Next, I will introduce you to the portamento technique. This is a technique in which you play a note and then bend the rod outward or inward without plucking again. This technique can be used for playing many different intervals. It gives a melodious and smooth sound. It is very commonly used in Vietnamese folk pieces and traditional music. 

Now I will introduce you to ornamentation. This is one of the important Dan Bau techniques and a characteristic of traditional folk music. It uses many ornamental, embellishing notes. Different regions use different and recognizable ornamentation. There are many types of ornaments, such as grace notes, mordents, trills, etc. There are also various ways to play ornaments, such as: quick, slow, decisive, or soft. 
In this lesson, I will teach you some basic musical ornaments: 
1) grace note, where we start from a note in neutral position and then we bend the rod, or,  we can start from a bent note and then come to the neutral position,
2) mordent, which, similarly to the grace note, can also start either from the note in a neutral position or from a bent position.

 

 

-     First practice two-note portamento with small intervals, then move on to portamento with more notes and larger intervals. 

-     First practice portamento at a slow tempo, then gradually speed up. Similarly, first practice with a simple rhythm, then graduate to more and more complicated ones.

-     First practice portamento from notes in the neutral position, then portamento that goes from notes in bent position back to notes in the neutral position.

-     Practice ornamentation first with one to two notes in small intervals before moving on to larger intervals.

-     Practice ornamentation first from notes in the neutral position to the bent position, then practice going from notes in the bent position back to notes in the neutral position. 

-  After getting a good grasp of both techniques, apply them in the exercise and the corresponding folk music piece. 

 

-     Every day for three to four weeks for each technique (two to three hours a day) depending on your personal schedule and capability.

 

* Students can start applying these two techniques right away in the Vietnamese folk songs included in the course or unsuitable pieces. In the following lessons, these two techniques can be used in combination with other techniques, such as portamento to minor third and perfect fourth, both in exercises and in corresponding folk songs.

Cay truc xinh  (THE PRETTY BAMBOO) is a Quan Ho (a style of folk music) folk song of Bac Ninh (region in North Vietnam). The song describes the beauty and charm of a Quan ho girl, how she stays beautiful and charming in every situation, and how she steals the hearts of so many young men.

The music is gentle and romantic.