Vietnam

Vietnam
== ==  Instruments: Đàn tranh (16/17 zither), đàn bầu (monochord), đàn tỳ bà (pear shaped 4 string almost guitar), đàn tam thục lục, đàn nhị/cò (2 strings played with a bow), sáo trúc (small flute), đàn đáy (3 strings plucked lute), đàn t'rưng (vẻtical bamboo xylophone), trống (drum), phách (ưood), sênh tiền….. There are 2 instruments that are more unique than the rest, and these are: đàn bầu (the monochord), and đàn đáy (3 strings plucked lu With the instruments above, traditional music is most commonly played in 2/4, 3/4, and 6/8 time. There are 3 main categories of Vietnamese traditional music, these are:  3 different trends:

+ Chèo ở miền bắc ( lới lơ, duên phận phải chiều….) Northern type of singing + Huế ở miền trung ( lưu thủy kim tiền, cổ bản dựng …) Central type of singing. + Cải lương ở nam bô ( vọng cổ, nam xuân, nam ai….) Southern type of singing.

There are different styles in every part/territory of vietnam, passed from generation to generation. Long time befor, when Vietnamese people didn’t have the habit of writing down music lyrics while working everyday, at night, in the cold winter, and during the full moon night in the summer, the old people sing to the young generation, and that’s why Vietnamese traditional music has not been extinct. From the songs, we can learn a lot about their life. A big part in life, and has a deep connection between generations. And understand a lot about the nation and country of Vietnam. Beside chèo, hiế, cải lương, there are a lot of types of traditional music, from ethinc people in the mountains, to the village on the ground near the ocean. There are hát bỏ bộ (style), dân ca quan họ bắc ninh (style) (folk songs), hát xoan…

A piece of music called: Tứ Dại Canh ( Cải lương, Sourthern type): media type="file" key="Tứ Đaị Cánh.mp3" width="240" height="20" Traditional music in the ancient times was used for religious ritual events, for the higher spirit, and to pray for good weather and harvest. Music was for everyone, from royal people, to the workers, funerals and weddings, and daily life. In ancient Vietnamese life, music appeared in everywhere. The traditional music in history have different levels depending on the audience. There was royal music for the royal family, and folk music for everyone. Many things come and go in history, and Vietnamese traditional music crossed a bit with Chinese, Cambodian, Champa, and some more. This can be seen in the lyrics, as well as the instruments. The instruments for the ancient Vietnamese mainly based on 8 materials. Mộc = wood, thạch = stone, thổ = earth, cách = Skin/hide, trúc = bamboo, ti = silk, kim = metal, bào = dried fruit (dried squash). It is written based on the ngũ cung gam/scale, 5 notes in the scale. Ex: Hò, Xự, Xang, Xê, Cống. Ex: Do, Re, Fa, Son, La, Do. Ex: C, D, F, G, A, C.

A piece of music called: Văn Thiên Tường (Huế, Central type): media type="file" key="Vạn Thiên Tướng.mp3" width="240" height="20"

The Vietnamese traditional music have their own unique characteristics, in instruments, this would be đàn bầu, monochord, đàn đáy, 3 string plucked lute. Singing styles: hát ca trù, (aka: ả đào/hát nhà tơ/nhà ti), these styles are known to UNESCO, and are in danger of being extinct.

A piece of music called: Tò Vò (Chèo, Northern type): media type="file" key="Tò Vò.mp3" width="240" height="20"

There are 4 main styles/moods of music: Hơi bắc: In the North, strong, and the color of the music is bright. Hơi nam: In the South, music color softer, slower, a bit sad. Hơi xuân: Spring kind of music, cheerful, happy, fast tempo, lively. Hơi ai: Sad kinds of songs, sad color, sorrow, reminiscing, usually for funerals and sad love broken heart stories…

Works Cited: Lược sử âm nhạc Việt Nam. Author̉: Thụy Loan. Mom. Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Hường, traditional music teacher from the military music collage. [] []

By: Veronica