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SongsLightly Row
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8 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning brings some of them into reach.

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German folk song “Hänschen klein”, 19th century; the English “Lightly Row” uses the same melody. Public domain.

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

Lightly Row — Erhu Notes

Lightly Row, 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.

  • Notes49, 5 pitches
  • RangeD4–A4
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo120 bpm · about 32 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a erhu play Lightly Row?

✓ 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.

Lightly Row: 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

Lightly Row — erhu notes · tonalics.com

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • DD·0×5
  • ED·2×12
  • F♯D·4×15
  • GD·5×6
  • AA·0×11

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to A4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 12 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, A4 to D4, at note 24.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 9 times.
  • 16 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 5 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

About the tune

Lightly Row is the English name for the German children’s song “Hänschen klein”, whose words were written by the Dresden teacher Franz Wiedemann around 1860 to a folk melody already in circulation. The tune travelled further than the words did: it is sung with different texts across Europe, Japan and the Americas.

German folk song “Hänschen klein”, 19th century; the English “Lightly Row” uses the same melody. Public domain. More about Lightly Row →

Lightly Row on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.

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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