Music of Tai Ya Ethnic Group in Chiang Rai Province

Abstract

Tai Ya is one of the ethnic groups that use Tai dialect as Shan (Tai Yai), Tai Lue, Tai Kuen, and Tai Yuan. This dialect is regarded as a language in the Tai-Kadai language family. This study, aimed to investigate the knowledge of music of Tai Ya ethnic group. Ethnomusicology approaches were used for this present study. The findings revealed that during the data collection process little information was found to support Tai Ya people wisdom experts’ ability to clearly communicate information about the characteristics and types of music used in their ethnic communities.  However, data from literature and secondary sources of Thai and foreign academic scholars showed that the musical wisdoms of Tai Ya ethnic group can be classified into three main aspects including: 1) chordophone music instrument such as “Ting Tong”. This kind of instrument is normally used in Tai Ya’s festivals.; 2) “Hong Kham”. It is a vocal music singing in Tai Ya. The melody is originated from the melody of Tai Ya’s weaving dance in the past.; and 3) the importance and functions of in Tai Ya’s music in their culture. Results of this study can be beneficial for Tai Ya people and to bring their music wisdom back to their culture and society