The đàn lục huyền 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 ...
: 彈六絃琴) (literally "lute with six strings"), or colloquially đàn ghi-ta phím lõm (literally ghi-ta "guitar", + phím "fret", + lõm "sunken"), is a scalloped Vietnamese adaptation of the French guitar.
The guitar, or ghi-ta, was adopted by Vietnamese musicians during the 19th Century. However, in order to adapt a western guitar to the deep pressing on the strings necessary for Vietnamese music the
fingerboard
The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...
- the wood of the neck between the
fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical inst ...
s - was scooped out to ease the pressing. This carving out of the fingerboard is what gives the distinctive scalloped appearance to the six-string ''đàn lục huyền cầm''. This form of guitar is commonly used in
cải lương
''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as ''Cải lương'' (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, ''h ...
or "Southern Reformed Theater."
[Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo ''World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'' The Rough Guide - Volume 2 - Page 265 2000 "Because of the anti-religious stance of the Vietnamese government until 1986, the style was practised in secret, though some pieces were adapted for inclusion in state-sponsored cheo theatre." "... the đàn lục huyền cầm, a regular guitar with a fingerboard scalloped to allow for wider pitch bends."] In the modern day, it has been included in
Chầu văn
Hát chầu văn (, chữ Nôm: 喝朝文), or in secular form hát văn (喝文),Dale Alan Olsen, ''Popular music of Vietnam: the politics of remembering'', 2008. p 278. index "chầu văn, ..." several entries. is a traditional folk art of north ...
music. Traditionally, acoustic guitars are used, but electric guitars are increasingly popular in the modern day.
Some guitarists will use
artificial harmonic
Artificiality (the state of being artificial, anthropogenic, or man-made) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotati ...
s in order to imitate the sound of the
Đàn bầu
The ''đàn bầu'' (; "gourd zither"; Chữ Nôm: ), 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 (o ...
.
References
External links
Page with pictures of the scooped out neck. Text in VietnameseA video of a traditional ensemble where the guitarist does multiple techniques, including the imitation of a Dan Bau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guitar phim lom
Vietnamese musical instruments
Guitars