Gaohu / Yuehu

Description

The
gaohu
(
高胡
;
pinyin
:
gāohú
,
pronounced
[kɑ́ʊ̯xǔ]
; Cantonese: gou1 wu4; also called
yuehu
粤
胡
) is a
Chinese
bowed
string instrument
developed from the
erhu
in the 1920s by the musician and composer
Lü Wencheng
(1898–1981) and used in
Cantonese music
and
Cantonese opera
. It belongs to the
huqin
family of instruments, together with the
zhonghu
,
erhu
,
banhu
,
jinghu
, and
sihu
; its name means "high-pitched
huqin
". It is the leading instrument of Cantonese music and opera ensembles. Well known pieces for the
gaohu
include
Bu Bu Gao
(步步高, Higher Step By Step) and
Ping Hu Qiu Yue
(平湖秋月, Autumn Moon on Calm Lake).