Vu Ba Pho’s mind often travels back to when he was just an eight year old boy. It was then that his parents sowed the seeds of his love affair with traditional music by giving him a dan nguyet (mandolin).

The instrument was the envy of his friends and Pho barely let it leave his hands. He taught himself to play the dan nguyet and dreamed of becoming a musician in the future. By the time Pho was ready to graduate from school the nation was still battling for independence against French colonial forces.

To become a musician seemed an inappropriate ambition to Pho’s parents, who wanted him to work in a factory! But Pho’s mind had been made up. Music would be his life. Much to his delight he was accepted into Vietnam’s Song and Dance Theatre. However he disliked the set up, perhaps also the restrictions of staged theatre, and he soon left for the frontline armed with nothing but musical instruments.

Travelling through the country broadened his horizons as he had opportunities to play all kinds of traditional instruments many of which you will find hanging on a wall at Pho’s home, which is essentially a private museum of musical instruments. The difference here is that you’re free to touch the exhibits.

Pho is also ready to satisfy your curiosity and instruct you how to play the instruments. “I just want to help the public understand the nation’s music and culture, which seems to be overwhelmed by pop or rock music,” says Pho, who can play every single instrument in his mini-museum. “Many instruments here cannot even be played by people who live in the areas that are home to such instruments!” he says pointing at instruments made by some of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities.

He shows me a T’rung – a musical instrument closely associated with the spiritual life of the Bahnar, Giarai, Ede and other ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, which he has modified and redesigned. “Now the T’rung is as famous as Dan bau (monochord). It is played and can be found everywhere. You can also find miniature T’rung at souvenir shops,” Pho says like a proud father. He skillfully plays stone instruments and bronze ones and enthuses about each one.

“Every instrument has its own culture and history. It is difficult to possess certain instruments but even more difficult to play it soulfully,” he says before placing a bamboo flute to his nose and playing it. “This is the pi khuu of the Khang ethnic people in Son La and Lai Chau, who also drink ruou (rice liquor) and smoke through the nose!” says Pho. He compares his efforts of preservation to one small person trying to push a giant boulder in vain.

He believes the preservation of traditional music needs a massive push from all concerned. “I am afraid that no one will follow my work and no one will understand the value of these instruments after I have passed away,” he says, adding that many of the instruments in his collection cannot be found anywhere else in Vietnam.

Pho and his wife are both music teachers and earn nothing from the museum space, to which entrance is completely free. In fact Pho could make more money than he earns as a teacher just from leasing his house, but “preservation of music is more important.”

VietNamNet/Timeout