Music of Thailand

• The only Southeast Asian country that never became a colony of any European country. Hence, it is referred to as the "Land of the Free" (Prathet Thai)

  Thailand
• Thailand was formerly known as?

  Siam
• The capital and largest city of Thailand which is the Thailand's political, commercial, industrial, and cultural hub.

  Bangkok
• Thai music uses a tonal system where there are seven pitched for a mode. Among the seven, only five are chosen and are used as the basis of a composition.
• Thailand musical elements and its characteristics

  • Rhythm - Duple meter
  • Melody - uses pentatonic scale and the seven-tone scale
  • Timbre - Nasal
  • Harmony&Texture - Heterophonic
  • Form - Strophic
• Thai ensembles

  • Piphat - symbolizes the dancing of the Thailand's legendary dragons.
  • Mahori - a small ensemble traditionally played by women, but can also be played by men.
  • Khruang-sai - may be performed both indoors and outdoors. Usually used to accompany Thai dramas
• Classification of Thai instruments

  (Idiophones)

  • Ranat Thum - a wooden xylophone
  • Kwang Wong Lek - a set of 18 knobbed pot gongs placed in a circular wooden frame
  • Ching - a pair of cymbals made out of a thick metal shaped like a tea cup
• Classification of Thai instruments

  (Membranophones)

  • Taphon - a drum placed on a stand
  • Klong-kaak - a long cylindrical drum with a similiar shape andsize to the western style bongo drums
  • Thon - a bowl-shaped ceramic drum
  • Ramana - a shallow drum that looks like a tambourine without disks
• Classification of Thai instruments

  (Chordophones)

  • Jakhae - Thai's most important stringed instrument shaped like a crocodile
  • Saw sam sai - a triangular spiked fiddle with a leg, three strings, but no frets
  • Sao-duang - a two-stringed instrument with a long neck
• Classification of Thai instruments

  (Aerophones)

  • Khaen - the most important folk instrument of North Thailand
  • Pi nai - a double-reed pipe