Keyboard reference · Desktop play
The guzheng keyboard map
All 21 strings sit on one continuous run of keys: the Tab row, then the Delete / End / Page Down block, then the top of the numpad. Turn your keyboard on its side and the run matches the strings on screen — low at the top-left, high at the bottom-right.
The map
Coloured keys are strings, tinted with the same colour the string carries on screen. The large digit is the jianpu number; dots above or below mark the octave.
- One of the 21 strings
- Shift — hold for tremolo (摇指)
- Space — hold to press-bend (按音)
How to read it
- The run is continuous. Tab is the lowest string and numpad + the highest. There are no gaps to memorise — the order on the keyboard is the order on the instrument.
- Colours repeat every five keys.Red, orange, yellow, green, blue is one octave: jianpu 1 2 3 5 6. Once you know one octave, you know all four.
- Hold Shift while playing for a tremolo roll on that string.
- Hold Space while playing to press-bend the string up to the next tone of the scale. The green 3 and 6 keys reach 4 and 7 — the two jianpu numbers the tuning is missing.
- Turn the labels on in the app. The Keys switch prints each key on its string, and on the practice cues too, so you can stop looking down.
Laptops without a numpad reach the top four strings with the numpad emulation layer (usually Fn plus the 7 8 9 region). If your keyboard cannot send them at all, use the mouse for those four, or narrow the string range in the app so the strings you can reach fill the board.
Every string, in order
| String | Key | Jianpu | Pitch | Press-bends to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tab | 1 (•• below) | D2 | 2 |
| 2 | Q | 2 (•• below) | E2 | 3 |
| 3 | W | 3 (•• below) | F#2 | 4 |
| 4 | E | 5 (•• below) | A2 | 6 |
| 5 | R | 6 (•• below) | B2 | 7 |
| 6 | T | 1 (• below) | D3 | 2 |
| 7 | Y | 2 (• below) | E3 | 3 |
| 8 | U | 3 (• below) | F#3 | 4 |
| 9 | I | 5 (• below) | A3 | 6 |
| 10 | O | 6 (• below) | B3 | 7 |
| 11 | P | 1 | D4 | 2 |
| 12 | [ | 2 | E4 | 3 |
| 13 | ] | 3 | F#4 | 4 |
| 14 | \ | 5 | A4 | 6 |
| 15 | Del | 6 | B4 | 7 |
| 16 | End | 1 (• above) | D5 | 2 |
| 17 | PgDn | 2 (• above) | E5 | 3 |
| 18 | N7 | 3 (• above) | F#5 | 4 |
| 19 | N8 | 5 (• above) | A5 | 6 |
| 20 | N9 | 6 (• above) | B5 | 7 |
| 21 | N+ | 1 (•• above) | D6 | 2 |
All 21 strings are in D pentatonic tuning by default. The Tuning −/+ control transposes every string together, so the keys never move — only the pitch they produce.
Next
New to the instrument? Lesson 1 walks through the string layout with an exercise you can play straight away. Want to practise a piece? See the sheet JSON format.