When playing the big pipa of the Dong nationality, most of them are in a sitting position, with the piano box placed on the right leg, and the head of the piano tilted to the upper left. The left hand supports the piano rod and presses the strings to pick up the sound, and the right hand holds the pick to pluck the strings to sound.

Picks are made of old bamboo, horn or bone. The tuning of the big pipa of the Dong nationality, the three-stringed pipa has one note per string.

The timbre is thick and full, but also varies with the strings: silk strings are soft, steel strings are loud, and tendon strings are deep and thick. The outer strings are often used to play the melody, and other strings are used as the accompaniment of the empty strings, and the harmonic effect can also be obtained by double playing.

It is mostly used to accompany the narrative pipa songs of the Dong nationality, and is especially suitable for male accompaniment, often played and sung by the male. It can also be used for solo or as accompaniment to Dong opera. When accompanying long narrative songs, they are only used in intros and interludes, usually without accompaniment. When accompanying the big songs sung by the Dong chorus, the large pipa with a large piano box and beef tendon strings is often used.