(NB&CL) Bamboo flute - a purely Vietnamese musical instrument whose life is closely associated with village festivals, religious ceremonies... can now be heard in every corner of the world.
Career… of being a teacher
The person who brought Vietnamese flute music abroad is none other than artist Bui Cong Thom. Born in the village, with a muddy childhood, his body blackened by days spent in the sun fishing, catching dragonflies, flying kites, playing tops…, the 8X guy Bui Cong Thom often “jokes” about himself like that.
After 13 years of studying at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, Bui Cong Thom graduated with many certificates of merit and awards. He was retained at the Academy as a lecturer. It was thought that he would be content with the position of a civil servant, which would at least be less difficult and less stressful, and would still contribute to training the next generation of flute artists. But no, he still cherished a big dream for the Vietnamese bamboo flute, with the desire to revive the bamboo flute and start bringing the Vietnamese flute around the world.
According to artist Bui Cong Thom, although the flute is closely associated with the lives of Vietnamese people, like many other traditional musical instruments, over time, fewer and fewer people know how to play the flute. Especially in the era of electronic devices, many flashy and modern art forms are introduced, the simple and humble flute becomes more and more inferior. There are fewer and fewer people watching performances, artists have to quit their profession, and those who still practice have to find other jobs...
Artist Bui Cong Thom instructs students in a live bamboo flute class. Photo: NVCC
But from another perspective, Mr. Bui Cong Thom realized that because few people play the flute, few people have access to the flute, the public does not know the beauty of the flute. He affirmed that the sound of the bamboo flute still has value and a place in the hearts of Vietnamese people. The proof is that every time he plays the flute in public areas or schools, he sees "nine out of ten people exclaim: wow, why is the flute sound so good and I don't know it". Even when he was a student, Bui Cong Thom had a "hobby" of wanting to share and introduce people around him to know about the flute, to understand more about the flute sound. At first, it was just a few classmates "gathering" in the park to play the flute, sharing with each other about the skills and knowledge of playing the flute. Gradually, more people knew about the flute, he taught flute for free to those who wanted to learn.
“I teach flute because I love this job, because of my passion, not to make a living. Since then, like a destiny, teaching has become my profession and until now, I am still a teacher,” Mr. Bui Cong Thom shared.
Change to bring flute to more people
At the end of 2023, Bui Cong Thom founded the Vietnam Music Training and Development Research Institute - a unit specializing in researching online music learning solutions. At this time, the flute playing movement was better, but could not be considered strong.
“Perhaps within a 10km radius around here, the number of flute players can still be counted on the fingers of one hand. Moreover, almost all flute players and bamboo flute enthusiasts in our country learn by passing on their skills and imitating each other. Very few people have basic knowledge of music theory,” said artist Bui Cong Thom.
With many years of experience teaching music, artist Bui Cong Thom understands very well the limitations of the traditional centralized teaching method. Learning music requires a companion, someone to confirm for the learner whether they are practicing correctly or not. But with a distance of 20km, the class will certainly not attract anyone. Therefore, to maintain the class, there is no other way but for the teacher to change. We must find a way to make the flute accessible to more people, how to make learning as simple and easy as possible.
“At first, we tested the online teaching model via Zoom. But there were many problems because it depended on the transmission signal. And with music, when the network lags, the beat is off. Some units also came up with a solution by recording courses and broadcasting them online. Personally, I do not appreciate this method because it loses the role of the instructor, and is not suitable for teaching and learning art subjects,” the bamboo flute artist shared.
Artist Bui Cong Thom said that traditional learning will solve all the above technical limitations, but if we apply the method of one person teaching one person again, there will not be enough teachers for hundreds of students. Not to mention, this teaching method will lead to very high costs, not suitable for the income of the majority of people. Through many experiments, they have created and standardized a teaching and learning system based on social networking platforms. Accordingly, teachers will compile a curriculum, but instead of assigning all to students to study by themselves, they will send each lesson via Facebook for students in small groups to practice. After practicing, students will return to the lesson and post it on the group for teachers to review, comment, and edit. Only when students have "passed the lesson" will they be assigned a new lesson.
With a very small space, lecturers at the Vietnam Institute for Music Development and Training Research can still organize classes through the Facebook platform. Photo: T. Toan
“This model will solve many things. First, it is very flexible in terms of space and time. Students can submit their assignments anytime, anywhere. Teachers can also check their students’ lessons in many spaces, as long as they have equipment and an internet connection. Second, the cost of learning is very low; third, one teacher can teach thousands of people,” said Mr. Bui Cong Thom.
According to the male artist, because of applying this method, even with only 30-40 staff, the Vietnam Institute for Music Development and Training Research can still handle teaching tens of thousands of students at the same time. Currently, in addition to nearly 10,000 students in Vietnam, there are hundreds of students from Japan, Korea, the US, Canada, Australia, etc. In the past 4 years, more than 8,000 students have completed the course, all of whom can use the bamboo flute well.
Sharing more, Mr. Bui Cong Thom said that since he was 8 years old, he was taught the technique of making bamboo flutes by Mr. Le Thai Son. Currently, he is running a facility that produces this musical instrument, making tens of thousands of flutes each year. His Bui Gia bamboo flute brand is sold nationwide and has distributors in foreign markets. The flute also follows his students to spread the sound of Vietnamese flutes in the US, Europe, etc.
“I dare not talk about the Vietnamese flute abroad because I have no information. But I am sure that my students, somewhere outside the borders of Vietnam, still use the Vietnamese flute every day to play traditional Vietnamese melodies,” artist Bui Cong Thom concluded.
Khanh Ngoc
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lan-xa-tieng-sao-truc-viet-nam-post337265.html
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