Fingerings

[Si]

Our teacher tells us we should play:

Tiao with middle and ring finger resting on the string
Guo hits string at 45degrees and rests touching the string below
Tuo and Pi are played with the other fingers resting on the strings

What are your thoughts on this?

Your firs piece is xian weng cao - is there any place to down load it so i can heard what it is supposed to sound like.

Cheers

[Charlie Huang]

I agree with all the above (although for tiao, I would rest my middle finger only rather than both middle and ring; I think resting the ring finger as well makes the hand incline slightly to the right).

[sleepy]

I would also watch the right little finger: do not let it lift up. And the elbow, too, keep it dropped down.

When the right hand is slightly inclined to the right, it's natural. Just see it as your arm is dropped down, it's in a naturally relaxed state. The back of the hand is slightly inclined to the right.

[Si]

Thanks for the feed back.

Now I am struggling to produce a clean sound, stopping the left ring finger.

Should I need to press down on it hard?

I often hear a buzzing sound - i know this is wrong!

And do I touch the string on the left hand of the nail, were it is like abit skin and near tip of nail(not towards the root of nail)?

I dont know if its my ear but it always sounds slightly out of tune when i pluck.

[blueharp]

Keep in mind it is supposed to sound different using different fingers. That's what gives the music character.

To an extent this can be expected. Your finger tip needs to "toughen up" a bit, I think. However you might need to keep experimenting within the parameters set out by your teacher until you find the "sweet spot" for that finger.

Buzzing can also be the instrument, but if it was checked out before it was sold to you that is unlikely.

What you described is the vicinity of where to touch the string. Again it will take a bit of experimentation before you find the perfect spot.

You may need to adjust where you position your fingers ever so slightly to be in tune as each instrument is different. For example if you play a fan yin (harmonic) on string 7 at hui 7 and then press down at EXACTLY that spot, it won't quite be in tune. It might be a tiny bit sharp or flat so you adjust accordingly. Pretty soon it becomes second nature.

[Charlie Huang]

If you are having trouble pressing down with your left ringer finger, you can temporarily use the middle finger to push it down, though in actual play, you shouldn't really do this.

The point of contact I use on my left ring finger is the point of flesh close to edge of the tip of the little finger side of the ring finger nail. Sometimes if my nail is long enough, I can actually lock onto the string in the gap between my nail and the flesh making sliding easier without the danger of slipping off during a slide.

Also, you should keep your hands dry. Sweaty hands causes friction, which can burn and hurt your fingers. To remedy that, you should wash your hands in warm water then dry them thoroughly with a towl or air dryer.

[sleepy]

syburn said:

Now I am struggling to produce a clean sound, stopping the left ring finger.
Should I need to press down on it hard?

The point of contact on the left ring finger is not in the middle tip but the left fleshy part. If you find your left fingers tigthen up with locked joints when you do the "An Yin" in order to press down the string, either the qin's structurally flawed, or the hand's not relaxed enough, or simply because of lacking in experience. I would also check if you're sitting too low or if the qin is placed too high on the desk. Correct sitting postures are often overlooked.

[Si]

Well on the correct seating positions, I was wondering if I should get a gu qin table cos i am on the dining table now and my elbow is lower than my hand, which i think is wrong?!?

[Charlie Huang]

Your arm should be parallel to the floor when playing the qin.