When plucking the strings, it is not required to attach fake-nails on one's fingers. One will often leave their fingernails long, and cut them into an rounded shape. The length is subjective and will depend on the player's preference, but it is usually around 3-4mm from the finger tip. If it is too short, then the finger tip will deaden the sound as it touches the string after the nail has plucked it. If it is too long then the fingers can make playing difficult. Generally, the nails of the right hand are kept long, whilst the nails of the left are cut short, so as to be able to press on the strings without difficulty.
There are eight basic right hand finger techniques: "pi" 〈劈〉 (thumb pluck outwards), "tuo" 〈托〉 (thumb pluck inwards), "mo" 〈抹〉 (index in), "tiao" 〈挑〉 (index out), "gou" 〈勾〉 (middle in), "ti" 〈剔〉 (middle out), "da" 〈打〉 (ring in), and "zhai" 〈摘〉 (ring out); the little finger is not used. Out of these basic eight, their combinations create many more. "Cuo" 〈撮〉 is to pluck two strings at the same time, "lun" 〈輪〉 is to pluck a string with the ring, middle and index finger out in quick succession, the "suo" 〈鎖〉 technique involves plucking a string several times in a fixed rhythm, "bo" 〈撥〉 cups the fingers and strums two strings at the same time, and "gun fu" 〈滾拂〉 is to create a sequence of sounds by running up and down the strings continuously with the index and middle fingers. These are just a few.
Left hand techniques start from the simple pressing down on the string (mostly with the thumb between the flesh and nail, and the ring finger), sliding up or down to the next note ("shang" 〈上〉 and "xia" 〈下〉), to vibrati by swaying the hand ("yin" 〈吟〉 and "nao" 〈猱〉, there are as many as 15 plus different forms of vibrato), plucking the string with the thumb whilst the ring finger stops the string at the lower position ("qiaqi" 〈掐起 / 搯起〉), hammering on a string using the thumb ("yan" 〈掩 / 罨〉), to more difficult techniques such as pressing on several strings at the same time.
Techniques executed by both hands together are more difficult to achieve, for example, "qia cuo san sheng" 〈掐撮三聲〉 (a combination of hammering on and off then plucking two strings, then repeating), to more exciting forms, like pressing of all seven strings with the left, then strumming all the strings with the right, then the left hand quickly moves up the qin, creating a rolling sound like a bucket of water being thrown in a deep pool of water (this technique is used in the Shu style of "Liu Shui" to copy the sound of water).
In order to master the qin, there are in excess of 50 different techniques that must be mastered. Even the most commonly used (such as "tiao") are difficult to get right without proper instruction from a teacher.
Written qin music did not directly tell what notes were played like many outer musical instruments; instead, it was written in a tablature detailing tuning, finger positions, and plucking technique, thus made up of a step by step method and description of how to play a piece. Some tablatures do indicate notes using the "gongche" notation system, or indicate rhythm using dots.
The earliest example of the modern shorthand tablature survives from around the 12th century CE. An earlier form of music notation from the Tang era survives in just one manuscript, dated to the 7th century CE, called "Jieshi Diao: You Lan" 《碣石調幽蘭》 (Solitary Orchid, in Stone Tablet Mode). It is written in a longhand form called "wenzi pu" 〔文字譜〕 (literally "written notation"), which gives all the details using ordinary written Chinese characters. Later in the Tang dynasty, Cao Rou (曹柔) and others simplified the notation, using only the important elements of the characters (like string number, plucking technique, "hui" number and which finger to stop the string) and combined them into one character notation. This meant that instead of having two lines of written text to describe a few notes, a single character could represent one note, or sometimes as many as nine. This notation form was called "jianzi pu" 〔減字譜〕 (literally "reduced notation") and it was a great step forward for recording qin scores. It was so successful that from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) onwards, a lot of qinpu 〔琴譜〕 (qin tablature collections) appeared, the most famous and useful being "Shenqi Mipu" (The Mysterious and Marvellous Tablature) compiled by Zhu Quan (朱勸), the 17th son of the founder of the Ming dynasty. In the 1960s, Zha Fuxi discovered more than 130 qinpu that contain well over 3360 pieces of written music. Many qinpu compiled before the Ming dynasty are now lost, and many pieces have remained unplayed for hundreds of years.
Existing qinpu generally come from private collections or in public libraries throughout China, etc. Those that are available for public purchase are photographic copies printed and bound in the traditional Chinese bookbinding process. More modern qinpu tend to be bound in the normal Western way on modern paper. The format uses qin notation with staff notation and/or "jianpu" notation.
Qin pieces are usually around three to eight minutes in length, with the longest being "Guangling San" 《廣陵散》, which is 22 minutes long. Other famous pieces include "Liu Shui" 《流水》 (Flowing Water), "Yangguan San Die" 《陽關三疊》 (Three Refrains on the Yang Pass Theme), "Meihua San Nong" 《梅花三弄》 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom Theme), "Xiao Xiang Shui Yun" 《瀟湘水雲》 (Mist and Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers), and "Pingsha Luo Yan" 《平沙落雁》 (Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank). The average player can generally play around ten pieces from memory which they will aim to play very well, learning new pieces as and when they feel like it. Players mainly learn popular well studied versions, often using a recording as a reference. In addition to learning to play established or ancient pieces very well, highly skilled qin players may also compose or improvise, although the player must be very good and extremely familiar with the instrument to be successful at it.
Dapu 〔打譜〕 is the conversion of old tablature into a playable form. This can be used to create new music as well as to reconstruct the ancient melodies. Since qin tablature does not indicate note value, tempo or rhythm, the player must work it out for him/herself. Normally, qin players will learn the rhythm of a piece through a teacher. They sit facing one another, with the student copying the master. The tablature will only be looked at if the teacher is not sure of how to play a certain part. Because of this, traditional qinpu do not indicate them. If one did not have a teacher, then one had to work out the rhythm by themselves. But it would be a mistake to say that qin music has no rhythm or melody. By the 20th century, there had been attempts to try to replace the shorthand notation, but so far, it has been unsuccessful; since the 20th century, qin music is generally printed with staff notation above the qin tablature. Because qin tablature is so useful, logical, easy, and the fastest way (once the performer knows how to read the notation) of learning a piece, it is invaluable to the qin player and cannot totally be replaced. There are two views of how to best use dapu: one is to use it to create new music, and the other is to use it to reconstruct the way the original music was played.