About the Guzheng

Guzheng: Guzheng is one of the old Chinese instruments with a history spanning over 2,500 years. The early Guzheng had five strings and gradually evolved to twelve in the Han, 13 in the Tang, 15 in the Ming dynasty and 21 strings in the last century. The instrument lies horizontally on a pair of wooden stands; the right hand plucks the strings with the aid of tortoiseshell plectrums taped onto four fingers. The movement of plucking the strings are from outside towards inside, just opposite from the pipa. The left hand pushes the strings to get the half tones and modulating the sound and pitches.

It is tuned basically in pentatonic scales.