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Thai classical music scale comprises of a set of seven equidistant pitches. Compared to the Western standard, this Thai scale is slightly ‘out of tune’, with tones appearing ‘in the gaps’ between Western semitones. The music appears to be pentatonic by avoiding the 4th pitch and only occasionally using the 7th pitch. There is no vertical harmony as in Western classical music but only horizontal harmony found in Thai music. This kind of harmony allows free creativity and improvisation by the performer. The principal melody comes from the khong wong yai while other instruments improvise around it. However, the ending note must be at the same pitch.
The rhythmic pattern of Thai music is known as thao, a suite-form of three variations in which a given melody is performed in an intricate theme. It begins with an extremely slow rhythm (sam chan), doubles that rhythm with a basic melodic statement (song chan), then ends with a variant melody at a very fast tempo (chan diew).
Instruments
These are classified into four categories according to the method of playing.
- Plucked Instrument
- jakhey, a three-stringed zither
- Bowed Instruments
- sor u (a two-stringed low pitch fiddle)
- sor duang (a two-stringed high pitch fiddle)
- sor sam sai (a three-stringed spike fiddle that is held vertically)
- Struck Instruments
- Melodic Percussion
- ranad ek (wooden xylophone with 21 bars)
- ranad thum (wooden xylophone with 16 bars)
- khong wong (bronzed gong-circle)
- Rhythmic Percussion
- ching (finger cymbals)
- many kind of drums, for example, klong khaek (pair of double-headed drums)
- Blown Instruments
- Reed Instruments
- pi family (family of double-reed instruments similar to an oboe)
- Reedless Instruments
- klui family (family of recorders)
Ensembles
Classified by their leading instruments into three main groups.
- Piphat
- a combination of percussion and blown instruments
- Khrueng sai
- a combination of plucked, bowed, blown and rhythmic percussion instruments
- Mahori
- a combination of piphat and khrueng sai ensembles
Culture
The characteristic aspect of Thai classical music is memorization. Musicians do not use notation while they learn or perform music.
Other examples of basic tenets of Thai musical culture are taking off shoes and sitting on the floor by wrapping or crossing the legs while playing the instrument. The instruments themselves are revered. Wai or paying respect to the instruments is required before playing. Physically crossing over the instruments is considered a faux pas. This is because the instruments themselves are said to be imbued with the spirit of ancestral teachers.
Go to the Links page for more information about Thai music.
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