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Khap So and Choi: Lanna Sung Verse, Singers and Melodies
Khap so (ขัปฯซํอฯ, Kham Mueang reading khap so) is singing out in a rhythmic, melodious voice, accompanied by the pi (reed pipe). It is the folk art of sung verse that Lanna people have listened to for generations. Choi is another kind of chanting, which takes khao (khrao) verse as its text. This article introduces so and choi as "literature carried by the voice": the so singers, the so melodies, and the Lanna words that go with them.
What is so? Singing, not a stringed instrument
In central Thai, the word so usually means a bowed string instrument. But in Lanna, so (ซํอฯ, read so) is a verb. The Moradok Lanna dictionary explains it as "singing, or singing Lanna folk songs", also called so puen mueang. So is first of all about the singing voice and the words.
The texts that are sung are called pheng so (เพลฯงซํอฯ, read pheng so). The dictionary says they cover many subjects, from courting between men and women to events of the day, history, and songs in praise of birds and trees.
So Chiang Mai and so Nan
The Moradok Lanna dictionary divides so songs into 2 cultural zones, which differ in both melody and accompanying instruments.
In Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang and Chiang Rai, so is sung with the pi, or with a pi chum ensemble, so the pipes lead the music. The work of Sarawut Okhaphanom (ศราวุฒิ โอฆะพนม, 2023) calls this style "so pi" and notes that the sueng was added only in later times; before that there were pipes alone. The same work also counts Mae Hong Son and Tak in this zone.
In Nan, Phrae, Phayao and parts of Chiang Rai, so is sung with the salo and the sueng, which people in Nan call "pin". Sarawut calls this style "so phin" (pronounced so pin locally). Its melodies differ from so pi and give a different mood.
The pipes that accompany so come as a set, called pi chum (ปี่ชุม, read pi chum). The dictionary explains that the pi chum sam (ปี่ชุมสามฯ, read pi chum sam) has 3 pipes: the pi kho, the pi klang and the pi koi. Add a pi tat and it becomes a pi chum si (four), add a pi nang and it becomes a pi chum ha (five). The player is called chang pi (ช่างฯปี่, read chang pi).
Chang so and so thong
A so singer is called chang so (ช่างฯซํอฯ, read chang so). The work of Nittaya Uttarathani (นิตยา อุตระธานี, 2019) found that so is sung both solo, to tell a story or describe an event, and as an exchange between a man and a woman. Singers use both traditional texts, which carry moral lessons, and adapted ones that take up current events.
The exchange has its own name, so thong (ซํอฯถ้อฯง, read so thong). The dictionary explains that singers who are ku thong (คู่ถ้อฯง, read ku thong), sparring partners, "must have quick wit and be trained to mastery", because they have to make up rhyming replies on the spot in front of the audience.
How chang so learn
The work of Songkran Somchan (สงกรานต์ สมจันทร์, 2023) explains that so is a profession with clear lineages of teachers. The teachers make their students memorise large amounts of so verse, which is called "kep kham" ("gathering words"), as a store of phrases to draw on when improvising later. Before learning, students pay respect to the teacher with a khan tang (ขันฯตั้งฯ, read khan tang), a tray of offerings to the teacher, and the ceremony of accepting a teacher is called khuen khan tang (ขึ้นฯขันฯตั้งฯ, read khuen khan tang).
The same work found that in some lineages the female so teacher reads the invocation to the teachers herself. The researcher explains that this reflects the Lanna belief in ancestral spirits passed down through the female line (read more in the article Liang phi pu ya).
So melodies: tang chiang mai, cha-pu, la-mai and ue
A chang so must know many melodies and change them in order through the performance. Nittaya Uttarathani (2019) analysed 4 main melodies of so Chiang Mai:
| Melody | When it is used | Character |
|---|---|---|
| tang chiang mai | to open the show, to greet, or to welcome the audience | moderate tempo, with opening words such as lon, nai, thoeng, tua |
| cha-pu | after tang chiang mai | the traditional melody of folk so, sweet and gentle |
| la-mai | after cha-pu | developed from cha-pu, lively and cheerful, pitched higher than cha-pu |
| ue | for narrative so, such as a person's life story | slow; the researcher suggests it may come from the ue lullaby (ue cha cha) |
The Moradok Lanna dictionary records several melody names, such as la-mai (ลม้ายฯ, read la-mai), "the name of a melody of Lanna so songs"; ue (อื่, read ue), both a lullaby and a so melody; so long nan (ซํอฯล่อฯงน่าฯนฯ, read so long nan), "the so measure of Nan"; and so kep nok (ซํอฯเกัปฯน฿กฯ, read so kep nok), a long so describing a journey into the forest and praising birds and trees.
Other so melodies found in academic work
- Ong-at Inthaniwet (องอาจ อินทนิเวศ, 2023) chose 7 so melodies from the Lanna So Singers' Association as models for composing guitar practice pieces: tang chiang mai, cha-pu–la-mai, se le mao, so phama (Burmese so), long nan, lap laeng and pan fai.
- Sources do not agree on the total number of so melodies, because each area and each line of teachers has its own.
- On the pi chum, Sarawut (2023) and Nittaya (2019) call the 3 pipes pi klang, pi koi and pi lek, while the dictionary calls them pi kho, pi klang and pi koi. This article follows the dictionary.
Choi: chanting khao verse
Choi (ช้อฯยฯ, read choi, often spelled joi) is explained in the dictionary as "chanting verses in so or khao form", as young men do when they go aeo sao (แอ่วฯสาวฯ, read aeo sao), courting at night, often chanting as they walk, for enjoyment or to express their feelings.
The work of Kanithep Pituphuminak and colleagues (คณิเทพ ปิตุภูมินาค และคณะ, 2014) defines choi as "the chanting of khrao literature". Both monks and ordinary villagers chant choi, with musical accompaniment such as the salo or sueng, or with no instruments at all, as the singer likes. The same work, citing Hathaiwan (2008), notes that in Omkoi District villagers enjoyed answering each other in choi, young men and women, in the evenings while threshing rice after the harvest.
The styles of choi are called rabam, and there are 3 of them (citing Manee Payomyong, 1982):
| Rabam | Style | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| rabam wing won | long, drawn-out ornaments, a sorrowful melody | sad passages meant to move the listener |
| rabam kong hiao bong | slow, with ornaments, like wing won but ornamented in different places | reading all kinds of stories |
| rabam ma yam fai | fast, then drawn out at the end, with the fewest ornaments | telling a lot of story without wasting time; it sounds brisk |
The article Lanna rhinoceros beetles has an example of a young man's courting choi that runs through the names of different beetles, quoted in full in the dictionary. Read it and picture a young man chanting choi as he walks along a village path at night.
Khao: the text of choi and so
Khao (ระฯค่าฯวฯ, read khao), or khrao, is explained in the dictionary as "verse whose rhymes are threaded and interlinked, its words arranged in order like a chain". Reading or chanting khao to a melody is called lao khao (เลั่าระฯค่าฯวฯ, read lao khao). Khao can be divided by content into many kinds:
| Lanna word | Lanna script | Meaning (from the dictionary) |
|---|---|---|
| khao so | ระฯค่าฯวฯซํอฯ | khao composed for so singing |
| khao ham | ระฯค่าฯวฯรํา | khao describing one particular subject |
| khao chai | ระฯค่าฯวฯไช้ | khao written as a love letter between a young man and a young woman |
| khao kom | ระฯค่าฯวฯก้อฯม | short khao, a teaching or a moving phrase, usually 4 lines of 4 words |
| khao tham | ระฯค่าฯวฯธัม์มฯ | khao whose story is a Jataka tale |
Here is the example of khao kom given in the dictionary, short but complete in both rhyme and feeling:
ปี้แอบฮักน้อง ลักจองในใจ๋ ป๋ะน้องเมื่อใด หัวใจ๋ตื่นเต้น — Moradok Lanna dictionary, under khao kom (meaning: I secretly love you and keep you in my heart; whenever I meet you, my heart beats fast)
Famous khao
Kanithep and colleagues (2014) report the view that khao arose around 1757 and became clearly popular when Phraya Phromwohan (1802–1887) wrote Khao Nang Chom (ระฯค่าฯวฯนาฯงฯช฿มฯ, read khao nang chom), also called the Khao Si Bot, around 1837–1847. The dictionary calls this work his "masterpiece", expressing his love for "Si Chom", his wife.
One famous khao so is Hong Hin. Udom Rungruangsri's thesis (1973) explains that Phraya Lomawisai's original, Hong Pha Kham, is dated 1881, while Chao Suriyawong's Hong Hin was first printed in 1917. Mueang Chai Chainilphan, who bought the Lanna-script printing press from the missionaries, printed many more khao so for sale (the same thesis says they were printed in Thai script from 1951 on), which helped khao so spread more widely.
How is so different from choi?
Putting the dictionary and the research above side by side, the main differences are:
| So | Choi | |
|---|---|---|
| Texts | pheng so, khao so | all kinds of khao, such as khao so, khao ham, khao chai |
| Performers | chang so, trained in a lineage and with a teacher-honouring rite | ordinary villagers, young men out courting, and monks |
| Music | pi chum (Chiang Mai) or salo and sueng (Nan) | optional, such as salo or sueng |
| Form | solo so, and so thong exchanges between a man and a woman | 3 rabam styles: wing won, kong hiao bong, ma yam fai |
| Melody | set melodies such as tang chiang mai, cha-pu, la-mai | flexible, following the words and the singer's accent |
Both are therefore music and literature at the same time. The words are the heart, and the melody is the way to carry the words to the listener's heart.
Summary
- Khap so is the folk singing of verse in Lanna. In Lanna, "so" means singing, not a stringed instrument.
- So falls into 2 zones: so Chiang Mai, sung with the pi chum, and so Nan, sung with the salo and sueng.
- A chang so needs quick wit, trains by "kep kham" and honours the teacher with a khan tang. The main melodies are tang chiang mai, cha-pu, la-mai and ue.
- Choi is the chanting of khao, in 3 rabam styles: wing won, kong hiao bong and ma yam fai, with or without music.
- Khao is the key verse form of Lanna, in many kinds such as khao so, khao ham, khao chai and khao kom.
Look up more Lanna words about so, choi and khao in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai), and read the full courting choi in the article Lanna rhinoceros beetles.
Sources
- Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): ซอ · จ๊อย · ช่างซอ · เพงซอ · ค่าว
- อุดม รุ่งเรืองศรี [Udom Rungruangsri]. (1973). วรรณกรรมลานนาไทยเรื่องหงส์หินของเจ้าสุริยวงศ์ [The Lanna Thai literary work Hong Hin by Chao Suriyawong]. Master of Arts thesis, Chulalongkorn University (chapters 1, 3, 4, the conclusion, and appendices D–E, citing Manee Payomyong, ประวัติและวรรณคดีลานนาไทย [History and literature of Lanna Thai]). In Thai.
- คณิเทพ ปิตุภูมินาค, ณัฐพงษ์ ปัญจบุรี และสงกรานต์ สมจันทร์ [Kanithep Pituphuminak, Nattapong Panchaburi and Songkran Somchan]. (2014). การขับขานวรรณกรรมล้านนา: จ๊อย [Chanting Lanna literature: choi]. Journal of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University 5(2). In Thai.
- ศราวุฒิ โอฆะพนม [Sarawut Okhaphanom]. (2023). บทบาทการสืบทอดศิลปะการแสดงซอของบัวซอน ถนอมบุญ [Buasorn Thanomboon's role in passing on the performing art of so]. Journal of Management and Local Innovation 5(7). In Thai.
- นิตยา อุตระธานี และมนัส แก้วบูชา [Nittaya Uttarathani and Manat Kaeobucha]. (2019). ลักษณะเฉพาะของวงปี่จุม: ช่างปี่ ช่างซอ และสล่าปี่เมืองลำพูน [The distinctive features of the pi chum ensemble: pipe players, so singers and pipe makers of Lamphun]. Journal of Music and Performing Arts 5(2). In Thai.
- สงกรานต์ สมจันทร์ [Songkran Somchan]. (2023). พิธีไหว้ครูดนตรีล้านนา ความหมายและคุณค่าในสังคมเชียงใหม่ปัจจุบัน [The Lanna music teacher-honouring rite: its meaning and value in Chiang Mai society today]. Journal of Fine and Applied Arts, Srinakharinwirot University 27(1). In Thai.
- องอาจ อินทนิเวศ [Ong-at Inthaniwet]. (2023). การสร้างสรรค์บทเพลงสำหรับพัฒนาทักษะการบรรเลงกีตาร์โดยใช้แนวคิดจากทำนองเพลงพื้นบ้านล้านนา [Composing pieces to develop guitar skills using ideas from Lanna folk melodies]. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mahasarakham University 42(5). In Thai.
