Instruments
The lute Dan Tam

The long necked lute Dan Day is traditionally used in the famous "hat a dao" and "ca tru" singing. In this genre, the male lute player accompagnies the female singer and sometimes also plays solo, while the singer presents the rhythm using wooden sticks called "Phach". The three strings are tuned in fourths, but the sound of the free strings is never used, allthough the length of the instrument could provide deep bass sounds. The ten frets provide a nearly isotonic scale, but players use several techniques to create effects and sidenotes of the pentatonic scales "bac" and "nam". Here is a very interesting page about the "ca tru" tradition.

Video: "ca tru" singing and the Dan Day lute

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