ABSTRACT
When contemporary Thai composers are asked how they compose a vocal melody, their immediate answer is: ‘you need to understand the thaaz khnkz [khnkz melody] fully’ or ‘it is always created from the thaaz khnkz’. There are in fact many songs that are not based on a khnkz melody, but they are not usually mentioned, perhaps because they are rarely of recent composition. According to the history of Thai music, as already mentioned, pre19th century songs made use of other musical repertoires than pìiphâad music. As the khnkz was exclusively used as part of the pìiphâad ensemble, the vocal melody and the khnkz melody could not possibly have had any relationship with each other at this time. Thus it should be remembered that creating a vocal melody from a khnkz melody is a 19th and 20th century tradition.
