The little drummer girl

The art of Tay Son war drumming is a unique heritage that is still resonating today.
In the land of the Tay Son in Binh Dinh province, even before Nguyen Hue and his brothers led a peasant rebellion against the Nguyen Lords in the late 18th century, martial arts were a long cherished spiritual discipline handed down through the generations.
But ensuring the tempo of the combat, drumming was considered a crucial accompaniment for martial artists. In times of war, drums were also used to help a commander rally his troops or signal attack.
As a young girl in the 1950s Nguyen Thi Thuan fell in love with the sound of the drums. Her father Nguyen Dao was in charge of organising ritualistic drummers at festivals held at the Kien My communal house, which was a temple dedicated to the Tay Son heroes (located today in Phu Phong town in Tay Son district).
Inspired by the beats she heard, Thuan used chopsticks, empty milk cans and rice bowls to practice drumming at home. By the age of 12 she had become an expert drummer on these make-shift drums.
Over the years she dedicated herself to the art of drumming, helping to revive the legendary war drumming of the Tay Son brothers, an art form and heritage that had been interrupted by the power and influence of the French colonialists – not to mention Vietnam’s consecutive wars of independence against France and the US.
“I am the ninth generation of a lineage with a long tradition of playing martial arts music, which originated from the Tay Son times,” says Thuan. “When my father was still alive, he wanted to find an heir to play this music. It was very hard but I strove to keep its soul alive in the hope of finding an heir of my own.”
In 1979, the Quang Trung Museum was constructed, and Tay Son war drumming enjoyed something of a revival. This gave Thuan and her fellow musicians a place where traditional Tay Son music could be preserved.
All the while Thuan was always keeping her eyes out for a young protégé. Over the years many young drummers studied with Thuan, but few would have expected Hoang Mai, a young slender girl, to outdo everyone else when playing the Tay Son war drums at a public performance during the Tay Son- Binh Dinh Festival in August 2008.
“For our Tay Son martial arts band members, it was most important to find an heir for war drumming,” explains Thuan. Mai emerged as an obvious choice. She has natural ability, she is a native of Tay Son and she has a passion for playing. It was clear that Thuan had found the heir-apparent she had been looking for. “Now we have finally found an heir to learn Tay Son war drumming,” says Nguyen Xuan Ho, head of the Tay Son Martial Arts Musical Band. “Before coming into contact with the war drumming here, Mai already had a childhood revolving around traditional martial arts and had taken a liking to the drumming.”
Talking with some martial arts masters such as Phan Tho and Lam Trong Phu in the land of Binh Dinh, it’s impossible not to notice their goodwill in handing down their knowledge of martial arts for the sake of posterity. They, and other martial artists, are extremely proud of Hoang Mai, who has relieved their anxiety about Tay Son drumming falling into oblivion as an art form.
A gifted martial artist at the age of 11, Hoang Mai was admitted as a member of the Quang Trung Museum’s Martial Arts Demonstration Team. It was there she first head the intoxicating rhythm of the drums.
“I remember Mai used to furtively watched Thuan playing the drums when she had a break,” says Ho. “Mai would then come closer to the drums and hit them with a drumstick!
“Realising that Mai loved drumming and seemed to have a gift for it, the director of the museum asked me to teach her musical theory and how to drum.” Mai is now 26-years-old and regularly plays alongside Thuan at the museum. At the Tay Son-Binh Dinh Festival last year, Mai appeared in front of 12 imposing war drums, and hundreds of people. But that’s not the most intimidating audience she’s faced.
“I still have vivid memories of my performance playing to thousands of soldiers in Nha Trang two years ago!” says Mai. “I felt great joy being able to revive the Tay Son fighting spirit through my performance. I was very proud to showcase one of Binh Dinh’s traditional arts.”
There are different beats for when troops were traditionally dispatched into the battlefield, engaging the enemy, attacking the enemy fort or triumphantly returning. As the beat quickens you can picture troops marching, elephants bellowing, weapons clanging and soldiers shouting. According to Phan Tho, a famous veteran martial artist in Binh Dinh, the war drums were not merely used for military commands but were also used to accompany many esoteric martial arts movements, positions and patterns.
Mai has become well acquainted with many of these skilful techniques, opting to skip university entrance exams to learn how to play the drums at the Quang Trung Museum – a decision that shocked and disappointed her parents at first. But now she is preparing to do a course in traditional music at the Hue-based School of Art in an effort to master drumming. She will then hopefully make a career out of it.
And in time she will also keep an eye out for a protégé. The Quang Trung Museum is always looking for gifted female drummers to ensure that the beat goes on.