Music of the mountain people

Mountain music is clearly expressed in highland festivals. Photo: XUAN HIEN

Message from the melody

For the people of the highlands, music is an art form that combines sounds to express human emotions, thoughts, aspirations and wills. It is an indispensable spiritual food for every nation and ethnic group...

The characteristics of each ethnic group through folk songs such as Ting Ting (Xe Dang); Cheo singing (Ca Dong); Xo ru, A zoi, Ca lu (Cor)... are messages and announcements between this village and that village that there is a festival inviting guests to attend to encourage each other's spirit after days of hard work.

Duong Trinh is a Co musician. His compositions all have the sound of the Tra My mountain region, where the Co, Ca Dong, and Xo Dang people live. Duong Trinh is especially known for the album "Hon Nui" - a collection of 13 songs he wrote with the breath and melody of his people. This album has achieved many successes and awards, especially being welcomed and responded to by many young generations. Along with composing, Duong Trinh is a special mountain singer with a warm, strong, and generous voice... (XH)

For the Co and Xe Dang people, gongs are a measure of the quality of a family and lineage, so they are carefully preserved. Gongs, also known as chec tok or chec tup, are only used during festivals and are considered sacred.

Stone and earth drums are musical instruments often used when going to the fields, warning animals or even responding to the wrath of the earth and sky. For the Co women of the past, every night, they often opened their hearts to the sound of the amap trumpet, bringing their worries and hardships of the day to "tell" to the fire, to the mountains and forests.

Ethnic minority mountain music is a very rich and diverse treasure through musical instruments, folk songs, folk dances, festivals and prayers... The place where I was born is from a cave, by a warm red fire, from my mother's lullaby and my father's stories, from the river, the mountain, the waterfall, the birdsong... All of the above factors have urged and inspired me to love even more the mountains and forests where I was born.

Promoting culture through music

As an ethnic minority musician myself, I want my music to contribute to bringing the culture of my people to listeners. From here, they will understand more clearly the nature of culture, art, country and people of my people.

Mountain folk culture brought to the stage. Photo: AN

However, in today's era, the trend of integration combined with the development of mass media, mountainous youth turn their backs on traditional music. Young people follow market music, foreign entertainment and gradually forget their traditional music, leading to the gradual disappearance of traditional music.

Furthermore, many good things are in the old memories of the elderly, if they lose them, there is no chance of finding them again. They do not know the Kinh language. So many wonderful things are very dangerous, everyone says that if culture is lost, everything is lost, but there are too few cultural projects for the mountainous areas.

I think it is necessary to organize field trips to collect through old and weak artisans (by taking notes and recording). Village and hamlet cultural centers should establish folk song clubs and invite artisans to teach.

Every year, many gong and traditional music competitions should be organized to discover talents, supplement young human resources, and teaching human resources to serve the training and preservation of national culture.

The government needs to be more proactive in including folk melodies in the songs in the general education curriculum as well as promoting traditional music of ethnic minorities on radio, television, mass media, newspapers, and social networks.

I'm traveling, I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze/I'm in a daze.
Translation: Lullaby, baby, sleep well/Don't cry anymore/Let me go down to the stream/To catch snails and crabs/Come back and cook for you/Lullaby, baby, sleep well" - Lullaby (Co folk song).

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