游吟roaming vibrato
Pinyin: yóu yín
Vibrato and glidesAlso written: 遊吟
The finger slides up and then back down, about twice, swinging open at leisure like a fish drifting with the current.
How it is played
After the note, let the finger carry up a little, then back down a little, up again and down again, about two round trips. The motion is relaxed and unhurried and must flow as one; the downward move must not pluck out a separate note.
How it sounds
The note roams gently above and below the position, swinging wider than an ordinary yin, leisurely and flowing.
In the classical handbooks
指乘絃上聲,就退下,復綽上,又退下,約二次。取一音在絃,似遊蕩之意。行遊而吟,有游魚順水之勢,有如雙撞而放緩是也。Gist: The finger rides the sound up the string, then retreats, slides up again and retreats again, about twice, taking one note on the string with a sense of drifting. Roaming while vibrating has the air of a fish swimming with the current, like a slowed-down double knock.
指乘綽上,就退下少許,復綽上,又退下少許,以得二聲爲率,指似遊蕩,如雙撞而放緩。Gist: The finger rides a chuo up, retreats a little, slides up again and retreats a little again, taking two sounds as the rule; the finger seems to drift, like a slowed-down double knock.
Where sources disagree
Whether you yin and dang yin are the same technique
- You yin is also called dang yin, the same technique; and the retreat must not produce a separate note. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies)(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- Listed separately: dang yin puts force at both ends and is wider and looser than you yin. Source: Wuzhizhai Qinpu(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- The early hand-posture illustrations only say the stopping finger roams and vibrates, overshooting the position slightly or by as much as half a hui, without fixing the number of swings. Source: Taiyin Daquanji, hand-posture illustrations (per the silkqin.com annotated translation)(opens in a new window)
Easily confused with
- 荡吟dàng yín· swinging vibratoAccording to Wuzhizhai, dang yin puts force at both ends and is wider and looser; you yin is lighter and stops after two round trips.
References
- 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
- 章华英《管平湖古琴打谱艺术探窥(中)》(华音网,谈杨宗稷一系吟猱的分类)(opens in a new window)Qin community