"Thanh" like a drop of the monochord...

Thien Thanh with the monochord.

Thanh is still very young. She was born in 2009 and is currently a 10th grader in Cam Kim, Hoi An. She said she has loved traditional music since she was a child.

Her mother, Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, said: “When I was little, I loved folk songs and kept asking my mother to take me to the old town to listen to the ladies and gentlemen sing Bai Choi. When I was in 3rd grade, I asked to join the folk song class in the old town at night with Ms. Ngoc Hue and Mr. Duong Quy… and I started to love the sound of the monochord from then on…”.

When he was in 4th grade, Thanh once confided to his mother, "Mom, I love the sound of the monochord. I wish I could touch that instrument...!"

Ms. Tuong Vy understands her son's passion very well. Unfortunately, her family's circumstances are difficult. But then, unable to contain her son's love for the monochord, Ms. Van decided to do everything she could to let Thanh learn the monochord.

Luckily, a friend of hers connected her with teacher Nguyen Ngoc Trung, a lecturer at Da Nang College of Culture and Arts. Mr. Trung agreed to teach Thanh without charging any fees. From then on, the boy's dream became a reality.

Teacher Nguyen Ngoc Trung said that after only two months of studying, Thanh showed a talent for playing the monochord. “She learned the lessons very quickly, listening to the sound of the instrument was like listening to the rhythm of her heart, loving and absorbed…” - Teacher Trung said.

And after only two months of learning the monochord, Thanh won the consolation prize in the contest for young talents organized by Hoi An City. This initial success gave the boy the motivation to pursue his passion for traditional music.

Up to now, Nguyen Ngoc Thien Thanh has studied traditional musical instruments for 6 years with teacher Nguyen Ngoc Trung and has mastered the monochord, to-rung and cat flute...

Thien Thanh at a youth talent contest of Da Nang City.

With her musical ability, Thanh applied to join the band playing traditional instruments on the Da Nang - Hue cruise ship to serve tourists. The sweet, soulful, and endless sounds of Thien Thanh's To-rung and Monochord, like the sound of a stream, made foreign tourists extremely excited.

I have also achieved many successes with the monochord in music competitions, from the Young Promising Award at the National Young Talent Competition for Students of Art Schools in 2020; The Best Instrument Award at the Vietnam Young Talent Competition Season 1 in 2023 organized by VTC Digital Television Station...

Thien Thanh confided: “I just want to study at a higher level and specialize in traditional music, and want to bring Vietnamese folk music to the world to contribute to introducing the beauty of Vietnamese traditions. What I also want to do is to restore some traditional musical instruments of the ethnic minorities in Quang Nam that are currently being lost… to preserve them for the future…”.

Those are Thien Thanh's big dreams with traditional music. The road ahead is long and full of challenges to reach her dream. The threshold ahead will be the lecture hall of the Military University of Culture and Arts. Hopefully, Thanh's elegant Dan Bau will spread its wings and fly high, spreading Vietnamese pride everywhere.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/thanh-nhu-giot-dan-bau-3154226.html