After setting Chikkin on a stand and tuning three strings in the same way as Shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese banjo), it is played by holding the strings down with suikan (a green pipe) fitted on the middle finger of the left hand and plucking the strings with a diagonally-cut pick called otoritsume fitted on the forefinger of the right hand, in a similar manner to Yagumo-goto.
これを台の上に置き、三弦は三味線と同じように調律し、演奏法は八雲琴に似て左手中指に翠管をはめて弦を押さえ、右手人差し指に斜めに切った鳳爪という管をはめて弦を弾く。