Vietnamese Musical Instruments: A Monographical Lexicon

This is a reference book for ethnomusicologists and those who are interested in Vietnamese Musical Instruments. However, it is much more than a lexicon. Visiting museums, libraries, institutions, and speaking with writers and professors in the field, it is an author’s journey and firsthand experience in researching the many wonderful instruments of Vietnam. The book is divided into four main instrumental sections - aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, and membranophones. Throughout, you will find journal entries, informative pages about instruments, a brief history of Vietnamese music, specifics about instrument classifications, and so forth. Because new creations and old are appearing all the time, I have jokingly said, “This is the world’s most comprehensive, incomplete, book on Vietnamese musical instruments in the world”. In many older instruments, free natural materials such as bamboo and stone feature in their construction. In more recent times, recycled materials like racquet handles, bottle caps, bicycle spikes, and even tin cans have been used. Who knows how many instruments are out there that we just haven’t found yet? Hopefully, this book will spark interest leading to an expanded volume which will eventually include all instruments within the country. Read more