Learning to play Vietnamese Dan Bau (monochord)

First very halting try at getting some sounds out of my new Dan Bau instrument from Vietnam. My teacher is Thanh Huy an accomplished Dan Bau player and teacher in Saigon. She is the sister of Pham Duc Thanh, a world-renowned Vietnamese traditional music instrumentalist. The Dan Bau works using harmonics, so you have to slightly dampen the string with part of your hand while plucking at the same time with the bamboo pick and lifting off. It's not easy!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• dan
• bau
• vietnam
• music
• traditional
• instrument

[meekwife]

i have one dan bau but i dont use it much ^^

[dundotter]

How many octaves can you play on a monochord? And is the purpose of that stick at the end just for pitch bending? Also, how do the Vietnamese "organize" their music?

Sorry for all these questions. That is just a very interesting instrument and I'm trying to learn more about eastern music.