Categories: A Brief Overview

From the Encyclopedia of Vietnamese Music at PBwiki.

(links go to the Categorized Index)

• Cultural Context - These articles have little to do with Vietnamese music directly, but provide a framework by which one might begin to look at Vietnam from a broader perspective. Aspects such as history, religion, society, etc. all do much to contribute to the current state of Vietnamese music, traditional and otherwise, and these topics serve as a foundation for those with little to no exposure to Vietnam as a whole.

• Instruments - These are in-depth descriptions of Vietnamese instrumentation, including their basic construction, methods of playing, and genre-specific details.

• Genres - Traditional musical genres fall more-or-less into divisions of functionality, such as court music versus chamber music with further divisions based on region and styles. Modern music follows a Western pattern, with most music falling under the function of entertainment and divisions having more to do with style and interpretation.

• Biographies - Information about the important figureheads in Vietnamese music, traditional and modern, as well as information concerning newcomers to the scene.

• Musical History - These articles chronicle defining moments in Vietnamese musical history, from the creation of cải lương opera to the advent of ca trù style singing).

• Musical Theory - The most technical articles are contained here and will probably require a respectably high command of music theory. Articles may focus on general trends (e.g. Vietnamese modalism) or on very specific aspects (e.g. the sa mạc mode in particular).

• Songs & Repertoire - A listing and description of songs of all genres. Hopefully, this will eventually contain other media as well, such as audio of classic repertoire, video of pivotal performances, transcriptions of works, etc.).