Dan Bau (Đàn Bầu) of Vietnam

Dan Bau (Đàn Bầu, Độc Huyền Cầm) is a Vietnamese monochord - a traditional one-string musical instrument. Dan Bau is the most unique musical instrument in the world because it has only one string but can deliver wonderful, captivating sound for any notes you like in a tonal range up to 3 octaves. The Dan Bau, played solo, is central to Vietnamese folk music, a genre still popular today in the country. Its other traditional application is as an accompaniment to poetry readings. For modern music, Dan Bau is played as the lead instrument, sharing the same spot light as lead guitar, saxophone, etc.

A popular legend of its beginning tells of a blind woman playing it in the market to earn a living for her family while her husband was at war. Whether this tale is based in fact or not, it remains true that Dan Bau is historically played by blind musicians. At its first appearance, it was a very simple instrument comprised of a bamboo section, a flexible rod, a calabash or half a coconut. After a process of evolution and improvement, the present form of the Dan Bau is a bit more sophisticated, yet still quite simple.

K-POP

Korean music consists of a wide variety of genres however the genre K-pop is what Korean music is known as. K-pop originates from South Korea. The music that kpop consists of has changed over time but now it is a blend of hip hop, electronic, pop, rock and R&B. K-pop music has been regarded as being too heavily manufactured and controlled by the recording companies in order for them to gain the most money. Kpop music has started to realise the potential of using Youtube to reach more international markets.

The K-pop industry is a highly selective and competitive market. The three biggest recording companies control most of the industry by producing highly successful kpop singers and groups. K-pop music has over time become dominated by girl and boy groups. Recording companies spend millions of dollars to train people to become successful in the market so that they can earn the most profit. Training consists of learning multiple languages, singing lessons, dancing lessons, keeping their bodies fit as well as going to school. Training is a very difficult process in which many people drop out.

Some of the most successful Kpop groups:

Big Bang

Girls' Generation (aka SNSD, SoShi)

Lyrics - the soul of a song

popular words in lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression.

Some lyrics can be considered a form of social commentary.                                          

It contains political, social, economic themes, and aesthetic elements.

SOUL MUSIC !

Soul music emerged during the 1950's which originated in the United States by African American Musicians. It originally started off with gospel music and later blended with early rock n roll and rhythm and blues.

The famous Ray Charles has often been attributed for the birth of the Soul Genre with his continuing string of hits that took of in 1954 starting with " I Got a Woman". Another famous musician we can identify soul music with is James Brown, otherwise known as the 'Godfather of Soul'! Throughout the 1970s soul music had continued to develop and it had became more- message-based, it incorporated styles of psychedelic rock & also jumped to styles of disco and funk!