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SongsGoing Home (Largo, New World Symphony)
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Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, second movement, 1893. The melody is public domain; the later “Goin’ Home” lyric is not used here.

2 strings · D4–A4 open · A5 at the octave · D key · 1 = D · A perfect fifth, the same interval a violin uses between neighbours. Those two notes are the entire tuning; everything above them is your hand.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never leaves the strings. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — the inner string is the upper key — hold one and the note holds.

ErhuFree · printable · plays in your browser

Going Home (New World Largo) — Erhu Notes

Going Home (Largo, New World Symphony) (the opening theme), written out for the erhu as every note with its string and how far up it. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the erhu waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes22, 4 pitches
  • RangeD4–A4
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo66 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a erhu play Going Home (New World Largo)?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to A4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Going Home (New World Largo): erhu notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Going Home (Largo, New World Symphony) — erhu notes · tonalics.com

The 4 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 4 and you can play the whole tune.

  • DD·0×4
  • ED·2×6
  • F♯D·4×7
  • AA·0×5

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to A4, a fifth, using 4 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 12 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 71% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, F♯4 to A4, at note 2.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 6 times.
  • 9 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 4 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

About the tune

This is the cor anglais melody that opens the slow movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, written in New York in 1893 while he was director of the National Conservatory. It sounds like a spiritual and is often taken for one, but the tune is Dvořák’s own.

Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, second movement, 1893. The melody is public domain; the later “Goin’ Home” lyric is not used here. More about Going Home (New World Largo) →

Going Home (New World Largo) on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

More songs for the erhu

All 35 erhu songs · Christmas songs for erhu · The online erhu on its own

Playing it on a real erhu?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The erhu tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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