AN ANALYSIS OF MUSIC USED IN KHAWN FAWN KHAEAN: THE PERFORMING ARTS OF THAI SONG DUM

Abstract

The analysis of music that is used in Khawn Fawn Khaean: The performing arts of Thai Song Dum is a qualitative research employing Ethnomusicology research design to collect data from documents and fieldworks. The current study aims to present the findings based on the ethnography with the analysis of music used in Khawn Fawn Khaean: The performing arts of Thai Song Dum.

The results show that Khaean is the main music instrument for playing music in Khawn Fawn Khaean of Thai Song Dum people. Additionally, there are 3 rhythms of the music: Khaean Duen, Khaean Gan, and Khaean Lan, and most of the tapping rate in the song is about 80 - 90 beats per minute. As a result, the songs used in Khawn Fawn Khaean have nonstop melodies throughout the song. There are also 5 groups of musical notes and the musical pattern will continually create new melodies. In term of the melody, there is only one main melody, but there is a harmonic functioning as an overtone accompanying the main melody throughout the song. The movement of the melody is continuously orchestrated with both ascending scales and descending scales; however, the inharmonious tone can be observed in some parts of the melody. Moreover, the most important thing about music is that the musical notes arranged for the melody are paused in some parts to give a time for musicians to stop and think about new melodies to use in the performance.