Dan Tinh is a musical instrument of the Tay, Nung, and Thai ethnic group in mountainous areas in the northern Vietnam. The Tay and Nung ethnic group calls it Tinh Then while the Thai ethnic group calls Tinh Tau (Tinh means a lute and Tau means a gourd).

Tinh lute is a stringed musical instrument of plucking branch. The instrument consists of a neck, a resonator, surface, a head and strings. The neck of instrument is made of soft and lightwood having condensed fibre, often from Thung muc wood or strawberry wood. The length of a Tinh lute is equal to 09 of the fist’s length of the player (or 75-90 cm). Experience shows that this length is most fitted with the player’s voice. The head of the instrument, having sickle-shape or bird-shape, is attached to two or three tuning keys. The resonator is made from a steady thick, round, old bottle-gourd. The surface of Tinh lute is often made from cinnamon wood with thickness of 3 mm. Formerly, the strings were made from worm silk threads polished with beeswax or the resin of sweet potato leaves. Presently, people make strings from synthetic threads. The bridge is a trapezium-shape small bamboo or wood piece.

Tinh lute has two kinds, two strings or three strings. Two strings of the two-string Tinh are tuned at a fourth or fifth. Two strings of the three-string Tinh are also tuned at a fourth or fifth and a string is tuned an octave lower than the high string.

Ambitus of Tinh lute includes over two octaves. In the first octave, from Do¹ to Do², the sound is andante and emotional. It is often used. In the second octave, from Do² to Do³, the sound is a bit dull. It is rarely used. Tinh lute can be expressed flexibly and actively. Fingering techniques are mainly at left hand, such as slipping, glissando, slurring, mordent and vibrating and specially plucking at the pressing note to create soft sound.

Tinh lute is used to accompany singing in Then ceremony of the Thai, Tay and Nung ethnic groups. They are both singing and accompanying for themselves. Tinh lute is also used to accompany courtship singing and Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group. In these two cases, Tinh lute is played by men only and in Then of the Tay ethnic group is played by women only.