Music of Southeast Asia Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining key terms, instruments, scales, and ensembles in Southeast Asian music from Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Slendro

A five-tone Indonesian musical scale where the five tones are equidistant within an octave.

Peloq

A seven-tone (heptatonic) Indonesian musical scale that contains a semitone.

Interlocking

A common technique used in gong ensembles that results in polyphonic stratification of melody.

Irama

An Indonesian term for tempo.

Gamelan

The most popular form of music and orchestra in Indonesia.

Pesindhen

A female soloist singer who sings with a Gamelan.

Gerong

A unison male chorus that sings with the Gamelan.

Karawitan

The term for every kind of Gamelan music in Java.

Muang Thai

A name for Thailand that means 'Land of the Free.'

Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

The Thai name for Bangkok, the capital and most populous city of Thailand.

Piphat

A mid-sized Thai instrumental ensemble traditionally associated with funerals, cremation ceremonies, Nang Yai, and Khon.

Nang Yai

Large shadow puppet theatre in Thailand.

Khon

Traditional Thai dance drama.

Khrueang Sai

A Thai instrumental ensemble combining percussion and wind instruments with an expanded string section, primarily used for indoor performances and stick-puppet theatre.

Mahori

A Thai instrumental ensemble traditionally played by women in the courts, where a vocalist is usually accompanied by the sam sai.

Kâmpŭchéa

Another name for Cambodia, which was the center of the Khmer Kingdom of Angkor.

Pinpeat

A Cambodian musical ensemble that usually accompanies ceremonial music of royal courts and temples.

Samphor

A double-headed drum played with the hands, classified as a membranophone in the Cambodian Pinpeat ensemble.

Oneat

A Cambodian xylophone classified as an idiophone.

Chhing

Cambodian finger cymbals classified as an idiophone.

Kongvong

Cambodian gong circles classified as an idiophone.

Skorthom

Two big Cambodian drums similar to Japanese drums, classified as membranophones.

Pentatonic Scale

A musical scale containing five different tones, commonly used in Myanmar music.

Hsaing Waing

Myanmar's traditional folk music ensemble made up mainly of different gongs and drums, associated with loud-sounding music and outdoor performances.

Saung Gauk

A famous soft-sounding ancient arched horizontal harp from Myanmar, usually carved from paduak wood.

Pattala

A Burmese bamboo xylophone that can be played together with the Saung Gauk.