O so I heard mother and father are fighting\nWell I can follow you (father) and play some music for you \n\nLullabies (Ru) within the family environment has a hypnotising function, where it's used to ease the child into sleeping. Southern Vietnam (Nam bộ) lullabies was formed and sustained through the many layers of Nam bộ culture. The environmental ecosystem and culture have given it a distinctive form that is expressed through lyrics, melodies, and rhytms.

This is an extract from the Paddana of Koti-Chennaya, a long epic that is popular in Tulunadu. It tells the story of twin heroes Koti and Chennaya, describing their heroic deeds, and finally their deification as daivas (local gods). Selected portions of Koti-Chennaya are sung in different contexts: a) while performing “Agelu Seve” at the shrines of Koti-Chennaya, b) during ritual performances, specifically the annual festival in front of the shrines (Baidarle Nema), c) while tapping toddy from palm trees, d) while transplanting paddy seedlings, d) in the wedding ceremony during the traditional decoration with colors (Madarangi), e) in a satirical theatrical performance called the Purusha Dance, f) during a marriage or funeral ceremony, g) while peeling dry areca nuts, and f) during leisure time for the purpose of relaxation. However, the major portions of the epic are performed during the Baidarle Kola, the ritual performance with Koti and Chennaya as mythical heroes.

The goong is a plucked stringed instrumentmade of a bamboo section. Its two ends have nodes. Its length is eighty centimeters and its diameter is five to eight centimeters. In some places, people tie a dry gourd to this instrument to increase resonance. The goong can have from eight to eighteen strings, but nine to twelve strings is the most popular. Each string produces one sound. To play this instrument, the instrumentalist puts the bottom of this instrument against his stomach and puts the head of this instrument in front of him to create a 45˚ angle. Two little fingers support the instrument and the rest pluck it. The goong instrument is only for men. It imitates the sound of the gong set. While gongs are allowed to be played only in some special occasions, the goong instruments can be played in anywhere in the Central Highlands.

B’roh is a plucked cordophonic instrument made of six parts: the resonator, body, frets, strings, tuning pegs, and gauge. The resonator is made of a dry gourd that is cut on its two ends. The big end usually has the diameter of over ten centimeters, and the other has a diameter of five centimeters. Its body is made of a bamboo section with the length of one meter and a diameter of about eifht centimeters. Small wooden pieces are fixed to one end of the body as the gauge and to the other end as tuning pegs. The body has four or fie frets. B’roh includes two strings, which are tuned to the fifth interval. One of them is used to play drone part, and the other is used to play melodic part. The b’roh is for only the male. The instrumentalist puts this instrument in front of him and plays it while sitting. He wears a bamboo nail on his right forefinger to pluck strings while his left fingers press the frets. At the same time, the instrumentalist covers or opens the big end of the resonator with his stomach to enrich sounds. The ambitus of the b’roh is wide, about two octaves at mediant register.

The đinh tác ta is an aerophonic instrument made of a hornless bamboo section put through a dry gourd. At the hornless bamboo part inside the gourd, there is a bamboo reed. The rest of the bamboo part has three pressing holes. When playing, the instrumentalist holds the knob of the gourd in his mouth while his left thumb covers or opens the other end. His right thumb, forefinger, and middle finger press the three holes on the section. Đinh tác ta’s timbre is loud and clear. Only men play this instrument in the fields or on the roads; it is rarely performed in the village.