The ''banhu'' () is a Chinese traditional bowed
string instrument
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
in the
huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily in northern China. ''Ban'' means a piece of wood and ''hu'' is short for ''huqin''.
Like the more familiar ''
erhu
The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...
'' and ''
gaohu'', the ''banhu'' has two strings,
is held vertically, and the bow hair passes in between the two strings. The ''banhu'' differs in construction from the
erhu
The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...
in that its soundbox is generally made from a
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
shell rather than wood, and instead of a
snakeskin that is commonly used to cover the faces of ''huqin'' instruments, the ''banhu'' uses a thin wooden board.
The ''banhu'' is sometimes also called "banghu," because it is often used in ''bangzi''
opera of northern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, such as
Qinqiang from
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
province.
The ''
yehu'', another type of Chinese fiddle with a coconut body and wooden face, is used primarily in southern China.
External links
Listening
Banhu MP3s(click on headphones to listen to individual tracks)
See also
*
Huqin
*
Yehu
*
Music of China
The music of China consists of many distinct traditions, often specifically originating with one of the country's various Ethnic groups in China, ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country, involving either people of Chinese or ...
*
Traditional Chinese musical instruments
*
Rebab
''Rebab'' (, ''rabāba'', variously spelled ''rebap'', ''rubob'', ''rebeb'', ''rababa'', ''rabeba'', ''robab'', ''rubab'', ''rebob'', etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via Islamic trading rout ...
*
String instruments
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
References
Chinese musical instruments
Huqin family instruments
Necked bowl lutes
{{huqin-stub