MAPEH 8

1. MUSIC OF MYANMAR

2. MYANMAR
• Formerly known as BURMA
• A sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by China, Thailand, India, Laos, and
Bangladesh.
• A colony of British empire in the 19th Century.
• Where magnificent and ancient Buddhist temples gaze out serenely over the nation.
• It has plenty of beautiful sites, life-giving rivers, lush mountain forests, and
intricately-drawn cities

3. MUSIC OF MYANMAR
• Has similarities and is related to many other musical traditions in the region
including Chinese, Thai, and Indian music.
• It is melodious without harmony.
• It is more instrumental than vocal.
• Burmese traditional music is lively yet graceful, frequently relying on sudden
contrasts and with touches of whimsy melodies.

4. MUSICAL ELEMENTS CHARACTERISTICS
Rhythm
Usually in 4/4 time, or 2/4 or 8/16
time signature
Melody Uses pentatonic or seven-tone scale
Timbre Vocal – nasal
Harmony and texture Heterophony
Form
Vocal – strophic
Instrumental – three-part form

5. MUSIC OF MYANMAR USED IN
VARIOUS SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
– often played at religious festivals and is sung to the beat of a
long and thin drum.
– court music
– songs of longing
– songs of sorrow

6. MYANMAR MUSICAL ENSEMBLES
THEY CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO OUTDOOR AND OUTDOOR ENSEMBLES:
1. – a traditional Burmese folk indoor ensemble, consisting of
a number of different gongs and drums. It is characterized by its lively and
sudden contrasts and shifts in rhythm, melody, and tempo. It is not found
outside Burma and has to be played with great expertise. It differs greatly in its
diversity of instruments and musical style from Thai ensembles.

8. – an outdoor musical ensembles used in royal courts that
marks important ceremonial functions like the royal ploughing
ceremony,

10. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
• Are grouped into the materials they are made of: air-based, leather-based,
metal-based, string-based, and clappers.
• They are played in musical scale consisting of seven tones associated with an
animal that is said to be the producer of the tone.
• Each tone can be played raised, lowered, or natural (corresponding to sharp,
flat, or natural) resulting into 21 cominations

11. - National instrument of
Myanmar.
- A 13-stringed angular harp
that has soft sound.
- Used to accompany the
Mahagita (a classical song
of Myanmar).
- The flat bar is made of
cutch wood and the
strings are made of silk.

12. - Myanmar’s traditional
oboe.
- Has a reed, made from fan
palms while the body is
made of wood.

13. - A kettle drum also known
as the “frog drum” that is
used to summon rain.