Ruan (instrument)
The ''ruan'' () is a Traditional Chinese musical instruments, traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern ''ruan'' has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory or in recent times of metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called ''ruanqin'', particularly in Taiwan. Sizes The ruan comes in a family of five sizes: *soprano: ''gaoyinruan'' (高音阮, lit. "high pitched ''ruan''"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5) *alto: ''xiaoruan'' (小阮, lit. "small ''ruan''"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4) *tenor: ''zhongruan'' (中阮, lit. "medium ''ruan''"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4) *bass (instrument), bass: ''daruan'' (大阮, l ...
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:Category:Chinese Words And Phrases
For articles on words and phrases related to a specific area of China, or to a specific Chinese spoken languages, spoken variant, please refer to one of the subcategories. Chinese language, Words Words and phrases by language {{CatAutoTOC ...
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