吟narrow vibrato
Pinyin: yín
Vibrato and glidesAfter a stopped note sounds, the left finger rocks gently to and fro around the position, letting the ring rise and fall slightly.
How it is played
After the right hand plucks, the left finger keeps pressing firmly and carries the string in small movements to either side of the position. The old handbooks put the swing between one and three or four fen, four or five round trips, larger at first and smaller at the end, finally settling back exactly on the position (often finished with a ding yin). The motion comes from relaxed finger joints and wrist, not from rocking the whole hand; the thumb uses its half-nail, half-flesh point.
How it sounds
The pitch wavers finely around the main note, giving the ring a rounded, breathing quality like a low human hum. Faster or slower, wider or narrower, the mood changes with it.
In the classical handbooks
吟者按絃以取音，在指所按之位往來搖動，上下不出三四分，先大而後小，一轉一收，約四五餘轉，仍用定吟方收本位而止。Gist: Yin: pressing the string to take the note, rock to and fro at the stopped position, up and down no more than three or four fen, large at first and then small, turning and gathering, about four or five turns, and finish with a ding yin before coming to rest on the position.
吟也有肉吟甲吟以指往來延其琴韵Gist: Yin also has flesh-yin and nail-yin, the finger moving to and fro to prolong the qin's resonance.
五音活潑之趣。半在吟猱。而吟猱之妙處全在圓滿。宛轉動蕩。無滯無礙。不少不多。以至恰好。謂之圓。Gist: Half the liveliness of the five tones lies in yin and nao, and the whole art of yin and nao lies in roundness: turning and swaying, without obstruction, neither too little nor too much, exactly right. This is called “round”.
Where sources disagree
How yin and nao are told apart: by which side of the position they work, or by size
- Some handbooks call rocking below the position (toward the tail) nao and rocking above it yin. Source: Wang Tan, Qin Zhi (The Purport of the Qin), vol. 2, reporting the handbooks of its day(opens in a new window)
- Other handbooks ignore up and down: a broad movement with an aged sound is nao, a fine one with grace is yin. Source: Wang Tan, Qin Zhi (The Purport of the Qin), vol. 2, reporting the handbooks of its day(opens in a new window)
- Wang Tan himself argues the reverse: taking the note below the position agrees with the pitch system and should be called yin; above the position is nao. Source: Wang Tan, Qin Zhi (The Purport of the Qin), vol. 2, editorial note(opens in a new window)
- By weight and size: light, clear and small is yin; heavy, large and somewhat quick is nao. Source: Wuzhizhai Qinpu; Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies) gives a similar reading(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- In his later years he changed his view: nao must be above the position and yin below, and the earlier teaching was an error of transmission. Source: Yang Zongji, 《琴镜补》 (as collected by Jinxiang Academy)(opens in a new window)
Width, number of swings, and which way to go first
- No more than three or four fen up and down, large then small, about four or five turns, finished with a ding yin. Source: Wuzhizhai Qinpu(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- Left and right within little more than one fen, about four or five turns, then back to the position. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies)(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- After the note, shake quickly three or four turns, no more than four or five fen up and down, without leaving the position. Source: 《梅庵琴谱》 (as collected by Jinxiang Academy)(opens in a new window)
- After the note, go up one or two fen first, then down past the position, alternating; usually five sounds, with a four-sound variant. Source: 黄勉之传、Yang Zongji, 《琴粹》 (as collected by Jinxiang Academy)(opens in a new window)
- Small, fairly quick oscillation on both sides of the position; tradition also has a version that swings two or three times on one side only. Source: 龚一《古琴演奏法》 (as collected by Jinxiang Academy)(opens in a new window)
Easily confused with
- 猱náo· wide vibratoNao is wider and firmer, with a more vigorous, aged sound; yin is small and fine, prized for grace.
- 定吟dìng yín· fixed vibratoIn ding yin the finger shows no visible movement and only presses slightly; yin has a visible to-and-fro.