Pressing different 'hui' produces different sound keys. The qin has 13 'hui', which represent the different position in one string. The use of glissando-sliding tones-gives it a sound reminiscent of a pizzicato cello, fretless double bass or a slide guitar. Sounds are produced by plucking open strings, stopped strings, and harmonics. Its lowest pitch is about two octaves below middle C, or the lowest note on the cello.

The guqin is a very quiet instrument, with a range of about four octaves, and its open strings are tuned in the bass register.

Other incorrect classifications, mainly from music compact discs, include ' harp' or 'table-harp'. Because Robert Hans van Gulik's book about the qin is called The Lore of the Chinese Lute, the guqin is sometimes inaccurately called a lute. It can also be called qixian-qin (七絃琴 lit. Thus, the instrument is called ' guqin' today. The prefix ' gu-' (古 meaning 'ancient') was later added for clarification. Traditionally, the instrument was simply referred to as the ' qin' (琴) but by the twentieth century the term had come to be applied to many other musical instruments as well: the yangqin hammered dulcimer, the huqin family of bowed string instruments, and the Western piano ( gangqin (钢琴)) and violin ( xiaotiqin (小提琴)) are examples of this usage. The guqin is not to be confused with the guzheng, another Chinese long stringed instrument also without frets, but with moveable bridges under each string. It is sometimes referred to by the Chinese as 'the father of Chinese music' or 'the instrument of the sages'. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted by the quote 'a gentleman does not part with his qin or se without good reason,' as well as being associated with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. The guqin ( i Chinese: 古琴) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. Ancient Qin (a type of musical instrument)

Guzheng chinese stringed instrument