Guqin
Qin pieces are usually around three to eight minutes in length, with the longest being "Guangling San" 《廣陵散》, which is 22 minutes long. Other famous pieces include "Liu Shui" 《流水》 (Flowing Water), "Yangguan San Die" 《陽關三疊》 (Three Refrains on the Yang Pass Theme), "Meihua San Nong" 《梅花三弄》 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom Theme), "Xiao Xiang Shui Yun" 《瀟湘水雲》 (Mist and Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers), and "Pingsha Luo Yan" 《平沙落雁》 (Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank). The average player can generally play around ten pieces from memory which they will aim to play very well, learning new pieces as and when they feel like it. Players mainly learn popular well studied versions, often using a recording as a reference. In addition to learning to play established or ancient pieces very well, highly skilled qin players may also compose or improvise, although the player must be very good and extremely familiar with the instrument to be successful at it.