Erhu range

The erhu’s range in notes and hertz

D4 is the open inner string in the standard D–A tuning; retuning moves the whole range. A7 is where the stopping finger reaches the bow hair, so the comfortable range is well below it. Erhu music is usually written in jianpu numbers rather than on a staff.

Written and sounding pitch

Erhu music is usually read from tab, letters or numbers rather than a staff, so there is no conventional written range to give. The notes above are the pitches you hear.

Instruments with a similar range

The instruments whose normal range shares the most notes with the erhu’s:

• Piano · A0–C8 44 notes shared
• Xylophone · F4–C8 41 notes shared
• Violin · G3–E7 39 notes shared
• Viola · C3–D7 37 notes shared
• Mandolin · G3–D7 37 notes shared
• Flute · C4–C7 35 notes shared

Tune it, play it

• Erhu tuner — tune by microphone, with the erhu’s own target notes.
• Play an erhu online — the same range, playable in your browser.

Songs that fit the erhu

35 songs from our public-domain library fit inside the erhu’s range, each written out in the notation erhu players read:

• Hot Cross Buns
• Lightly Row
• Going Home (New World Largo)
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Happy Birthday
• Ode to Joy
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat
• Jingle Bells
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas
• Yankee Doodle
• Silent Night

All 35 erhu songs ›

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Wikipedia, Erhu