Xoan singing has existed for more than 2,000 years since Hung Kings dynasty. So all old Xoan songs originated from ancient villages in the center of Van Lang nation (now Phu Tho Province), after spread out the villages in the two banks of Lo and Hong rivers. Four old Xoan guilds are An Thai, Phu Duc, Kim Doi and Thet in two communes of Kim Duc and Phuong Lau (Viet Tri City, Phu Tho Province).

The Xoan guilds perform Xoan singing at the village�s communal house according to phrases as follows:

Firstly, the worship singing to commemorate Hung Kings, village guardian gods, the people who had merit for the country and families� ancestors through the repertoires of Giao trong and Tho nhang�

Secondly, the ritual singing (with 14 different melodies) to express admiration of nature, human beings, and communities� life, and some repertoires about history such as Trang Mai cach and Hoi lien cach�

Finally, the festive singing is alternate singing between singers and instrumentalists. The audience could take part in singing together with Xoan guilds to express love and dreams about happiness through melodies of Mo ca (groping for fishes), Xin hue (asking for flowers), Bo bo�

Most Xoan songs were composed by common people following poetry styles such as seven-seven-six-eight-word-meter verse, seven-beat-meter verse, six-eight-word-meter verse, the variants of six-eight-word-meter verse, four-word verse, and six-word verse. Xoan music has a simple structure with few ornamental notes. It often uses three-note scale and four-note scale with simple rhythm.