One way is to tune by ear, plucking the open strings and picking out the relation differences between the strings. This method way of tuning requires a very accurate sense of pitch. The next method is by comparing open and stopped notes, by playing an open string and pressing on another string at the correct position and adjust if they sound different. This has the advantage of only needing to adjust a string to match a reference note, but has the disadvantage of open and stopped notes sounding different in tone; it can only be used for pieces without harmonics. The generally preferred way is to tune by harmonics. This is the easiest method since it only requires that two sounded harmonics are in unison. Two harmonics are sounded on two strings and the pitch can be adjusted whilst they still sound. List of common tunings Below is a list of common tunings for the qin. Note that some tunings have more than one scale and names, and that the relative relations are transposed (i.e. the do note is shifted to the appropriate string) in accordance with Chinese music theory. There can be several different names for a single tuning, and some even overlap, creating confusion. The table below uses the most common name for the tuning and lists the variants. Note: This list is not exhaustive. References Please see: References section in the guqin article for a full list of references used in all qin related articles. Footnotes Personal correspondence with John Thompson (27 October 2005). "Today in China some people are arguing that the first string should be tuned to C (thus in standard tuning the 5th string is A), but there is no historical basis for this. [...] "tuned up to the standard pitch (5th string at A) without breaking" is misleading. There was no standard pitch for traditional qin music; if there was for Chinese music in general, this would change, as it has in the West. Today standard A may be 440 vib/sec but in the Baroque period it was a half or whole tone lower." Li, Xiangting. Guqin Shiyong Jiaocheng 【古琴实用教程】. Page 105. Lieberman, Fredric. A Chinese Zither Tutor: The Mei-an Ch'in-p'u. Pages 29–34. Yang, Zongji. Qinxue Congshu 【琴學叢書】. Volume 8, folio 2, leaves 18-21. External links silkqin.com with much information about Guqin tunings T