The ''đàn nguyệt'' ( Vietnamese pronunciation: �ǎn ŋwiə̂ˀt"moon-shaped lute",

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 ...

: 彈月) also called ''nguyệt cầm'' (

Chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 月琴), ''đàn kìm'', is a two-stringed Vietnamese traditional musical instrument.The Garland handbook of Southeast Asian music - Page 262 Terry E. Miller, Sean Williams - 2008 "This lute is the only stringed instrument used to accompany ca trù singing. The đàn nguyệt or đàn kìm is a moon-shaped, long-necked lute with two silk strings (Figure 13.17). Though literary sources suggest that this instrument has an ..." It is used in folk and classical music and remains popular throughout Vietnam (although during the 20th century, many Vietnamese musicians increasingly gravitated toward the acoustic and electric guitar). It may be descended from the '' Ruan'' ( Chinese: 阮;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''ruǎn''), a Chinese instrument. The đàn nguyệt's strings, formerly made of twisted

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

, are generally made of

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

fishing line A fishing line is any flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed att ...

today. They are kept at a reasonably low tension compared to the guitar and other European plucked instruments. This, along with the instrument's raised frets, allows the important bending tones to interpret traditional Vietnamese music correctly. Such bending tones are produced by pressing the string toward the neck rather than bending to the side. The strings are generally plucked with a small plectrum; a plastic

guitar pick A guitar pick (American English) is a plectrum used for guitars. Picks are generally made of one uniform material, such as some kind of plastic (nylon, Delrin, celluloid), rubber, felt, Tortoiseshell material, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, ...

is often used. The instrument's standard Vietnamese name, ''đàn nguyệt'', literally means "moon string instrument" (''đàn'' is the generic term for "string instrument" and ''nguyệt'' means "moon"). Its alternate name, ''nguyệt cầm'', also means "moon string instrument" (''cầm'' meaning "string instrument" in Sino-Vietnamese, coming from the Chinese yuèqín, 月琴).

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''Đàn nguyệt'' video
Necked lutes Vietnamese musical instruments {{lute-stub

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