Khmer youths learn to play traditional musical instrument

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the southern An Giang province on October 8 opened a class to teach Khmer youths to play Ch’pay, a two-string musical instrument of the ethnic minority group.

This activity aims to preserve Cham Rieng Ch’Pay, a traditional folk music recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2014.

The three-month class, the second of its kind, is instructed by a 63-year-old artist, Chau Hunh, who is a student of artist Chau Nung – the only person in the province who knows how to both make and play the Ch’pay.

Deputy head of the department Truong Ba Trang said he hopes the class will help inspire a passion for traditional musical instrument for local Khmer ethnics, especially young people, so that they will continue preserving and promoting this art.

Cham Rieng Ch’Pay was popular at hamlets and pagodas of Khmer people since the early 20th century. Tan Hiep Commune in Tra Vinh province’s Tra Cu District is dubbed as the cradle of the art.

As a kind of solo performance, the folk music artists present stories in the form of poems consisting of four lines, each with seven words, with Ch’Pay accompaniment. They also extemporaneously create new songs expressing their emotions.-VNA