When playing the horse bone hu, sit in a sitting position, place the qin barrel on the left leg or between the two knees, the qin bar is upright, the left hand holds the qin to press the strings, and the right hand holds the bow to play between the two strings.

Maguhu is usually tuned according to the relationship of fifths as a1, e2, and the sound range is a1-d4. Folk also often set the strings as: f1, c2; g1, d2; c1, g1; d1, a1.

The timbre of Maguhu is similar to Jinghu and softer, crisp and bright, the treble is sharper, and the bass is stronger. It is between Gaohu and Jinghu, but softer than Jinghu. When playing folk tunes, only the first position is used, and it is rarely changed.

Playing skills The left hand includes hit, appoggiance, and portamento, and the right hand includes forward bow, back bow, small jump bow, hit, appoggiance, portamento, and pause.

The horse bone hu is also an accompaniment instrument for folk songs such as folk songs and wave whistle songs, and Morun rap in Jingxi and Debao areas. In the folk, Maguhu has no solo music, but mostly plays instrumental ensemble, drama and folk tunes.

The tunes that Ma Gu Hu often plays include: "Zheng Tune", "Baban Tune", "Transition Tune", "Welcome to Guest Tune", "Moon Tune", "Eight-Tone Tune", "Sheng Tang Tune", "Happy Tune" ", "Bitterness", etc.