Structure of Ty Ba Viet Nam

The structure of the Ty Ba shows the three talents, the four quarters and the five elements. The Pi Ba has a length of 3 meters and 5 inches (about 116cm – Chinese unit of measure), 3 meters representing the three talents (Heaven, Earth, and Human), 5 inches representing the five elements (Kim, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth), 4 strands. The string represents the four quarters (four seasons Spring – Summer – Autumn – Winter).

In the past, it was common to use the five-bow Ty Ba, the neck of which was attached with 4 curved ivory pieces called the Tu Thien Vuong. Eight main keys made of bamboo or wood are attached to the top of the guitar for different pitches, the strings are made of silk and then smoothed with beeswax, or use beef tendon. Nowadays, people replace silk strings with nylon or steel strings, the current guitar has a neck with only bamboo keys, not with 4 pieces of ivory anymore.

The Ty Ba is made of sycamore wood on the front side, the back side is mahogany, sandalwood, … The neck and the body of Ty Ba are adjacent to each other, shaped like a pear-shaped halve. The top is made of light, spongy, wood-grained wood. At the end of the body, there is a part to connect the strings called the bridge.

Front and side view of today’s pistil. (Photo: Ta Tham musical instrument store)

The head of the Ty Ba has a very elaborate carving, a bat shape, symbolizing the word “Phuc”(blessing). At the top of the guitar, there are four wooden shafts for tuning.

The Ty Ba has 4 strings, in the past there were only 8 rows of keys. Nowadays, Ty Ba can have over 16 rows of keys to better suit contemporary music.

The Ty Ba with 19 rows of keys (Photo: Duc Ngan musical instrument store)

WIRE SYSTEM

The Ty Ba has four strings up in 2 4th intervals, each 4th interval is separated by an interval 2: Do – Fa – Sol – Do1 or Sol -Do1 – Re1 – Sol1.