ICESI 2016 - The International Conference on Education and Social Integration Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam August 11, 2016 – Pages 144-156 A CONTRIBUTION TO TEACHING VIETNAMESE MUSIC: KEY NOTES IN CONTEXT AND PITCH CONTOUR GRAPH 1 by Ngô Thanh Nhàn 2 & Phan Gia Anh Thư 3 ICESI 2016 International Conference on Education and Social Integration August 11, 2016 Tôn ức Thắng University, Vietnam Abstract Areas of difficulty in teaching Vietnamese traditional and folk music to non-Vietnamese include the aural- oral traditions, the use of non-Western European scales and extensive multiple pentatonic scales, their associated airs and modes, the heterophonic texture when musicians improvise a tune simultaneously in an ensemble, and the Vietnamese-specific sentence-based poetic structure of the piece—sometimes described as non-metrical. By analyzing voices and instruments, a group of educational community organizers attempt to set up an initial guide for understanding and teaching Vietnamese folk music. This involves, for example, searching for original or commonly accepted musical pieces and identifying the scales, ranges, background knowledge, melodic contour, sequences, motives, and temporal characteristics before the best visual representation of pieces can be suggested for documentation. We use the famous song Ru con miền Nam (“Lullaby from south Vietnam”) to demonstrate the method. Specifically, we first attempt a context-sensitive key notes in context, or knic, that lays out the frequencies of occurrences of two, three, etc. adjacent pitches that may reveal repeated pitch patterns in the piece. We also attempt a pitch-time graph. This shows the pitch curve as the piece is performed in real time. We aim to show the characteristic rhythmic patterns and metrical structure spread over the time axis. Most importantly, it may reveal the Vietnamese-specific microtones therein, if any, which help music learners to replicate the feel of Vietnamese music. Keywords: key notes in context, microtone, peak frequency, pentatonic, PIC graph, pitch/intensity contour. INTRODUCTION Teaching Vietnamese traditional and folk music to children is very challenging to any teacher, new or experienced, the authors included. One author has taught piano to children for the past 10 years. The other has taught đàn tranh ensemble classes for the past 7 school years. Teachers, who are in-demand, have to improvise teaching tools to compensate for the shortage of basic research in Vietnamese traditional and folk music. BACKGROUND: THEORETICAL VS. PRACTICAL ISSUES The following Figure 1 summarizes the known pentatonic scales and the 8 Vietnamese điệu “modal systems” and hơi “airs.” The Vietnamese northern pentatonic scale is slightly different from the Chinese and the standard western scales. For example, if hò is at C (at 0 Ellis cents [c]) in the Vietnamese pentatonic scale, then all other pitches are off the western tempered scale with 1 The authors thank the Mekong Traditional Vietnamese Instrumental Ensemble Troupe (MTVIET) for the ideas coming from an MTVIET discussion on March 4, 2016. 2 New York University, Linguistic String Project, Temple University Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture & Society, and Folk Arts — Cultural Treasures Charter School, àn Tranh Ensemble. 3 Music Education, Teachers College - Columbia University, and Fellow of Temple University Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture & Society.