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: Daruan (大阮, lit. "large ruan"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)
- Contrabass: Diyinruan (低音阮, lit. "low pitched ruan"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)
The ruan is now most commonly used in Chinese opera and the Chinese orchestra, where it belongs to the plucked string (弹拨乐 or chordophone) section.
Read more about this topic: Ruan