An elaboration of Thai vocal instructors in Thai university classes

This paper documents a qualitative investigation on the study of instructive methods of Thai traditional singing instructors in higher education in Thailand. The information was collected in the form of document analysis and interviews with Thai traditional music instructors from several universities across Thailand. The results of the analysis of Thai traditional singing instruction methods in higher education in Thailand revealed that there are 11 universities that offer Thai traditional singing instruction. The instruction is a part of curricula under four different governing bodies and four classifications of curriculum. The sets of practicum repertoires in every university were found to be almost identical. It was found that the instructors used several techniques. Some techniques were similar while some were different. All the techniques were transmitted orally. In order to successfully produce graduates of the desired standard, singing must be correctly taught from the basics, whether theory, pronunciation or rhyming. At the same time, creativity should also be encouraged.

Keywords – Classical music, higher education, instruction, traditional Thai singing