下slide down
Pinyin: xià
Left hand, slidingAfter the stopped note sounds, the left finger slides along the string toward the tail to the named hui, and the pitch falls.
How it is played
The same as shang in the other direction: after the pluck, the finger keeps pressing and moves left (toward the tail nut) to the hui written in the score. “下十” means slide down to the tenth hui. Moving down, the finger tends to lighten; keep the pressure until it lands, then vibrato or another slide may follow.
How it sounds
The residual vibration carries a lower note, with a continuous downward transition between the two.
In the classical handbooks
凡向齦為下，自右而至左，皆謂之下。Gist: Whatever moves toward the tail nut is xia; from right to left is always xia.
Easily confused with
- 注zhù· slide down into the noteZhu slides into the position from above before the pluck; xia moves from the position down to a lower one after the pluck.
References
- 《琴学入门》国家图书馆藏刻本第 2 册（Wikimedia Commons 扫描）(opens in a new window)Primary source
- 颐和琴社《减字谱·指法符号简释》(opens in a new window)Qin community