According to the census data in 2009, the Tày ethnic minority in Vietnam had a population of over 1.6 million, making it the second most populous group in Vietnam, mostly residing in the provinces of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng. the Tày people have a rich treasure of folk culture and folk songs that are performed in rituals and daily activities. Mở cửa dâng hoa (Opening the door to offer flowers) is a song sung during the wedding ceremonies. The song’s content is to remind the couple to live well and desire a life of peace and happiness.

Dá hai is an art form performed on the folk stage by Nùng people in the eastern districts of the northern border. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dá hai drama had a strong development and many groups performing this kind of drama appeared. Dá hai drama had turned into a Nùng style from a form of puppetry Mộc Thầu Hý, a popular art form at village fairs in Cao Bằng Dá hai drama performs ancient stories, such as Phạm Tải - Ngọc Hoa, Hoa Mộc Lan tòng quân (Hoa Mộc Lan joined the army), Hoa phù dung, Tống Chân - Cúc Hoa, Lương Sơn Bá - Chúc Anh Đài, etc. Dá hai has many tunes, depending on content, themes, and details of characters that performers use—Sai va páo (playful, excited), sli páo, pìn táo (lyrical, romantic), cù táo (sad and mourning). The nhị (two-string fiddle) is always played as accompaniment in Dá hai. On a larger stage, Dá hai drama includes the accompaniment of a small orchestra consisting of nhị bố (two-string fiddle with a bass sound), nhị mẹ (two-string fiddle with delicate sound), cymbal, bamboo flute, and small drum. This track has excerpts of characters who, despite broken love affair, should not to be too sad but hope for a better future.

Gô me tanh brai’s lyrics are about a mother waiting for her weaving to be completed. This song can be considered a lullaby. This song is accompanied by the ting ning instrument. The ting ning is the name of the Mnông ethnic group, referring to the goong instrument.

Jagar, from the word jag, means “awake” or “awoken.” Those who sing jagars are Jagariyas. Jagars are akin to ballads and come in many different forms that exist in many parts of India. Their purpose is to wake up deities. The spirits of gods and deities are invoked by singing about them, their deeds and exploits, and by asking for blessings and favors. The Nanda Devi jagar is a religious narrative associated with the Nanda Devi pilgrimage. The pilgrimage of Nanda Devi happens every few decades when the idol of Nanda Devi is carried in a palanquin to her husband Shiva’s abode. This pilgrimage entails a long and arduous journey through a rough terrain and fields of snow. The Hindu goddess Nanda Devi is worshiped in the former Western Himalayan kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon, which together make up the modern Indian state of Uttarakhand. During Nanda Devi’s annual festival, in the Hindu months of Bhadrapad and Shravan, her songs are sung by women throughout the state. The jagar of Nanda Devi is an example of a religious ballad that lasts for several hours and can go on through the night. This extract is the very beginning of a commissioned recording made by William Sax in 1981. The original version is six hours long. The performers are the women of Nauti village, District Chamoli, Garhwal, Uttarakhand. This initial part is a local cosmogony in which female forces and goddesses play the major roles, and are summoned. They are followed by the story of the goddess Nanda, a local version of the myth of the goddess Parvati.

Ala flute is an aerophonic instrument, free-vibrated reed branch. Ala flute is made of a hornless bamboo section with two open ends, fifty centimeters in length and two centimeters in diameter. A small hole is pierced at one end to attach a rectangular box with reed. Three pressing holes in a straight line but slanted an angle of 90˚ toward the box with reed are pierced at the other end. Ala flute is played in daily activities and usually played as solo or to accompany love-exchange singing. In performance, the players hold the full reed part in his/her mouth. Different from the aerophonic instruments, players inhale to play ala flute. When inhaling, the thumb of the right hand is used to open and cover one end of the sections, the fingers of the left hand are used to press the three pressing holes as playing common flutes. The ambitus of the ala flute is an octave.

This is a narrative of the Ahir people of Madhya Pradesh. It is performed with a algoza, a fingerhole trumpet. Circular breathing is employed along with the singing. An Ahir Goal geet are sung at weddings and happy occasions by the Ahir community around Jabalpur. This extract is from a narrative that can be sung all night long. It is about a devout woman and her in-laws. Her husband goes away and asks her to “rest with the mother-in-law, play with the sister-in-law, and seek help from the brother-in-law.” As she is expecting a child, she asks her mother-in-law to call the midwife. Instead, the mother-in-law sends her to the forest to collect wood without tying the bundle. Gods send a snake to tie her bundle, and she returns. The child is born but the in-laws do not give her water or milk. The great rivers of India, the Ganga and the Yamuna, turn their course and come to her to provide water, and a cow comes to provide milk. These miracles continue until she is reunited with her husband.

Marriage to the Nùng ethnic minority is not merely that of a couple but has a greater meaning that is the ritual of community cohesion, keeping the ethnic group’s cultural identity. A wedding ceremony takes place in accordance with certain traditions and customs, such as bride and groom welcoming, ancestor worshiping, groom receiving; asking for a bride welcoming, etc. In the celebration to ask for the bride, the heads of the groom’s family will play music or sing to ask for the bride, and the bride’s family also plays music or sings in response. The instrumental music in Nùng weddings is mainly performed by men. Musical instruments may include the nhị (two-string fiddle), wind instruments, and cymbals.

This song was sung in twinning ceremonies or festivals. The instrument, accompanying this song, is nung pa bil, a wind instrument with a reed. Nung pa bil is made of a hornless bamboo section with the length of thirty centimeters. One end with a reed with the length of two centimeters is separated from the section. On its body are seven holes drilled two centimeters from each other. Only men play this instrument.

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.

Thổng is performed in dây bằng, triple time, and at a moderate tempo. Triple time means that three out of four beats are played with two sticks by the right hand at the same time on the cảnh (small cymbal) and the phách (clappers). The left hand is used to roll on the clappers or play the drum. Thổng is used to sing six-eight-seven-seven metre (6-8-7-7).

This chant is from Ifaluk Island and is sung when pulling heavy objects like logs. The chant portrays how men from the island went fishing and caught lots of fish for the whole island. It also talks about the knowledge passed on from the elders. The chant is sung by kids when they play on the beach in the evening. Some of these chants were composed for newborn babies to put them to sleep. They are called Arhiuwerhu Wen Fan Luneoyiun.

This tune is performed by the herdsmen of the far-western region of Nepal. In that region, herdsmen usually rear sheep and cows. Generally, they take their cattle to the meadows of highlands where there is plenty of grass for grazing. The weather of the highlands is snowy and foggy; hence, the herdsmen play this tune to cope with the weather.