Melodic Development of the Folk Song: Saw Pun Fai into the Classical Dance Music: Fon Sao Mai

Abstract

The melodic beauty of Northern Thai music together with its classical dance have formed a type of musical dance performed in groups with slow, graceful, and very unique meditative movements. Fon Sao Mai dance depicts a traditional profession of northern Thai women in silk weaving. The dance imitates different processes from the beginning to the end of silk-weaving. The dancers can perfectly make audience recognize those processes without having to carry any extra dance accessories. Music plays an important foreshadowing and guiding role in dances. Music does not only provide the rhythms of each dance movements, but also help bringing audience into the inner workings of the dancers and feel that the dance is even more beautiful. This makes me, the author, who loves Northern Thai music, interested to study the melodic development of this Northern Thai classical dance music, Fon Sao Mai.

          Saw Pun Fai song was reviewed and edited by Chao Sunthon Na Chiang Mai, a Northern Thai Classical music expert working for Chiang Mai College of Dramatic Arts, under the supervision of Thailand’s the Department of Fine Arts at that time. This version of Fon Sao Mai song, Chiang Mai College of Dramatic Arts version, was played by Northern Thai Classical ensemble called ‘Salaw Saw Seung’. The development of the song could be divided into 2 stages. Stage1 was the beginning of the development. At this stage, different old melodies were rewritten and put together into Saw Pun Fai song. Stage2 was the development of Fon Sao Mai melody. At this stage, there were 4 steps happened respectively: 1) improvement of melodic phrases, 2) editing and changing the melody 3) additional melody composition, and 4) the selection of a bridge to connect sections in the song