Artists’ Expressions

Ba Quan Mời Trầu
a Folk song of Quan họ, Bắc Ninh Province

Ba quan một chiếc là chiếc thuyền nan
Có về là về với hội
có gái ngoan, gái ngoan tầm chồng ố mới dẫu tình rằng
anh cả anh hai đây đấy ơi
cô cả cô hai đây đấy ơi …
[Verses: Three gentlemen in a small boat,
If you are heading for the [Lim] festival,
there are sweet damsels there looking for companions… if romance is fated
Oh big lads and young lads…
Ah big girls and young gals …]

Western notation is not ENOUGH!

Western well-tempered musical notation is inadequate to represent most world folk music. Playing Vietnamese folk music on a piano does not sound satisfying.

And what makes each artist unique:

We compare phrase by phrase of a song which are sung by two groups of artists.