1. For calculations based on relative pitch see Qin Tunings, Some Theoretical Concepts.
2. For finger positions generally used see Appendix I, Theoretical Finger Position Charts.²
3. For the resulting harmonics with do = 60 Hz, see Appendix II, Pitches available in harmonics.
4. For considering actual pitch see Appendix III, Absolute pitch.

For actual tuning of the qin the general principle for pitch seemed to be to tighten the strings as much as possible without them breaking easily. As for the actual process, my teacher first showed his students how to do a general tuning using open strings and stopped sounds, then a fine tuning using harmonics. As with teaching in general the students simply mimicked him. The sequence was not always the same, but this did not affect the result. Here is a discussion of the process.

On the accompanying illustration note that qins have seven strings, numbered from the far side of the player, and 13 markers (hui) indicating harmonic nodes, but also used to indicate stopped-sound finger positions.

Standard Tuning:³ General Tuning

As a typical example for standard tuning, once the pitch of either the fourth string or the seventh string seems to be about right, you can start with the following six steps.

1. Bring the 7th string in tune with the 4th string by having the open 7th string have the same sound as the 4th string stopped in the 9th position.
2. Tune the 5th string by having the open 7th string have the same sound as the 5th string stopped in the 10th position.
3. Tune the 6th string by having the open 6th string have the same sound as the 4th string stopped in the 10th position.
4. Tune the 1st string by having the open 4th string have the same sound as the 1st string stopped in the 9th position.
5. Tune the 2nd string by having the open 4th string have the same sound as the 2nd string stopped in the 10th position.
6. Tune the 3rd string by having the open 3rd string have the same sound as the 1st string stopped in the 10th position.

Standard Tuning: Fine Tuning

Now use the following harmonic positions to make the tuning more precise. This tuning is more precise because with the stopped sounds it is almost impossible to put the left finger down in precisely the correct position, while the harmonic position must be precise or the note will not ring clearly.

(A footnote below describes how to set the fifth string to 202.5 Hz [the A one octave below 405 Hz on the chart below, that considers the open first string as having the pitch 60 Hz, between a modern concert B flat and B natural]. The following process can easily be adjusted so as to begin by setting the pitch for this fifth string, then adjusting the other strings accordingly.)

1. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 7th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 4th string.
2. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 6th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 3rd string.
3. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 5th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 2nd string.
4. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 4th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 1st string.
5. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 7th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 5th string.
6. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 6th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 4th string.
   (Note: A harmonic on the 9th position of the 5th string will not have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 3rd string.)
7. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 4th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 2nd string.
8. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 3rd string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 1st string.

The same results come from testing the harmonic positions at the player's right end of the qin, as follows.

1. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 7th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 5th position of the 4th string.
2. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 6th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 5th position of the 4th string.
3. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 5th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 5th position of the 2nd string.
4. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 4th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 5th position of the 1st string.
5. A harmonic played on the 5th position of the 7th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 4th position of the 5th string.
6. A harmonic played on the 5th position of the 6th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 4th position of the 4th string.
   (Note: A harmonic on the 5th position of the 5th string will not have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 4th position of the 3rd string.
7. A harmonic played on the 5th position of the 4th string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 4th position of the 2nd string.
8. A harmonic played on the 5th position of the 3rd string should have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 4th position of the 1st string.

During the above process, if one of the strings is found to be out of tune, you make the necessary adjustments then go through either the entire sequence again or, more commonly, only the harmonic sequence. In fact many people do their tuning using only the harmonic sequences, unless the qin has gone very badly out of tune.

Almost all melodies in the active repertoire (i.e., excluding melodies reconstructed from early tablature) use this standard tuning. With different tunings, the relationships are always given in terms of how they deviate from this standard tuning. For example the raised 5th string tuning (usually called ruibin diao in old handbooks but today other names may be used) is usually indicated as follows.

General Tuning (Ruibin)

First do the standard tuning, as above. Then from standard tuning raise (tighten) the 5th string so that the open 7th string has the same sound as the 5th string stopped in the 11th position (newer handbooks may try to be more precise by saying position 10.8).

Fine Tuning (Ruibin)

The harmonic equivalents have now changed, as follows.

1. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 7th string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 4th string.
2. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 6th string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 3rd string.
   (Note: A harmonic on the 7th position of the 5th string   no longer   has the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 2nd string.)
3. A harmonic played on the 7th position of the 4th string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 9th position of the 1st string.)
   (Note: A harmonic on the 9th position of the 7th string   no longer   has the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 5th string.
4. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 6th string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 4th string.
5. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 5th string should now have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 3rd string.
6. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 4th string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 2nd string.
7. A harmonic played on the 9th position of the 3rd string should still have the same sound as a harmonic played on the 10th position of the 1st string.

Similar sequences are followed to adjust for and check the accuracy of the various other tunings used for the qin. For further information on this see Qin Tunings, Some Theoretical Concepts or Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.

 
Appendix I: Theoretical finger positions for standard tuning (正調 zheng diao, two versions)
I use charts such as the ones below when doing dapu. Capital letters indicate open strings and harmonics. Small letters show stopped sounds. (Top)

 
Appendix II: Pitches available in harmonics
This uses standard tuning, with the open first string (considered as do) = 60 Hz
Note that with stopped sounds any pitch is available

For the harmonics in the above illustrations it is mathematically convenient to consider the open first string to be tuned to 60 vib/sec (Hertz, Hz).⁴ Although, based on a modern concert pitch of A=440 Hz, this 60 Hz is a slightly flat B, for baroque music C is often based on A=415, making C in this system about 62 Hz. On my qin this is close to the pitch I generally use for the open first string. Listed below are possible measurements (in Hertz) based on the open first string being tuned to 60 Hz. Note that the 13 hui form a mirror image from the middle (#7). Thus, a harmonic played at hui #1 on the first string has the same pitch as at #13 on the same string, etc. (The "just intonation" pitches at positions 2, 6, 8 and 11 on each string also have identical pitch.)

String/rel. pitch/fraction of do     \ hui:	open	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
1. (Do [1]) = 3/4 (48/64)	60 Hz.	480	360	300	240	180	300	120		so'	do"	mi"
2. (Re [2]) = 27/32 (54/64)	67.5	540	405	337.5	270	202.5	337.5	135		la'	re"	fa#"
3. (Fa [4]) = 1 (64/64)	80	640	480	400	320	240	160	160		do"	fa"	la"
4. (sol [5]) = 9/8 (72/64)	90	720	540	450	360	270	450	180		re"	so"	ti"
5. (la [6]) = 81/64 (81/64)	101	810	608	506	405	304	506	202.5		mi"	la"	do#'"
6. (do [1]) = 3/2 (96/64)	120	960	720	600	480	360	600	240		so"	do'"	mi'"
7. (re [2]) = 27/16 (108/64)	135	1080	810	675	540	405	675	270		la"	re'"	fa#'"

The open string and harmonic pitches on the above chart can be grouped as follows (the range of a qin is four octaves plus a whole tone; the open first string is considered as do):

	Name	Pitch (Hz)
	do	= 60, 120, 240, 480, 960
	do# "just"	= 506
	re	= 67.5, 135, 270, 540, 1080
	mi	= 300 , 600
	mi "just"	= 304, 608
	fa	= 80, 160, 320, 480
	fa# "just"	= 337.5, 675
	sol	= 90, 180, 360, 720
	la	= 101, 202.5, 405, 910
	la "just"	= 400
	ti "just"	= 450

As for the justified intonation ("just") notes, do# and fa# almost never occur (ti may occur slightly more often). In early tablature the justified mi and la do sometimes occur in the same pieces as the Pythagorean mi and la. This has led some people to try to retune the qin to avoid these "dissonances". I believe that qin players of antiquity appreciated the special colors brought by the occasional justaposition of such pitches. My argument is presented in Qin Tunings, Some Theoretical Concepts and Problems with Just Intonation Tuning.

 
Appendix III: Absolute Pitch

The Western modern standard pitch makes A above Middle C = 440 Hz (Hz = vib/sec). With this as the standard, here are the values (rounded off to the closest Hz) for an equal tempered chromatic scale beginning with the A two pitches below Middle C):

Name	A	A#	B	C	C#	D	D#	E	F	F#	G	G#	A
Pitch (Hz)	220	233	247	262	277	294	311	330	349	370	392	415	440

As explained above, on my qin the first string is usually tuned to about 60 hz, putting it between the 58.27 Hz A#/Bb and the 61.735 Hz B♮ two octaves below middle C, as calculated from the above chart. (If the first string is tuned up to the modern concert C [ca. 65 hz] it breaks too often; if tuned exactly to a "baroque C" [modern B: ca. 62 hz] it is usually not a problem.) Thus there can be problems for the qin to play with instruments inflexibly tuned to modern concert pitch and awkward for playing accidentals. With stopped sounds any note can in theory be played on a qin, but harmonics and open strings are very important, and these are inflexible. Plus, I know of no one who can take a qin melody and transpose it up or down without retuning.

Thus when playing together with instruments using modern Western pitch, the most natural solution is using one of the non-standard qin tunings that lowers the pitch of the first string half a tone. The following shows the absolute modern pitch of standard tuning as well as of the three tunings which lower the first string half a tone. As can be seen, with huangzhong there still are several accidentals. These are avoided, however, with guxian and mangong.

	Tuning   \         String	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Standard	B	C#	E	F#	G#	b	c#
	Huangzhong	A	C#	E	F#	a	b	c#
	Guxian	A	C	D	E	G	a	c
	Mangong	A	C	D	F	G	a	c

Unfortunately there are not many melodies that use guxian and mangong tunings (follow the links above to see listing).

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Tuning a qin
To understand why the tuning methods (定弦法子) described on this page result in the desired relative tunings (相對定音) please study the mathematical relationships between positions on the seven qin strings as described under Qin tunings: some theoretical concepts.
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2. Theoretical Finger Position Charts
These are of particular use when reconstructing early music directly from tablature.
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3. Standard Tuning (正調 zhengdiao)
In Chinese this tuning literally means "correct" or correctly regulated. Non-standard tunings (外調 wai diao, literally "outside tunings") are described by how standard tuning must be changed to achieve them. There was no standard pitch (designated absolute pitch) in early qin tunings, so they are best described not by Western pitch names (A B C, etc.) but by relative pitch names (do re mi... or, in the Chinese number system, 1 2 3...).

There was a traditional disagreement in Chinese writing about whether the main pitch in standard tuning should be on the first or the third string. The choices are:

Once again, in pitch these two tunings are identical: the difference has to do with which pitch is (or should be) the most important one.

• Arguments in favor of having the first string as do center on it being the most important string so should have the most important note.
• Arguments in favor of having the third string as do center on the fact that if the first string is do then the third string does not fit into the standard Chinese pentatonic scale, do re mi so la (1 2 3 5 6).

As yet I have not found an explanation as to how this became standard tuning (as opposed to using 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 (often called "lowered third" [manjiao], which as far as I can tell has never been very popular.

Although my transcriptions are all written in Western staff notation, this is treated like the Chinese number system, so that "A" has nothing to do with the modern A=440 Hz; instead it means la (further details).

The next footnote has an example of setting the actual pitch when tuning a qin.
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4. Tuning a qin so that the open first string is 60 Hz
To do this I use a Korg Orchestral Tuner OT-120. I calibrate "A" to be 405 Hz (compare "la" on the chart above), then pluck the open fifth string, tuning it so that when the meter centers it reads "A 2". Then, by going through the tuning process described in detail above, I bring the other strings in tune with this. Now when I play a harmonic on the 7th node of the first string (the open first string, one octave lower, seems to be a problem for the Korg) the meter should center and read "C 3".
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