Originated from two nghe tinh folk forms of vi singing and giam singing

Originated from two Nghe Tinh folk forms of Vi singing and Giam singing, Vi and Giam folk
songs are practiced in almost daily activities of local people such as lulling children to sleep,
cultivating rice in the fields, rowing boats, making conical hats…Vi songs are named according
to different performing contexts, such as ‘rice-seedling transplanting Vi’, ‘conical-hat making
Vi”, or ‘weaving Vi’. Vi is performed in three styles: non-alternating, alternating and ‘organized
group’ singing. Giam is performed in two styles: recitative and alternating boy and girl call-andresponse songs. There are various types of Giam songs known as ‘lullaby Giam’, ‘narrative
Giam’, ‘advice Giam’. There are 3 stages in Giam singing. Open, duet and conclusion. Tone of
Giam is usually flexible, tunable. Melody tends to simple, primitive, rustic, easily to hear and
remember. Giam folk singing. Boys and girls sing three to four sentences follow topic, content
to express, sometimes ten to fifteen sentences or more can be presented for each group, all
sentence have to think and extemporize directly. Especially, no instrument supports for singing.
Similar to three stages of Giam singing, rule of Vi is more rigid for example: boys have to stand
outside the gate and sing for the first stage, if he can pass, he will face to girl’s duet to come
home. Before conclusion’s singing. Boy have to overcome challenges in girl’ singing relative to
some topic of house owner.
Vi and Giam lyrics use the specific dialect and linguistic idioms of the Nghe Tinh region and
practitioners sing with the particular singing voice of Nghe Tinh people. The lyrics utilise
various poetic forms and meters including a pair of six and eight syllable lines, and variants of
six and eight syllable lines for Vi and five syllable lines for Giam. Vi and Giam are sung
separately, but they are also sung alternately.
Vi and Giam folk songs are strongly attached to lifestyles and customs of Nghe Tinh people.
They have a powerful vitality in contemporary life and have long been handed down,
transmitted, preserved and promoted. Vi and Giam folk songs are an artistic medium for
expressing the ideas and spirit of the Nghe Tinh people at the same reflecting truthfully changes
in social life. Besides, Vi and Giam folk songs also contribute to educating traditional moral
values including respect for parents, loyalty, care and devotion, call upon the people to oppose
oppression and injustice. Joining in Vi and Giam folk singing is the opportunity to strengthen
community coherence.
Vi and Giam folk singing is the open space for everyone, regardless of their age, occupation and
religion. Performances are undertaken to ensure equality and mutual respect among
communities, groups and individuals and contribute to sustainable development of society.

Vi and Giam folk songs are also the source of inspiration for many contemporary composers and
have provided musical motifs for numerous well-known popular songs and operatic works that
are well liked by the public.
Vi and Giam folk songs are practiced widely in Vietnamese community in Nghe An and Ha Tinh
provinces. According to an inventory undertaken by Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Arts
Studies in 2013, now there are 75 Vi and Giam folk song groups with about 1,500 members, of


which includes 803 master practitioners in 260 villages (168 villages in Nghe An Province and
92 villages in Ha Tinh Province).
With unique and outstanding values, on 27 November 2014, in the 9th session of
Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of
UNESCO in Paris (France), Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh was officially recognized as
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.