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an yin 〔按音 / 案音 / 實音 / 走音〕, or "stopped sounds." This forms the bulk of most qin pieces and requires the player to press on a string with a finger or thumb of the left hand until it connects with the surface board, then pluck. Afterwards, the musician's h

guqin qin 古琴 古 琴 gu 古gu gu古 琴qin qin琴 古琴guqin qin+琴 gu+古 instruments instrument old ancient zither lute 7-stringed chinese music

One of the guqin's fingerings is the sound called "san yin" 〔散音〕, which means "scattered sounds."

Fan yin 〔泛音〕, or "floating sounds," are harmonics where the player lightly touches the string with one or more fingers of the left hand at a position indicated by the hui dots, pluck and lift, creating a crisp and clear sound

The timbral aspects of guqin technique are unparalleled in stringed instruments of the world. With over 20 different types of right hand plucking techniques and almost as many left hand fingering techniques, the potential for timbral contrasts between notes is immense. When listening to guqin music, the appreciation of timbral contrast is traditionally one of the most important aspects of the music. Such appreciation of contrast can happen locally from one note to the next or structurally - appreciating different sections of the music set in different timbral styles. Such appreciation for timbre on this level in Western music has only been present since the beginning of the 20th century in classical music.

Example of using same note on two different strings: Listen carefully to the two/three notes at the end of each phrase...