姚先生原名濟良，一九二一年一月十日生於浙江杭州，在癌症病魔的苦纏下，終於一九八三年三月十八日，結束了他六十二年的短暫人生。自幼受庭訓薰陶，熱愛絲竹之樂，青年時代因聽二弟習彈汪建侯所授《陽關三疊》及《石上流泉》二曲，遂受啟蒙，自行摸索按彈，興趣益增。一九四七年姚丙炎以熱誠求學之態，拜浙派著名琴家徐元白先生門下，獲益之深，對他日後從事「打譜」工作奠定了堅實的基礎。一九五一年，姚丙炎舉家遷居上海，與滬上琴人相往還，並參加了今虞琴社的活動，應吳振平先生倡議整理出《琴曲鉤沉》系列。其琴學之重要著述還有《唐陳拙論古琴指法》及其一百二十五條注釋；《唐宋元五家指法釋注》；《琴曲統計》；《古琴指法》……等等，均在國內外有一定影響。
YAO Bing-yan
YAO Bing-yan was born on January 10, 1921 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province and had finished his 62 years live by cancer on March 18, 1983 in Shanghai. His first name was Ji-liang. When he was young, he loved string and woodwind instruments deeply by the influences of his brother. In 1947, he learned the qin from XU Yuan-bai of the new Zhejiang School. In 1951, YAO Bing-yan and his family moved to Shangahi and settled down there. He then joined the Jinyu Qin Musicians Association and made friends overthere. Encouraged by WU Zhen-ping, he started his transcription of qin scores and ready for publishing. Besides, he has written many important writings on his researching in qin music.