French man becomes a master of Erhu through self-teaching

Eliott Tordo’s story with the Erhu, a traditional Chinese stringed musical instrument, started when he was in his 20s, an age considered comparatively late for someone hoping to learn a musical instrument. However, the French man has not only mastered the techniques within the course of five years, but also made the traditional instrument famous worldwide through his creative interpretative playing of it.

Photo shows Eliott playing the Erhu. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Eliott used to be a keyboard player, a composer, a music producer and an acoustic engineer. While dubbing films and games with background music, he learned about the Erhu and became deeply touched by its unique sound. He then decided to play music that he loved using the Chinese instrument. It was a keen interest in the Erhu and his own musical knowledge that enabled Eliott to be a quick learner.

However, Eliott’s journey in studying the Erhu was bumpy at first. The biggest challenge was that there were no professional teacher available in France who could teach him how to play the instrument face-to-face, and it proved ineffective to learn the instrument through remote teaching. Eventually, he chose to teach himself to play the Erhu by watching videos. However, due to language barriers, the only way for him to learn to play a song was to closely observe the gestures of the artist, pay careful attention to the tone of the music and then practice again and again.

A screenshot of a video shows Eliott playing the Erhu. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

“There is a unique technique in playing the Erhu. It is mysterious and yet it is crucial for one to learn to play the Erhu,” Eliott explained. As he kept practicing the Erhu, Eliott finally mastered the instrument, being able to make his own music more enchanting with the musical instrument from the Orient in his hands. He also recorded videos of himself playing the Erhu and shared them with his followers on social media platforms, with the number of visits reaching more than 10 million. The beautiful music has touched net users from around the world, with some commenting that his music even made them cry.

Under Eliott’s influence, a lot of French people started to learn about the Chinese instrument and pay attention to Chinese culture. “I can’t say I’m a professional teacher, but a lot of people still came to me asking me to teach them to play the Erhu,” said Eliott, who is nowadays a teacher of more than 10 students from France, the US, and Canada, among other countries.

Photo shows Eliott (fourth from left) posing for a picture with other artists during a concert. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

“Music is a universal language,” a net user commented under a video of Eliott’s. “China is a great and mysterious country, and I hope one day I can visit the country and meet excellent Erhu artists there,” said Eliott while expressing the hope of playing the Erhu in China one day and making a contribution to China-France cultural exchanges.