Description:
The name dan-tranh is a combination of the two words [dan] meaning "instrument" and "thap luc" meaning 16. The dan tranh is a member of the long zither family. Like the other members of the long zither family, the Chinese zheng, the Japanese Koto, and the Korean Kayagum the dan-tranh also shares a convex body. There is a close resemblance to a
Chinese zither called the "Chao Zhou zheng". Amongst the Vietnamese people the dan-tranh remains very
popular to this day.
According to Professor Dr. Tran Van Khe: The dan tranh that maybe introduced from China into Vientnam in the Tranh Dynasty [1225 to 1400] or before this. Originally people used 9 out of the 15-strings and 16 strings. Fingering techniques evolved over 7 to 8 centuries in which the Vietnamese people created their own unique characteristic for the Dan-Tranh. The techniques of pressing, releasing and scale are an integral component of this unique language.
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The Playing Techniques:
When playing the dan-tranh a student may use their thumb, pointer, and
index finger of their right hand. Plectrums made of metal are warn around the thumb, pointy and index although many are made from other materials. The right hand is responsable for arpeggios, double stops, steccato. The left hand is responsable for the note bending, pressing and sliding [nhán rung], pressing and vibrating [nhán náy], pressing and jumping and pressing and hitting [nhán mó]. The
Dan-Tranh is tuned in a pentatonic scale.
Anatomy of the Dan-Tranh: The Dan-tranh can measure up to 80cm to 100cm it has 16 strings. The thin guage steel strings are bound to wooden tuning pegs and to the oposite side of the zither. The wooden bridges are adjustable in which a line of vinyl thread is passed through to keep the bridges from falling off when tuning the dan-tranh. The surface of the dan-tranh is made from the wootung tree (a tree Indigenous to Vietnam). The strings are metal in which they are of a thin gauge. One must be careful in adjusting the tension of the strings since they are of a thin guage and breakage is known to occure. Mother-of-perl inlay is featured through out the ornamentation of this instrument.