Pleng Bork Melody: A Case Study of Pleng Bork Surin (Follwer of Soi Siang Sano Group) Janthong

Abstract

Pleng Bork is a popular folk song played in the South of Thailand. There are many Pleng Bork artists in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, but one of the most famous and popular artist is Mr. Surin Janthong or Pleng Bork Surin, a follower of Soi Siang Sano Group. He received the Artist of the Ganesha Award given by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in 1998, the award given by Thairat Newspaper and the awards of Pleng Bork Battle. Mr. Surin’s melody has its own special identities. First, his melodies were divided into three scales B, F, and G scales. For techniques of vocal range, he uses the lowest voice in the group of B scale that is the low sol, and the highest voice in the group of G scale that is the high sol. He also uses strong beat and weak beat as rhythm techniques. A strong beat will be played in the second and forth note position of a measure, but the weak beat is in the first and third position of the measure. The singing voice’s texture of Pleng Bork is a monophonic texture. There is harmony in the way of singing between Mae Pleng, a woman who sings and leads a female band, and Look Koo, the chorus in the band. The form of Pleng Bork is a monophonic melody.