Abstract:
The objective of this thesis is to study the rhythm and melody in Choy and Lamtat, two types of Thai traditional folk music through a linguistic approach. The contents of this thesis are divided into two part : first an analysis of the rhythm of Choy and Lamtat, followed by an analysis of their melodies. The research finds that, although Choy and Lamtat use a similar poetic form, the singing, rhythm and melody is much different. The analysis reveals that the number of rhythmic units, pauses and pause defined-units of each metrical unit of Choy is smaller than that of Lamtat, Additionally, in Lamtat a rhythmic unit consisting of more than two syllables occurs more frequently than in Choy. Furthermore, the average pitch level in singing Choy is narrower than that of Lamtat. The results of the analysis can be summarized in that Choy and Lamtat are different in both rhythm and melody. In terms of rhythm, Choy has fewer rhythmic units and pause in each metrical unit and fewer syllables in each rhythmic unit than does Lamtat. These differences make the rhythm of Choy is much narrower than Lamtat, making the intonation contour of singing Choy smoother than Lamtat. The rhythm and melody of the Choy and Lamtat types are distinct in that Choy uses rhythmic and melodic conjunct in singing, while Lamtat uses rhythmic and melodic disjunct in singing.