My previous post mentioned the 'qin', a Chinese long zither. The photo on right is a real qin, advertised on ebay. It's about 1.2m long.
The ebay ad didn't tell me much about this particular instrument, but a classic and serious qin would have seven silk strings, tuned by tightening cotton or flax strings attached to the silk strings. The cotton is wound round a wooden dowel, that is turned in a hole.
Sound strange? Well the instrument has a history of around 3,000 years. They did things differently in those days.
It's played, so I've read, by plucking/strumming, and using the row of dots on the side as guides to where to stop the strings. It has neither frets nor bridges.
My reading also suggests it took many, many years to become a master of the qin.
I believe it!
All the best.
vsquared.
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