TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS
Experience the sounds of Traditional Vietnamese musical instruments.
Traditional Vietnamese musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Vietnam. They comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments, used by both the Viet (Kinh) majority as well as the nation’s ethnic minorities.
Plucked
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Đàn bầu – monochord zither
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Đàn đáy – long-necked three-stringed lute with trapezoidal body
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Đàn nguyệt (also called nguyệt cầm or đàn kìm) – moon-shaped two-string lute
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Đàn sến – two-string lute
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Đàn tam – fretless lute with snakeskin-covered body and three strings
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Đàn tranh – long zither
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Đàn tỳ bà – pear-shaped lute with four strings
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Đàn đoản (also called đàn tứ) – moon-shaped lute with short neck; little used
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Guitar phím lõm (also called lục huyền cầm or ghi-ta phím lõm) – “Vietnamized” acoustic or electric guitar with scalloped fretboard; used primarily in cải lương
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Đàn tứ dây – bass guitar in the shape of a đàn đáy
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Cầm – 7-stringed zither equivalent to the Chinese guqin; no longer used
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Sắt – zither with 25 strings equivalent to the Chinese se; no longer used
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Đàn tính – long-necked lute with a gourd body and two or three silk strings; used by the Tay, Nung, and Thai ethnic groups
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Bro – fretted zither with a body made of bamboo and a gourd resonator; used by minority ethnic groups in the Central Highlands
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Goong – tube zither with a bamboo body; used by minority ethnic groups in the Central Highlands
Bowed
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Đàn gáo – two-stringed vertical violin with coconut resonator
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Đàn hồ – two-stringed vertical violin with wooden resonator; hồ derives from Chinese hu, as in huqin)
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Đàn nhị – two-stringed vertical violin
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K’ni (also spelled k’ny or k’ný) – one-string vertical violin; played by the Jarai people of the Central Highland
Struck
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Đàn tam thập lục – hammered dulcimer with 36 metal strings
Wind
Flutes
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Sáo (also called sáo trúc) – transverse flute made of bamboo or hardwood
Oboes
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Kèn – lass of double reed instruments similar to the oboe and shehnai
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Kèn bầu – conical oboe with gourd-shaped wooden bell
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Kèn đám ma – conical oboe with metal bell; used for funeral music in northern Vietnam
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Free reed mouth organs
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Đing nǎm – free-reed mouth organ with gourd body and bamboo pipes; played by upland minorities
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M’buot – free-reed mouth organ with gourd body and bamboo pipes; played by upland minorities
Horns
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Púa – valveless brass trumpet[citation needed]
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Ốc “snail” – conch trumpet[citation needed]
Drums
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Trống – drum played with sticks
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Trống cái – bass drum
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Trống chầu or trống đế – the largest of the set of drums used in Hát tuồng.
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Trống cơm – rice drum
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Trống đồng (also called trống đồng Đông Sơn) – bronze drum played by the Dong Son culture in ancient times
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Nruas tuag (also called Ư chua – drum used by the Hmông ethnic group for funeral music
Tuned percussion
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Cồng chiêng – tuned gong (comes in both flat and knobbed varieties)
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Tam âm la – set of three small, high-pitched flat gongs in a frame; used primarily in nhã nhạc music
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T’rưng – bamboo xylophone
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Đàn đá – lithophone, commonly having 9+ stone bars, 65cm-102cm in length. It is believed the instrument dates back to 1000 BC. Also called Goong Lú (M’nong people), Kologolo (M’nong people), Gôông Luk (Mạ people).
Untuned percussion
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Sênh tiền – coin clapper
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Song loan – woodblock