泛起harmonics begin

Pinyin: fàn qǐ

Timbre and harmonics

Marks the start of a harmonic passage: from here on, play harmonics.

How it is played

At fan qi the left hand switches from stopping to touching the hui lightly, and every jianzi up to fan zhi is played as a harmonic. The old rule is a slightly heavier right hand and a light left touch.

How it sounds

The whole passage turns to clear, bright harmonics, which the old handbooks call “the sound of heaven”.

In the classical handbooks

右彈而左指點絃上，取音輕清，名曰天音，名曰蜻蜓點水勢。右彈欲重，左點欲輕，此其訣也。

Gist: The right hand plucks while the left finger touches the string, taking a light, clear note called the sound of heaven, or the dragonfly-on-water posture. The right hand should be heavy and the left touch light: that is the secret.

Wuzhizhai Qinpu · 卷一·指法 · Qing dynasty, 1722 · View the original page · View source(opens in a new window)

Easily confused with

References

  1. 管平湖《古指法考》（北京古琴文化研究会 编，中国书店出版社 2019；据 1963 年中国音乐研究所油印本整理，依《琴用指法》《乌丝栏》《太音大全》《琴书大全》考订古指法）Scholarship