Viet Reader.

VR.

Premier Newspaper for Vietnamese Worldwide

Let the sound of gong ring forever among the great

Over the years, in order to preserve the national identity, the couple A Thui craftsmen (63 years old, Kon Trang Long Loi village, Dak Ha TT, Dak Ha district, Kon Tum) have always focused on teaching gongs and singing. folk songs for the younger generation.

Let the sound of gong ring forever among the great

Performing gongs – traditional cultural features of the great thousands. PHOTO: JAPANESE

Keep neck gong soul

We met old A Thui during the water drop ceremony of Kon Trang Long Loi village. This is a great festival of the Ro Ngao community in Dak Ha district. Constantly adjusting the sound of the gong set and instructing the students before the show, old A Thui did not pay attention to the appearance of strangers.

Because of their many contributions to the preservation, preservation and promotion of the national cultural identity, A Thui and his wife were honored to be recognized by the State as an excellent Artist in 2015.Instructing the village boys one last time, old A Thui tapped each of them on the shoulders and pushed them out in the middle of the village yard. 

The song of gong offering water drops starts with wild and powerful sounds. Old Thui watched each student’s steps and smiled contentedly when the gong ended.Taking us to the middle of the festival, old A Thui said that from a young age he was taken by his father to participate in cultural festivals. On those same occasions, A Thui was able to hear old people play the gong, sing sinuses, and play the t’rung. 

A Thui was fascinated by the powerful low-pitched sound of the gongs and the ropes of the t’rung from time to time. At the age of 13, because she was too passionate, A Thui asked her parents to accompany the elderly in the village to learn to beat gongs and make statues.Thanks to inherent intelligence and agility, A Thui quickly understood the timbre of each gong and gong and memorized many ancient gongs. Before long, A Thui knew how to play many different gongs.He said the gong is the most popular musical instrument in indigenous music. Gong is a source of life, a spiritual belief. 

In order for the sound of gongs to be strong, intense, warm or melodious and resonate far away, it is necessary to adjust the intensity of the hand force when performing. Manual and foot pillow adjustment to interrupt, release the accent tone of the music to attract listeners, create harmony, chord between gong, gong and drum sound through each traditional song.Pointing to the precious musical instrument, Mr. A Thui said that many years before seeing the decline of the national culture, he was determined to study and record all the gongs, t’rung … to pass on. young generation. 

Up to now, Mr. A Thui has memorized dozens of ancient gongs in his head. In addition, he knows how to play the t’rưng, ​​ting ning, carving wooden statues, singing folk songs …“Ting ning with t’rung, b’rot are the instruments I regularly perform with the gong during festivals. On the other hand, most of the other   traditional musical instruments of the Ba Na ethnic group, I can play and manipulate, including strings, drums and gongs, and others such as kơni, b’rung, k’long. put … “, Mr. A Thui confided.


Old A Thui adjusted the set of gongs before the performance

A powerful partner

Not only knows how to play a lot of musical instruments, artist A Thui is also very knowledgeable in music theory. And according to him, although his skill in playing man compared to many other famous artists is not the best, it is his knowledge of music theory that has helped him to teach music effectively.“Many musicians play music very well, but because they do not understand the theory deeply, it is difficult to teach students. 

Depending on each child’s ability, we must use theory to teach scientifically. When they have a bit of “capital”, they can feel the music so that they can learn faster “, said artist A Thui.As an effective partner to help her husband teach the national culture, Ms. Y Nhuih (53 years old) said that she is also an excellent craftsman of H. Dak Ha. 

Born and raised in Kon Trang Long Loi village, from a young age she often accompanied her parents to participate in ethnic cultural festivals. The rhythm of sinuses and gongs seemed to be imprinted in her subconscious mind. Love the culture  of the nation, so at the age of 14, she started to learn sinus dance, folk songs, nail pen, and a lullaby from the elderly in the village.“Now young people only like young music and yellow music. There are few people who really want to listen to old and folk music. I want my children and grandchildren to know and keep them so that our traditional culture will not be lost ”, said Ms. Y Nhuih.

In order for the sinus rhythms and lyrics to be echoed from generation to generation, artist Y Nhuih tried to pass it on to the younger generation. As a result, there are many students in the village, young women who know how to dance sinuses, sing folk songs … to perform in festivals.

Artist Y Nhuih added: “In addition to singing and dancing, I also really like the sound of the nation’s gongs. Therefore, I asked A Thui to teach the couple to teach the younger generation together. The melody of the gongs is a traditional cultural feature left by the grandparents for a long time and is used in the holidays, so it cannot be lost. “The happier thing, after being taught by Mrs.

Y Nhuih and her husband, the young people in the village were able to earn extra income by performing sinus dance, beating gongs for tourism . Also from the family tradition, all 6 children of her husband and wife are proficient in traditional musical instruments as well as folk songs.


Mr. A Thui and his wife have taught folklore to hundreds of young people in the village

The soul of Long Loi

In order for the sound of gongs and sinuses to not be forgotten, in 2017, A Thui and a couple of craftsmen in the village cooperated with the authorities at all levels to establish a folk club. Along with that, A Thui and a craftsman and his wife also open classes to teach gongs for free in the village.

Up to now, his and his wife’s class has taught 26 old people, 65 young people about musical instruments and 50 girls about folk and old music.As a beloved student of old A Thui, A Tram (16 years old) said that before, he was very slow to learn.

Everyone thinks that he has no musical talent. However, because she was curious with traditional musical instruments, when A Thui old A Thui opened a gong class, A Tram immediately enrolled in school. After many times A Tram could not memorize the song, old A Thui decided to stop practicing his piano for about 3 months.

During this time, he only focused on reading and naming notes, feeling the beat … Before the guidance of old A Thui, A Tram passionately practiced. One day the boy practiced until late at night and then slept at his precious teacher’s house.Unexpected results, after 3 months, when he was back to practice, A Tram was like a “fish to meet water”, learned which lesson in that song, quickly outperformed the others.

Up to now, A Tram has memorized 10 traditional gong songs to perform in major festivals such as buffalo stabbing, new rice offerings, water drops …A Tram boasted: “Thanks to old A Thui dedicated to teaching, so far, I know how to play many gong performances during festivals. In addition, I also participate in gong performances to serve groups of tourists and tourists to earn extra income to help the family. Old A Thui is both a teacher and a good example for us to follow ”.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham, Director of the Center for Culture – Sports – Tourism and Media of H. Dak Ha, likened the A Thui artisan couple to soul, like the veneer of Kon Trang Long Loi village, by his wife’s contribution to the preservation and development of local ethnic culture.“Not only teaching gongs, dancing sinuses or carving statues, but A Thui and his wife also have many contributions to preserving the national culture. The local side always creates favorable conditions to support and help the artisans continue the work of preserving and promoting the national cultural traditions ”, Ms. Tham said.

Thanh Nien

About author
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.
View all posts
More on this story