Leiqin

Made of brass and wood, the leiqin is covered with snakeskin and has a long fretless fingerboard. The two strings pass over a small bridge that is placed on the snakeskin, near the top edge. A mobile unit called a shankou holds the strings in place.^[1]

The leiqin is played while the player is seated in a chair, with the instrument's body resting in his or her lap and held in a vertical or near-vertical position. Unlike the erhu and other instruments in the huqin family, the strings are touched against the fingerboard in the same technique as the sanxian. Players use a leg rest, typically made of solid wood with a smooth, flat bottom. Leg rests especially aid beginners who may not have exact control over their playing pressure.^[2]

Wang Dianyu, a traditional folk musician from Shandong, created the leiqin in the late 1920s.^[1] It was adapted from an earlier traditional instrument called zhuihu.

• Zhuihu
• Huqin
• Kokyū
• Music of China
• Traditional Chinese musical instruments
• String instruments