The ''đàn đáy'' (

Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters ('' Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represent ...

: 彈𡌠)is a Vietnamese plucked lute with three strings, a trapezoidal wooden body, and a very long wooden neck with ten raised frets. Players formerly used

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

strings, but since the late 20th century have generally used

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

Usage

It is used primarily in Northern Vietnam, and is one of the accompanying instruments used in ''

ca trù ''Ca trù'' (, , "tally card songs"), also known as hát cô đầu or hát nói, is a Vietnamese genre of musical storytelling performed by a featuring female vocalist, with origins in northern Vietnam. For much of its history, it was associated ...

''. In the late 20th century, a modernized version of the

electric bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...

in the shape of the ''đàn đáy'' was developed for use in the neo-traditional music composed and performed at the Hanoi Conservatory. Unlike the ''đàn đáy'', this instrument has a solid wooden body and metal strings, and without raised frets.

Etymology

In the

Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national language, national and official language. Vietnamese is spoken natively by over 70 million people, ...

, ''đàn'' is a classifier used primarily to refer to string instruments, and ''đáy'' means "bottom." Thus, the instrument's name translates literally as "bottom string instrument." However, the instrument's body has no back. According to one online source, the instrument was originally called ''vô để cầm'', literally "bottomless stringed instrument."

Usage

Etymology

See also

References

External links

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