29 September 2017 / leggypeggy

An unexpected concert in Vietnam

drums, Ho Chi Minh City, instruments, music, musicians, Petra

It is with great pleasure that I introduce a blog post by one of our daughters, Petra. When she was telling me about this experience, she said ‘I kept thinking Mum would love this for her blog’, so I twisted her arm and got her to write it up for all of you. She says she’s honoured to contribute. On the contrary, I am honoured to have her share. The pics and videos have been taken by Petra.

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It’s Petra here—Peggy’s daughter. Mum has given me the immense honour of writing a contribution to her blog after I shared a recent experience I had living in Vietnam.

I’m living in Ho Chi Minh City, at the start of a three-year posting in the Australian Consulate. My first few months here are entirely devoted to intense Vietnamese language training, two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, one-on-one, every weekday.

Yesterday I arrived at my afternoon class, and my tutor enthusiastically bounced into the room. ‘We’re going on an excursion today’, he said with excitement. He explained we would be visiting a well-known Vietnamese musician, specialising in traditional music from the many ethnic minorities in this country. I have a little experience with Vietnamese music, although mostly involving crooners from the 1970s. But this was my first introduction to traditional music. Needless to say I was excited.

A music concert in Vietnam

My two tutors and I jumped in a taxi and drove to the other side of town. When we arrived, Duc Dau (Vietnamese spelling is Đức Dậu if you want to find more videos) and his wife, Thu Hien, greeted me warmly. When I walked into their home, I was met with the incredible sight of 30 large drums (bigger than beer kegs), made with 300-year-old elephant skin, lining the walls. Not to mention countless other instruments I had never seen before.

We removed our shoes, as is custom, and sat down at a small table for tea and moon cake.

And then our private concert began. Together Anh Duc Dau and Thus Hien played at least two dozen different instruments. Some were percussion, some were horns, some were like xylophones and, of course, a leaf played like a kazoo.

My favourite one was an instrument, which can be used for courting a potential lover, called a dan k’ni. The player holds the main part of the instrument and places a guitar pick-sized piece of bamboo, connected to the instrument by a string, behind their teeth. They then play the string with a bow, while mouthing sweet nothings through the bamboo piece in their mouth. The words come through the string—you may have seen similar musical speaking done on a didgeridoo. As in my video, it can also be played by two people together.

Music in Vietnam

Duc Dau and his wife play in a band with his six siblings and a growing number of nieces and nephews. They have toured the USA. A few years ago they accompanied one of Australia’s most accomplished pianists, whose name neither of us could remember, during a tour to Vietnam.

As much as anything I was proud to be able to carry on a limited conversation in Vietnamese about their music, home and Vietnam. I was largely able to understand what they were saying too, despite the occasional smiling and nodding. Fortunately during most conversation lapses, Duc Dau would pull out another instrument to demonstrate.

magazine article

Before we bid our farewells, Duc Dau dashed upstairs to get a copy of a magazine he and he wife were featured in. I had thought they just wanted to show me some more photos of their home, but instead they both signed it and gave it to me to keep.

Warm hospitality like theirs is not uncommon in Vietnam, however I don’t expect to get a live, private musical performance everywhere I go.