INTRODUCTION

TO VIETNAMESE MUSIC

                     by Nguyễn Vĩnh Bảo                                                       

Page   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  

 

The “Nhac Tai Tu” is a popular and virile music which that offers great pleasure to anyone who listens to it and who also learns what to listen for in it. By understanding some of the aesthetics and formal principles of such music, one can develop a true respect for those Vietnamese musicians who created it.

THE INSTRUMENTS

• The Ðàn Tranh - Zither

  It is difficult to tell the original character of the Vietnamese Dan Tranh, which seems quite distinct from that of imported Chinese Zheng.

  The standard length of the common Ðàn Tranh is 95 centimeters. It has 16 brass or steel strings upheld by sixteen movable bridges (also called swallows or horses) and is tuned by means of sixteen wooden pegs. The musician adjusts the pitch of the notes by moving these bridges in both directions.

  The said common 16-stringed Ðàn Tranh had disappeared since the appearance of those with 17, 19 and 21 strings, which were Nguyen Vinh Bao’s innovation in 1950. Nguyen Vinh Bao has spent several years in trying to improve and perfect the Vietnamese Zither without deforming or denaturing it.

  In Vietnam, the Zither is used sparingly in most traditional music, and is the ladies’ favorite lute. The crystal clear timbre of its metal strings, its delicate movements, and subtle execution give the instrument its feminine character.

  Traditionally, the strings are plucked with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. In recent years, many other techniques have been added.

• The Ðàn Nguyêt or Ðàn Kìm - moon shaped-lute
  

  The sound-body of this 2 nylon-stringed lute has the shape of a full moon. Its long handle bears 8 high keys in bamboo called “phím dàn”. The traditional musician can get as many as four notes from a single keyboard which requires a natural talent backed by at least ten years of practice

• The ñàn BÀu or ñàn Ƕc huyŠn - the monochord
  

  This one-stringed lute is of ancient origin. Similar ones can be found under the name Ichi-genkin in Japan, Gopiyantra in India and Sadiou in Cambodia. The manner of playing of the Vietnamese monochord differs completely from that of the Japanese, Indian, Cambodian musicians. The Vietnamese musician plays harmonic sound and alters its tautness by acting upon the buffalo horn rod with the left hand to obtain modulation far superior to that of a Hawaiian guitar.