对起qia qi after a plucked note

Pinyin: duì qǐ

Left hand, sliding

The ring finger stops and the thumb hooks the string, the same as qia qi; how the two are distinguished varies between handbooks.

How it is played

The motion is identical to qia qi: the ring finger stops the lower position and the thumb hooks the string above it with the nail, sounding the ring finger's note. Qinxue Rumen separates them by whether the right hand plucked the string first: hooked after a pluck it is dui qi; hooked with no preceding pluck it is qia qi. Other handbooks simply say to play dui qi as qia qi. In the editor, record it as qia qi.

How it sounds

The stopped note at the ring finger, sounded by the left hand, slightly lighter than a right-hand pluck.

In the classical handbooks

前人以先有按彈聲而後左大指爪起者曰對起，以初無按彈聲而即用左大指爪起者曰搯起。要之至理，總是左名指按位，左大指代彈得一聲之法也。

Gist: Earlier writers called it dui qi when the left thumb claws after a stopped and plucked note, and qia qi when the thumb claws with no prior pluck. In essence both are the left ring finger stopping and the left thumb plucking in place of the right hand.

Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies) · 卷上·左指按法字母 · Qing dynasty, 1864 · View the original page · View source

Where sources disagree

How dui qi and qia qi are distinguished

When a plucked note comes first and the thumb then claws, it is dui qi; when the thumb claws with no prior pluck, it is qia qi. Both are the ring finger stopping with the thumb plucking in its stead. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies), vol. 1, left-hand pressing symbols(opens in a new window) · View the original page
Likewise by whether the right hand plucked first: a right-hand pluck followed by a left-hand claw is dui qi; a claw with no pluck is qia qi. Source: 《荻灰馆琴谱》（据Guoqinwang, Guqin Da Cidian (Great Dictionary of the Guqin)所录原文）(opens in a new window)
Wherever dui qi appears in the score, play it as qia qi. Source: Chengjiantang Qinpu（据Guoqinwang, Guqin Da Cidian (Great Dictionary of the Guqin)所录原文）(opens in a new window)
Dui qi is simply the old way of writing qia qi. Source: Yihe Qin Society, “Jianzipu: a short guide to technique symbols” (the common modern reading)(opens in a new window)

Easily confused with

掐起qiā qǐ· left-hand pull-off to a stopped noteThe same motion; the only difference is whether a right-hand pluck came first, and some handbooks drop the distinction and play dui qi as qia qi.