Vietnamese Traditional Music

 Hi everyone ! I hope so far you have all enjoyed my blogs and this class altogether because I did. For my final blog I wanted to do something we didn't cover in class and I found Vietnamese traditional music. Looking this topic up was actually easier than I thought, I thought it was going to be a lot harder. I am excited to present this as my last blog, so enjoy it !

History of Vietnamese Music 

Unlike some cultures, Vietnamese dates back to ancient times like the 15th century. Now there are different types of Vietnamese music relating to locations like Southern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, and Northern Vietnam. I'll be covering only Northern Vietnam sections, feel free to research the others. But more on the history and influences on Vietnamese music. As I mentioned above, Vietnam music dates back a long time, but it still has a large impact with their community. People consider it a daily aspect of their lives, and used in everyday actions too. They still use it for children's birthdays, worship rituals, funerals, singing contests, and everyday conversations. The community members have created instruments, and even songs to express certain feelings or to relieve stress for their work days. Vietnam music has about 54 ethnic groups within their music itself, or more so 54 influences. Like for example the lullaby of Kinh had Thai influences. For the record the group of Vietnamese people called Kinh makes up about 85% of Vietnamese music all together. There are genres within Vietnamese music like Cheo, Tuong, Xam singing, Don ca tai tu, folk songs, Ca Tru, and royal family music. While nowadays in Vietnam its very common for artist to still use traditional elements like the instruments such as the dan bau (Vietnamese monochord), the dan co (Vietnamese erhu), the dan day, the dan nguyet (moon lute), and so on.

The Vietnamese People

Northern Vietnam Instruments 

Now there are all different types of instruments like Sao Truc (Bamboo Flute), Ken Bau (Obeos), Dan Bau (Monochord), Dan Nhi (Two Fiddle), and Dan Day. The two instruments that I'll be going over are the Ken Bau, and the Dan Nhi. The Dan Nhi is a Vietnamese two fiddle, which has appeared in Vietnamese music for a very long time. The instrument is made up of bamboo or wood which is fitted with horse string. Its a vertical violin with a large handle, sound box, and held like a small cello. While the role of the Dan Nhi is usually in the orchestras and solos, its often used in modern music as well in Vietnam. Next is the Ken Bau, which by far is my favorite instrument I've discovered so far. The Ken Bau has a detachable bell made from jackfruit wood that's carved into the shape of a gourd. The playing reed at the very top is a fitted small brass tube that leads to the small double reed. The trumpet can be classified into any sound like loud, medium, and even small just depends on how you play the instrument. The actual sound of the Ken Bau is very strong and high-pitched so only the men in the community play this instrument. The instrument is highly used at weddings, funerals, celebrations, and in Vietnamese court music. They say this instrument is greatly good at getting the emotions across the room from reaching happiness all the way to sadness. Below I inserted a video of the Ken Bau being played, as you can tell from the video its a very unusual instrument, enjoy !!

Vietnamese Artist

For my last paragraph I wanted to include some artists from today and back then. Now there are many talented Vietnamese artists out there but I've decided to go with these three women here. There names are Như Quỳnh, Min (Nguyễn Minh Hằng), and Suboi. The reason I chose these three women is because they represent three different types of genre when it comes to Vietnamese music. Như Quỳnh is more of a traditional singer while Min is a pop vocalist and Suboi is a rapper. I wanted to represent different genres when it came to Vietnam music, now let's talk about Như Quỳnh. Như Quỳnh is a Vietnamese traditional singer, who is currently 51 years olds (but certainly does not look like it.) She started her journey in her childhood performing at musicals, and performances at school. She performed on variety shows in Asia. She most recognized for her vocals for being "sweet, clear and blissful voice." Next on my list is Min, she is a 31 year old Vietnamese pop artist. She debuted on December 18th with her song Lost, she originally part of a dance cover group but left due to personal issues. She's won many awards such as Zing Music Awards- Song of the year (2017), Keeng Young Awards- Song Collaboration (2017), and We Choice Awards- Top 10 Inspiration Characters (2017). She was one of the first female Vietnamese artists to have 3 music videos with over 100 million views. As I said earlier, she has a lot of pop elements in her music but importantly she stands original with her Vietnamese language in her songs. She's my personal favorite out of all of the three right now. Now lastly we will talk about Suboi, she's also a 31 year old Vietnamese rapper. Now what makes her different from all the artists I've mentioned is that she was the first female rapper of her country and is successful. She's considered the queen of hip/hop in Vietnam, which is pretty cool in my opinion. She always had a love for music from the age of 14, and after some events occurred in her life at the age of 20 she decided to debut. Now I will admit it took her a bit to grow big but by the age of 30 everyone knew her as the queen of rap. She raps completely in her native language, and produces her own songs. I hope you enjoy this section the most because I certainly did. I put a link in this paragraph if you wanted to listen to more of the artist, thank you !

Như Quỳnh

Min

Suboi

Cited Sources :

Thu, Ha. “Suboi: From Victim of Violence to Vietnamese Queen of Rap - VnExpress International.” VnExpress International – Latest News, Business, Travel and Analysis from Vietnam, VnExpress International, 24 Sept. 2020, https://e.vnexpress.net/news/life/culture/suboi-from-victim-of-violence-to-vietnamese-queen-of-rap-4163217.html. 

STARL1GHTI listen to anything as long as I'm vibing with it...A.C.E best boys.*A new Comeback page will be up on the 25th of every month*, and STARL1GHT. “Min Profile & Facts (Updated!).” Kpop Profiles, 29 Nov. 2020, https://kprofiles.com/min-profile/. 

“Như Quỳnh (Singer).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nh%C6%B0_Qu%E1%BB%B3nh_%28singer%29. 

“Vietnamese Traditional Musical Instruments.” Indochina Tours, 8 Jan. 2019, https://www.indochina.tours/vietnamese-traditional-musical-instruments/. 

“Dan Nhi (Vietnamese Two-Chord Fiddle: What It Is.” Vietnam Discovery Travel, 22 Feb. 2021, https://vietnamdiscovery.com/culture-arts/dan-nhi-vietnamese-two-chord-fiddle/. 

“8 Unique Vietnamese Traditional Musical Instruments - History & Culture.” Vietnam Vacation, 31 Aug. 2020, https://www.vietvisiontravel.com/post/8-unique-vietnamese-musical-instruments/. 

“10 Traditional Vietnamese Musical Instruments.” Loud Beats, 3 Sept. 2021, https://loudbeats.org/instruments/vietnamese-musical-instruments/#10-ken-bau.