A musician playing a qinqin with python-skin resonator in a Cantonese street band in San Francisco

The qinqin (秦琴; pinyin: qínqín) is a plucked Chinese lute originally with a wooden body, a slender fretted neck, and three strings.^{photo 1photo 2} Its body can be either round,^photo hexagonal (with rounded sides), or octagonal.^photo Often only two strings were used, as in certain regional silk-and-bamboo ensembles.^photo In its hexagonal form (with rounded sides) it is also referred to as meihuaqin (梅花琴, literally "plum blossom instrument").

This instrument is often played by musicians who like to dance.^{[citation needed]} Although this instrument is hard to play while dancing, a true expert will play it with perfection.^{[citation needed]}

The qinqin is particularly popular in southern China: in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. A similar instrument, the two-stringed đàn sến, has been adapted from the qinqin for use in the traditional music of southern Vietnam.^photo

Note that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body--distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult.

[edit] External links

• Qinqin photographs (third and fourth rows)
• Qinqin page (Chinese)
• Qinqin page (Chinese)

[edit] See also

• Traditional Chinese musical instruments

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