♪ Do re mi sol la ♪
Hey guys, we just got to China.
We're clearly not vlogging YouTubers
because we don't know what to say.
- Yeah. Ha ha! - And we forgot to vlog in the plane flight all the way here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What do other vloggers do?
We need a cool transition.
- How was that? - Wow!
We're going to learn the erhu.
I think it's one of the famous tradition Chinese string instruments.
It's our first time. We never played it before.
- It's kinda like violin, but it's actually very very different... - Yes.
which you'll be seeing...
after this transition.
Hello everyone.
Hello.
Welcome to another episode of TwoSet Violin.
Today we're in Guangzhou.
While in China, what better thing to do than to learn the...
erhu!
This one.
Ooh, ooh!
And of course, we have our friend here, Daniel,
who's a professional erhu player,
to teach us how to play erhu in...
60 minutes.
Yes.
Yep.
First, let's start with the sitting posture.
Sit like me.
Okay.
Place your right leg a bit forward.
So for the left hand posture,
point your thumb slightly upwards.
It's like holding an egg in your palm.
Every finger needs to be curved and placed on the strings.
Is this correct?
Yes.
Do you understand him, Brett?
Yeah.
*laugh* Daniel: And then...
Don't let the soundbox face outward.
No. Like this.
- Oh... - Yeah, you can't make it face outward.
Okay.
Do you understand him, Eddy?
Mm!
Okay, right hand.
Place your thumb on top.
Middle and ring fingers on the bow hair.
Oh, pinky...
- Pinky beside the ring finger. - Okay, okay.
Rest beside the ring finger.
Put your bow down.
Rest on top of the soundbox.
Oh! okay.
Keep your bow straight.
Relax.
You need to relax.
Oh...
Yes!
Yes, relax. You must relax.
I'm a pro.
So, for the inside string,
use your middle and ring fingers
to put some pressure on the bow hair.
And you have to keep this tension. The pressure.
- You see, you need to stretch it out fully. - Whoa! - Oh my god!
Yes.
Is my bow too tight?
I can't stretch it out.
Look at me.
Eddy: Okay.
Once you relax the bow hair, you're playing the outside string.
Okay.
Oh!
So for those of you that don't know the violin,
the bow is on the strings.
So you actually change strings by changing the angle.
But with this erhu,
the violin bow hair is actually in between the strings.
And you change it by, like...
Pushing the hair the other way.
Yeah, so it's like you're using
two different sides of the hair to play.
I got it.
Your middle finger–
Don't lift your index finger off the bow.
*laugh*
Open string is a "do".
The "do" of D key.
First finger is "re".
- Like a beginner class. - Mm!
Outside string.
First finger.
Give it a go on your own.
Your erhu might be out of tune.
(both) Oh, it's out of tune!
Out of tune.
Why is the sound like this?
It's his fault.
Maybe the problem is the instrument, not you.
- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the instrument. - Oh, yeah, yeah.
Maybe you can try- try my instrument.
Daniel: Yeah!
Yeah...
Oh yeah, it's the instrument.
So what we're gonna do now is
we're gonna learn the famous piece.
Racing Horse.
Some of you may recognize it from
one of our very popular videos.
Mm!
Oopsie!
But this time we will be playing it for real.
So Horse Racing
is different from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star we just learnt.
Because Horse Racing is in the key of F.
The one we learnt was in the key of D.
We need to shift the primary position for F key.
We need to move it down a bit.
Yeah, you moved too far down.
Open string, open inside string is "la".
Outside string is "mi".
So the scale is...
Oh!
First finger "do".
*chuckle*
What's wrong with your horse?
The opening part of Horse Racing.
This is the first part.
We got that.
Oh!
*sigh*
Daniel: Yes.
Sorry.
Can I practice using yours?
- You can switch to a better horse. - Oh, upgrade! Ha ha ha!
Dude, my fingers are like...
tired.
When I change strings, sometimes I'm using my-
Oh! F...
- But it's your fingers that hurt cos you... - Yeah.
Wait, my leg is cramp, too.
Oh... It's screw-
Daniel: No, no, no! ♪ Do re mi sol ♪
Daniel: "Sol."
Daniel: Almost there. "Mi sol."
Oh my god. My hand.
Let's do it slower. We'll do it slow.
It doesn't work.
You're already using his.
- Why is you bow going like this? - Whoa...
Yeah, what does this mean?
Is it...
This doesn't mean anything.
I want to do it too.
You're a fast learner.
- Thank you. - Fast learning.
Our horse is fast.
Prodigy. Prodigy horse.
Can you remember?
- I can't remember. - So can you remember?
I've never felt so useless before.
Ha ha!
Can we practice?
Yeah! Give you 5 minutes.
Ha ha! 5 minutes!
Oh!
*chuckle*
I lost it.
Let's go directly to the neighing part.
Okay.
Okay?
- Whoa! - And then...
That's it.
Actually, if we all neigh at the same time,
it'll sound better.
Let's try.
*laugh*
Okay, okay.
The last few notes are...
One stroke.
Retake.
End it on forte.
That's it.
Wow...
Thank you so much for watching.
No. Ha ha ha...
You gotta show everyone what you've learnt.
(both) Okay.
Oh...
Neigh.
Good.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Fast learning of the famous erhu piece, Horse Racing.
What is this?
That's the western famous horse racing piece.
Thank you for watching, everyone.
And...
special thank you...
Thanks, Daniel.
You're welcome.
Please like and subscribe.
Yeah!
Ha ha ha ha!