跌宕tumbling rhythm
Pinyin: dié dàng
Terms and marksAlso written: 跌荡, 踢宕
A deliberately uneven, loose-and-tight rhythm with notes staggered; the whole must still fit the beat.
How it is played
Asks that the phrase not be played in even beats: some notes fast and some slow, some held back and some released, in a rising and falling, staggered rhythm. Qing handbooks list it among the technique symbols with varied spellings (跌宕, 跌荡, 踢宕); Qinxue Rumen explains it as uneven tightness and slackness within the phrase, with fitting the beat prized above all. Today die dang also describes the free, expansive, staggered rhythmic style of qin music in general.
Where sources disagree
Whether die dang stays within the beat
- The breath of the notes differs before and after, slow and quick distinguished, but fitting the beat is prized. Source: Qinxue Chujin (text as recorded in the Guoqinwang technique database)(opens in a new window)
- Tightness and slackness uneven within the phrase, with fitting the beat prized above all. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies), vol. 1, left-hand symbols(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- “Tumbling playing” is grouped with free playing, and the slow playing of ru man is said to be the same: none of them is metered. Source: Yihe Qin Society, “Jianzipu: a short guide to technique symbols”(opens in a new window)