Two Strings, Many Notes

Story posted March 2, 2017 in News by By Yukai Peng

Mandy Chou, a Penn State freshman majoring in communications, is also a proficient Chinese traditional instrument player. The instrument she plays is called “Erhu” in Chinese. The “er” in Chinese means “two”, which means that there are only two strings on the instrument, which makes difficult for the player to control the accuracy of the tone and the rhythm.

Chou started to play Erhu when she was nine years old, and this year is her tenth year to play Erhu. Chou says she felt interesting when she got to know with this instrument for the first time, but hr teacher told her that she had to practice frequently in order to play the songs fluently and accurately.

Chou joined the Asian Classical Music Club, an organization for all students who loves to play traditional Chinese traditional instruments. Chou and her teammates always show up on all kinds of cultural activities in Penn State, and they even show up on the Spring Festival Gala. Chou thinks that it is a very good way to spread Chinese culture among the students and faculties in Penn State by playing the traditional songs with the traditional instruments that people who are not from China has never seen before.