Introduction


Introduction: What is Vietnamese Music?

From the Encyclopedia of Vietnamese Music at PBwiki.  

 

 

Việt Nam is the most

easterly country in

Southeast Asia.

 

 

Vietnamese music (nhạc Việt Nam) is the body of music with its origins in Vietnam, a small country in Southeast Asia. In most cases, this refers to the music originating in the culture of the ethnic majority, the "Kinh" people (người kinh), but can also be used to address the music of any of the numerous ethnic minorities including the Montagnard/Degar, Tày, Chàm, etc.. This article will deal mostly with the music of the ethnic majority, unless otherwise specified.

 


 

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Background

 

Geography, History, and Influences

 

Although Vietnam is geographically part of Southeast Asia, ten centuries of rule by the Chinese to the north have made the culture much closer to the Sino-Japanese family (typically referred to as the "Far East") than to its Southeast Asian neighbors. Thus, early Vietnamese musical theory was either based upon or adapted to the prevailing Chinese theory, and the majority of instruments used in the royal court were of Chinese origin. 1

 

Nonetheless, other influences can be seen arising from contact with the ethnic minorities, such as the Chàm or Montagnard peoples. Similarly, possibly due to interaction with the other countries of Southeast Asia or even direct contact, Vietnamese music shows signs of Indian influences, prevalent in the improvisation preludes of chamber music (known as rao in the South and dạo in the north) as well as usage of onomatopeia in drum playing. 1

 

Unique Features

Despite early and continuous influence by China throughout Vietnam's growth and subsequent independence, the country's music quickly developed a character altogether unique. Although the majority of instruments used were still Chinese in basic shape, modifications separated them from their Chinese cousins. Court music began to be more influenced by the folk music of the countryside, creating new interpretations of musical theory, and the Vietnamese people also began experimenting with creating their own instruments, developing such innovations as the đàn bầu and đàn đáy.

 

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Major Instruments

See article: instruments

 

 

Masters Pham Duc Thanh

& Tran Van Khe on đàn bầu

& đàn tranh, respectively

 

Vietnamese instrumentation follows the same basic categories used in examining most musical traditions, with diversity of instruments ranging from idiophones (making sounds through the vibration of the actual instrument body), membranophones (making sounds through the vibration of a membrane), aerophones (making sounds through the vibration of a body/column of air), and chordophones (making sounds by the vibration of a string). (2)

 

The following is a brief listing of instruments commonly seen in the Vietnamese repertoire. Please see the Instrument Listing for a more comprehensive view. Articles for individual instruments will also have more details.

 

Idiophones

See article: idiophone

 

 

 

Membranophones

See article: membranophone

 

 

Aerophones

See article: aerophone

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chordophones

See article: chordophone

 

 

 

 

 

Master Trần Quang Hải

playing đàn nhị

 

 

 

 

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Major Genres

See Index: Genres

 

 

Traditional & Folk Music

See article: cổ nhạc, dân nhạc

 

Vietnamese traditional music can be separated into a few major categories, divided predominately by the way in which they are (or were) used in the people's cultural lives. Typically, the term "traditional music" itself refers to music with a purely Vietnamese origin, but because of the ability of Vietnamese music to adapt other traditions or cultures for its own use, it can also be used to refer to newly created music with a tendency towards a traditional or folk sound. An example of this behavior might be nhạc tài tử, a southern Vietnamese chamber style that in modern days incorporates a modified western guitar with deep grooves cut between the frets, called lục huyền cầm, as a principle rhythm instrument.

 

The following is a brief listing of major genres with descriptions1:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern Music

See article: tân nhạc

 

Modern Vietnamese music is heavily influenced and inspired by the pop culture of the West. The term tân nhạc itself means "new music," and is indicative of a movement away from strictly traditional sounds.

 

Post 1975, the musical cultures of overseas Vietnamese and those remaining in Vietnam went in markedly different directions. Under the direction of the Communist government, popular music in Vietnam was high nationalistic for a time, although Vietnam's recent economic growth has influenced its commercial music industry, which now boasts trendy stars and strong influences from international pop styles, notably Chinese and Korean.

 

Modern music can be broadly categorized into songs that are strictly pop, closely following the conventions of modern Western rock, pop, hiphop, etc., or the nostalgic songs known as nhạc quê hương3 ("music of the homeland"). These songs, especially popular among the older generation of overseas Vietnamese, utilize a folk sound within a modern Western framework. Such a folk sound can be emphasized in a number of ways, including the use of a regional dialect (songs such as Dem Tan Ben Ngu sung with a Huế accent), folk themes (such as harvesting grain or leaving home to get married), and traditional instruments in the arrangement.

 

Furthermore, many classic songs are constantly being remade or remixed in new styles 3. Therefore, popular songs from the older eras might be given various "treatments" by new composers and arrangers into dance music such as rumba, tango, cha cha, etc. New composers also experiment with R&B, hip-hop, and pop-ballad remixes.

 

Traditional/Modern hybrids

See article: tân cổ giao duyên

 

Although nhạc quê hương can be seen as a kind of hybrid musical style, the definitive meshing of traditional and popular music comes from the genre known as tân cổ giao duyen (tân meaning "modern" or "new," cổ meaning "old" or "ancient," and giao duyên meaning "to exchange charms or graces").

 

The creation of tân cổ giao duyên can be attributed to Bẩy Bá in Sàigòn in 19643. It combines vọng cổ, the central piece of cải lương opera with popular music. Therefore, whereas a more traditional cải lương piece might begin with a folk song such as "Lý Con Sáo" before entering into the first phrase of vọng cổ, a tân cổ song would begin with a song written in a pop style, such as a pop-ballad, before transitioning into vọng cổ.

 

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Sources

 

 

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See Also

 

 

 

 

 


 

Contributors: Mạc Vũ