When playing the boue, you can take a standing or sitting position, put the strap on your left shoulder, hang the body diagonally on your chest, place the piano case on your right belly, tilt the head to the upper left, and support the stem with your left hand. The index finger and middle finger are used to press the strings, and the ring finger and little finger are also occasionally used.

The tuning of the boue varies according to the different pieces of music played. Generally, the strings are moderately tight and the sound effect is good.

There are more than ten kinds of tuning methods. The commonly used tunings are: a, c1, e1, a1; a, c1, g1, a1; a1, c2, a1, d2; g1, c2, d1, d2; c1, e1, g1, a1; #c1, e1, #f1, #g1; g, c1, e1, g1; a, e1, a1, e2; #f1, b, #c1, a1, etc.

The tone is round and bright, slender and sweet. Regardless of the tuning, the melody can be played on the lower two strings, the upper two strings, or the middle two strings, and the other two strings serve as chord accompaniment.

The left fingering techniques include hitting, banding and strumming, and the right-hand techniques include strumming, picking and strumming. It is often used for solo, unison, ensemble or as folk song and dance accompaniment. Both men and women can play, and can sing or dance while playing.