Vietnam
Vietnamese Folk Music
Lunar New Year - January 29
Meet the Artist: Van Anh
Reflection:
How many instruments did Van-Anh demonstrate?
How are Vietnamese instruments different or similar to instruments you might see at the symphony?
Vietnamese Folk Music
Vietnamese folk songs tell stories of life and traditions from different regions of Vietnam and are accompanied by traditional Vietnamese instruments. Each song has a beautiful musical story of the Vietnamese people and may be as much as 4,000 years old. They began in northern Vietnam by the ancient Viet people and spread south as the Viet kings and queens acquired more land. Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam are three of the main historical, geographical, and cultural regions within Vietnam. The Vietnamese language is tonal, and the music of the various regions of Vietnam are distinguished by the subtle differences in the accents, grace notes, and use of vibrato.
Vân-Ánh was born in Hanoi, Vietnam (in Northern Vietnam), and has been surrounded by music since childhood. She began playing music at age four, and her first instrument was the đàn Tranh (zither). Now, Vân-Ánh collaborates with musicians across different musical genres, bringing Vietnamese folk music to new audiences while preserving her cultural legacy. The richness of traditional music inspires her to explore, learn, share, and celebrate people’s differences and uniqueness.
Learning “Ho Hui Hue"
“Hò Hụi Huế” is a Central Vietnamese folk song about working on the land together to build a better future for all! The song “Hò Hụi Huế” creates an opportunity for everyone to come together and make work festive, fun, and in rhythm with each other. One person starts to sing, and everyone joins in together!
"Ho Hui Hue" music and lyrics
Create a working dance to Ho Hui Hue
• Agriculture is the art or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock. Vietnam is an agricultural country, and this work is highly labor intensive.
• Create a working dance to “Hò Hụi Huế” by choosing an agricultural activity such as planting, tilling the soil, harvesting, or gathering to go along with the chorus!
• Brainstorm imaginary objects you can use as part of your work such as a hoe, a rake, or a basket for holding food.
• Next, have your students stand in line.
• Based on your activity of choice, create arm, hand, and foot motions to perform as a group.
• Next, put the motions together, and move around the classroom working together in rhythm by “taking care of the land.”
• Have your students experiment with making their own modifications to the steps and arm motions. They can do whatever feels natural to move as a unit.
• You may also experiment with students doing different activities and keeping them in rhythm together!
• As you move together, students should begin to sing less and move more, bringing joy and happiness to the
team of workers!
• Now, put it all together by having the groups respond to one another! Then ask the groups to switch parts.
Refection:
What is the purpose or message of the “Ho Hui Hue”?
Explore Call and Response in “Hò Hụi Huế”
•In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first.
• Listen to the melody of the call and the response section in verse 3, using “Hò Hụi Huế” call and response melody.
• Use “Hò Hụi Huế” call and response pronunciation to learn the words of the call and response.
• Split your class into two groups to sing the call and response.
Vietnamese Traditional Instruments
Learn about the instruments used in traditional Vietnamese folk music, which often depend on the everyday objects people can find in their homes and villages. (You can help your students go deeper into this concept with the activity “Discover Music in Everyday Objects” on TG11). The song “Hò Hụi Huế” uses the Vietnamese T’rưng, Trống, đàn Tranh, Sanh Tiền, and Chén. The song “Cô Đôi Thượng Ngàn” in Lesson 2 uses the T’rưng, Trống, dàn Bầu, andđàn Tranh.
• T’rưng: Similar to the xylophone but vertical, this instrument consists of a set of bamboo bars of increasing length that rest on a resonator and traditionally played by striking with a wooden mallet.
• Sanh Tiền: The Vietnamese “coin clapper” is made from three pieces of wood with old coins attached to create a tambourine-like rattling sound.
• Trống: The “double-headed cow drum” is made from a double head barrel made of cow skin and jack fruit tree wood, and is usually played with sticks or hands.
• đàn Bầu: The “monochord” is a one string instrument originally made of animal gut strings and bamboo trunk. This instrument is unique to Vietnam and has a sound like the human voice.
Chén: Two handle-less porcelain teacups held together between the fingers of the player and rattled quickly together to make a percussion-like sound.
• đàn Tranh: The “zither” consists of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or with fingertips.
Reflection: What objects from your home can you turn into an instrument?
Celebration:
Lunar New Year
January 29
The Lunar New Year takes place on the first new moon of the calendar year and is celebrated by billions of people all over the world.
Learning "Co Doi Thuong Ngan"
The title of the song “Cô Đôi Thượng Ngàn” literally means “Queen of the Forest,” and it is a Northern Vietnamese folk song that celebrates the Queen of the Forest who rules all of the land.
In an old Vietnamese tale, the Queen of the Forest was born a princess of the Vietnamese mountain god. Beautiful, powerful, smart, and strong, the princess was chosen by the former queen to be her protégé and taught magic that enabled the princess to take care of those who suffered from sickness. The princess became a beautiful fairy who lived high in the snowcapped mountains and forests, as an immortal character, and was responsible for looking after everyone who needed help. Because of her sympathetic heart, she continues to be worshiped as a heroine, spiritual character, and mother to all.
This song is performed at ceremonies and festivals such as New Year’s celebrations, folk festivals, rituals at temple, or even at home. Wherever it is sung, people pay respect to the Queen of the Forest in between each verse by calling out words and phrases of appreciation for her support and guidance as the spiritual mother of Vietnamese civilization!
Co Doi Thuong Ngan music and lyrics
