The sanxian employs various tunings, and in most cases it adopts a method similar to niagari (raising the second string, originally a tuning method of the shamisen) or another method similar to hon-choshi (the main tuning, originally for the shamisen).
調弦法にはいろいろあるが、三味線でいう二上り、三味線の本調子に取ることがよくある。