The đàn tam (chữ Nôm: 彈三) is a three-stringed ("tam" means "three")
fretless plucked
Vietnamese musical instrument. It has a long
fingerboard, and the body is traditionally partially covered by a snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...
. It is similar to the Chinese
sanxian
The (, literally "three strings") is a three-stringed traditional Chinese lute. It has a long fretless fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several siz ...
. It is used in
tuồng theatre.
[Leiter, Samuel L. (2007). ''Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: Vol. 1, A-N'', p.448. . "In tuong, the orchestra leads the action, using several drum types (trong cau, trong com, and trong chien), clackers, slit drum, two-string violin (don co), three-string lute (dam tam), flutes, reed instruments (cay ken), gong, and cymbals (chap ..."]
References
Vietnamese musical instruments
String instruments
{{Composite-instrument-stub