đàn Bầu
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''đàn bầu'' (; "gourd zither";
Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented by new characters ...
: ), also called ''độc huyền cầm'' (獨絃琴, "one-string zither"; the name is only used by the Jing ethnicity in China) is a Vietnamese stringed instrument, in the form of a
monochord A monochord, also known as sonometer (see below), is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument, involving one (mono-) string ( chord). The term ''monochord'' is sometimes used as the class-name for any musical stringed instrument ...
(one-string) zither.


History

While the earliest written records of the ''đàn bầu'' date its origin to 1770, scholars estimate its age to be up to one thousand years older than that. A popular legend of its beginning tells of a blind woman playing it in the market to earn a living for her family while her husband was at war. Whether this tale is based in fact or not, it remains true that the ''đàn bầu'' has historically been played by blind musicians. Until recent times, its soft volume limited the musical contexts in which it could be used. The ''đàn bầu'', played solo, is central to Vietnamese folk music, a genre still popular today in the country. Its other traditional application is as an accompaniment to poetry readings. With the invention of the
magnetic pickup A pickup is an electronic device that converts energy from one form to another that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these t ...
, the usage of the ''đàn bầu'' spread to ensembles and also to contemporary Asian pop and rock music. Now, electronics designed for the electric guitar are sometimes employed with the ''đàn bầu'' to further expand its tonal palette.


Construction

Originally, the ''đàn bầu'' was a
tube zither The tube zither is a stringed musical instrument in which a tube functions both as an instrument's neck and its soundbox. As the neck, it holds strings taut and allows them to vibrate. As a soundbox, it acoustic resonance, modifies the sound and ...
, made of just four parts: a bamboo tube, a wooden rod, a coconut shell half, and a silk string. The string was strung across the bamboo, tied on one end to the rod, which is perpendicularly attached to the bamboo. The coconut shell was attached to the rod, serving as a
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 reso ...
. In present days, the bamboo has been replaced by a wooden soundboard, with hardwood as the sides and softwood as the middle. An electric guitar string has replaced the traditional silk string. While the gourd is still present, it is now generally made of wood, acting only as a decorative feature. Also, most ''đàn bầu'' now have modern tuning machines, so the base pitch of the string can be adjusted. Usually, the instrument is tuned to one octave below
middle C C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63  Hz. The actual frequency has d ...
, about 131 Hz, but it can be tuned to other notes to make it easier to play in keys distant from C.


Playing

The ''đàn bầu'' technique appears relatively simple at first glance, but actually requires a great deal of precision. The fifth finger of the musician's right hand rests lightly on the string at one of seven commonly used nodes, while the thumb and index finger pluck the string using a long plectrum. The nodes are the notes of the first seven
overtone An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...
s, or
flageolet __NOTOC__ The flageolet is a woodwind instrument and a member of the family of fipple, duct flutes that includes Recorder (musical instrument), recorders and tin whistles. There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four fing ...
s, similar to guitar harmonics at the string positions above the
octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
(1/2), the
perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval f ...
(2/3), the
perfect fourth A fourth is a interval (music), musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending int ...
(3/4), the
just major third Just or JUST may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Just" (song), 1995, by Radiohead * ''Just!'', Australian author Andy Griffiths' children's story collections * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just", a 2005 song on ''Lost and Found ...
(4/5), the just minor third (5/6) and two tones not present on the Western musical scale: the
septimal minor third Septimal may refer to: *Septimal chromatic semitone, the interval 21:20, about 84.47 cents *Septimal comma, a small musical interval in just intonation divisible by 7 *Septimal diatonic semitone, the interval 15:14, about 119.44 cents *S ...
(6/7) and the
septimal whole tone In music, the septimal whole tone, septimal major second, supermajor second, or septimal supermajor second is the musical interval exactly or approximately equal to an 8/7 ratio of frequencies.Andrew Horner, Lydia Ayres (2002). ''Cooking with ...
(7/8). With the left hand, the player pushes the flexible rod toward the instrument with the index finger to lower the pitch of the note, or pushes it away from the instrument with the thumb to raise the pitch. This technique is used to play notes not available at a node, or to add vibrato to any note.


Related instruments

The '' dúxiánqín'' ( Sino-Vietnamese: độc huyền cầm; Chinese: 獨絃琴) is essentially the same instrument but given a Mandarin name, played by the
Jing people The Gin, or Jing people, (, Sino-Vietnamese: ''Kinh tộc''; ) are a community of descendants of ethnic Vietnamese people living in China. They mainly live in an area called the Jing Islands (京族三岛), off the coast of Dongxing, Fangchengg ...
in China, who are ethnically Vietnamese. The instrument was introduced to China when the Jing Islands off the coast of
Dongxing, Guangxi Dongxing () is a county-level city within Fangchenggang, Guangxi, China, on the border with Móng Cái, Vietnam. The city spans an area of 549 square kilometers, and has a population of approximately 130,000 as of 2011. History During the Mạ ...
were ceded to China by France. The Mường people play an instrument called "Đàn Máng" or "Tàn Máng", which is virtually identical to acoustic ''đàn bầu'' forms.


References


External links


Đàn bầu page



Video


Đàn bầu instructional video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan bau Box zithers Just tuning and intervals Monochords Vietnamese musical instruments Vietnamese inventions Tube zithers