Compared with the ku-cheng, which has 13 to 16 strings, each with two tones, the ku-ch'in has seven strings, each with 34 sounds. Just remembering where all the notes are requires considerable effort.
在學習上，若與古箏比較，箏十三弦到十六弦，每弦最多兩個音；而古琴七弦，每弦有卅四音，光是記這些音的位置就得花相當大的功夫。