for all your replies! i appreciate it .

thxx.

[Pengyou]

I played the guitar and piano a bit. I was taken aback a bit by the erhu because, being fretless, your ear is very important. I also played the trombone in jr. and sr. high school so the ear thing was not such a big deal. The general rule of thumb I have hear from erhu teachers - takes about a year to learn how to use the bow well and a year to learn the fingering. That is a very broad generalization but I have had friends who played the pipa who were doing considerably "better" after a year than the erhu players, meaning that they had a much broader repetoire of songs they could play, and were more likely to play them in a way that made people want to listen, rather than run away. The erhu has a limited range - notes - than the other instruments. Portability should not be a big problem - the guzhen is a bit long but they are pretty light. If you want a more versatile instrument I would stay away from the erhu, even though I love the sound of a well played erhu. You might also want to consider how long you will be playing it. If you want to stay in China for a couple of years and play it during that time only, I would choose something other than the erhu. If you are going to stay here a long time maybe you can consider studying one for six months and then studying another for six months.

[G_String]

Hi,

I play piano too. I find the guzheng very natural (and easier) to move over to. Right and left handed techniques differ. If you can play chords with your left hand and do other things with your right hand, you'll like the guzheng.

It isn't very portable even with the mini-guzhengs. The pipa is a challenging and exciting instrument. Depends on how good you want to be at it. If you're over 17 already, then most instruments will be harder to get brilliant at, and mostly played for fun and enjoyment. I enjoy the pipa more than the guzheng because of its chromatic and fast playing. It makes a great sound for the player, without deafening.

[zixingche]

Erhu vs guzheng,

I'm not saying the guzheng is easy but you can make quicker progress on it. You can make a pleasant sound on it quite easily but on the erhu there's two things which make less easy to sound good. First is intonation and the second is bowing.

There are other things to consider, what instrument do you like the sound of, what music do you like.

[count_zero]

The guqin has some advantages over the guzheng.

More portable - possible to take with you on an aeroplane.

Not so loud - less likely to disturb your neighbours.

Can be easily tuned using a guitar tuner.