[The Lesson]

[Overview]

These last two weeks have been super busy so I’ve been practicing a lot less than I would have liked to. But, I’ve continued going to my lessons as usual. I can’t say I’ve made any remarkable progress on Guzheng, but, I’m just trying to keep some steady progress. This week we worked through two new pieces and started using 滑音(hua yin, slide notes) in them. Some of the pieces also require to play notes that are not apart of the pentatonic scale (scale degrees 4 and 7 in the major scale). I also learned 连托 (lian tuo).

[Technique]

This week I learned two distinct techniques and one that I think is a variant of another. The first technique was 滑音(hua yin, slide note). This technique is used often, so it’s something I’ll definitely need to spend time practicing it. There are two kinds of 滑音(hua yin): 上滑音(Shang Hua Yin), 下滑音(Xia Hua Yin). The first kind is when you start from a low note and slide to a higher one. The second kind is when you start from a high note and slide to a lower one. Another technique I learned was 连托(lian tuo). 连托 just means you play a series of 托 notes without lifting your thumb to articulate each note clearly.