Analysis of erhu playing and design of learning environment for novice erhu player

Purpose of this paper is to analyze novices' erhu playing, and to design a skill learning environment for playing erhu. Erhu is a two-stringed instrument created in China. Hair of stick is located between two strings. Therefore the stick motion is much different from other string instruments such as violin. Firstly, we analyzed erhu playing by novices, then, we analyzed errors. To achieve this task, we recorded gaze position movement and erhu playing by video camera, and measured finger pressures on strings when players are playing erhu. The purpose of the analysis is to know what kind of errors novice players have, and we will take it into account when we design the learning environment. Finally, we designed the skill learning environment for erhu playing. Target users of the environment are novice erhu players. The environment will be used for self-learning. For instance, a learner will use the environment at home without erhu teacher.